INTERVIEWER: Burt Reynolds BURTthday Weekend! Back at it again for another year!DANA: Yeah. It appears that way.
INTERVIEWER: Except about 10 days after his birthday this year...
DANA: Uh, yeah. That's why it says, "belated," on the banner...
INTERVIEWER: ...Right.
DANA:
INTERVIEWER: So... last year must have been a huge success!
DANA: Not really.
INTERVIEWER: Then why the repeat event?
DANA: Let me be completely transparent... I was scrolling through my Canva account and stumbled on the original graphic from last year. I thought to myself, "Huh... I guess that was about this time last year." And a quick date change + copy/paste later, BAM!, weekend-long thing! The event practically created itself.
INTERVIEWER: I see.
DANA: Yep.
INTERVIEWER: Last year you said you weren't really a "fan" of Burt Reynolds, per se.
DANA: Correct.
INTERVIEWER: And the lore goes, you learned about a stack of Burt Reynolds headshots at Red Racks two weeks before his birthday last year, 2024, and had the idea for this event at that time.
DANA: Wow, you have a great memory.
INTERVIEWER: Good thing you kept all the photos so you could do this event another year!
DANA: Oh, I don't have the stack of Burt photos anymore.
INTERVIEWER: ... Oh...?
DANA: Yeah I gave them to someone who needed them.
INTERVIEWER: Needed...?
DANA: Yeah, it was sort of an emergency... I don't want to go into it.
INTERVIEWER: I see.
DANA:
INTERVIEWER: Um... Also last year, you said you hadn't really watched any Burt Reynolds films. So, I'm dying to know, have you watched any Burt Reynolds films in the last year?
DANA: Ha... actually not one. Isn't that funny?
INTERVIEWER: It's... something... [under breath] I still haven't figured out what.
DANA: I WILL say, I am encouraged that I still haven't heard any controversial news about him since last year's event. Like no colleagues coming forward and saying he was a horrible person. So that's great news! And did you know Dick Van Dyke is still alive? I just learned that the other day!
INTERVIEWER: Dick Van Dyke? I don't understand the connection to Burt Reynolds.
DANA: Oh, there isn't one. Just a rando fact for ya.
INTERVIEWER: ... Thanks.
DANA:
INTERVIEWER: So... for this second-annual event...
DANA: Let's not call it "annual," ok? Uuuugh, that's a FUCK TON of pressure that I simply cannot take on at this moment in my life.
INTERVIEWER: Okay....So for this repeat... stand-alone event...that may never happen again...
DANA: Thank you.
INTERVIEWER: ...Sure...And considering you don't have the photos anymore...
DANA: Correct.
INTERVIEWER: ...What do you ACTUALLY have planned for the weekend?
DANA: I kind of winged it last year, and the plan this year is pretty much the same this year.
INTERVIEWER: So what did you do last year?
DANA: Well, I posted hundreds of images of Burt around the store (which I don't have any more) and had a little contest for people to guess how many images were on display. I even made a little "Burt Mobile" that hangs in the store to this day!
INTERVIEWER: That sounds fun! What else?
DANA: I did a, "Pin the mustache on Burt" activity that approximately 2 customers enjoyed. And that I also no longer have anymore.
INTERVIEWER: Just 2?
DANA: If memory serves, it was exactly 2 people, yes. And I was one of them. It wasn't popular. I might do it again.
INTERVIEWER: What was the highlight of the event?
DANA: I think my favorite part was all of the random Burt Reynolds trivia from customers. Turns out people REALLY love talking about Burt! As someone who doesn't care about him... (like AT ALL...) I was shocked by that. Lots of toupee conspiracies. I liked that.
INTERVIEWER: So... is this second-year, "not-annual" event... it's just another absurd publicity stunt...
DANA: Absofuckinglutely it is. You try coming up with new event ideas all the time! It's exhausting.
INTERVIEWER: Do you think your dumb idea will work?
DANA: Kinda doubt it, honestly.
Event Venue
Manic Snail, 120 N 8th St, St Joseph, MO 64501-1908, United States,Saint Joseph, Missouri
