Rosie draws crowd as she sails into Saint John
Published Wednesday July 16th, 2008
SAINT JOHN - Saint John could become a regular stop for R Family Vacations, says Rosie O'Donnell.
"Of course," she said Tuesday when asked if she will come back to Saint John.
"The scenery is beautiful. It reminds us of the upper Hudson Valley in New York and parts of Pennsylvania. It's gorgeous. I'm glad the fog went away for us."
O'Donnell, American activist/actress/comedian, was aboard the Norwegian Dawn when it arrived in Saint John on Tuesday morning with 2,300 gay couples and their families.
The ship had been chartered by R Family Vacations, a company co-founded by O'Donnell's partner, Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell.
About 100 fans who had waited all morning to catch a glimpse of the television talk-show doyenne got more than they had hoped.
When, in early afternoon, port security guards announced that Rosie would be leaving the ship, rainbow flags waved and chants of "Rosie, Rosie, Rosie" began as the enthusiastic crowd - some of whom had been at the wharf since 8:30 a.m. - encouraged her to disembark.
The star, who could be seen coming along the vessel's deck wearing a blue T-shirt, sunglasses and a colourful kerchief around her head, came down the ship's gangway to a screaming throng so enthusiastic that port security guards warned fans repeatedly to stay back, as O'Donnell told the guards, "It's OK."
Rosie responded to the crowd by giving hugs and autographs and posing for photographs; she even held microphones for reporters who sometimes looked more like pack-horses as they struggled to balance cameras on their shoulders, as well as hold microphones.
"They make you hold it and take the pictures?" asks Rosie incredulously as a reporter struggles to get into the crush.
"Let me take this for you, sir, I'll hold the mic.
"Hi, everybody, it's Rosie O'Donnell here at beautiful Saint John, Canada on the R Family Vacations and all these lovely people have come to the port to say hello."
"Hello, Saint John.
"Thank you for being here. We love Canada. Canada rocks!"
The gregarious O'Donnell was gracious as she signed everything from books to caps and kibitzed with the crowd.
"We love you," people told her over and over.
"Can I get a picture?"
"Sure, if you have a camera," she'd quip.
"You look like me, or I look like you, I don't know," O'Donnell told Paula Scott as she gave her an autograph.
"How are you liking Saint John?" Scott responded.
"Loving it. We thought we were going to go on the (Reversing Falls) rapids, but we have a three-hour tour. Nobody told us that."
Undeterred, but not aware that the tide rules the jetboat, it was off to the Falls in a Vet's Taxi to see if she could get on the rapids ride earlier than planned.
No dice. It was slack tide and there were no rapids. It's Mother Nature, the guide told an understanding O'Donnell.
"The water will start to get really rough as the river comes down. All the white water starts happening here," the guide said. "It's 14 feet higher than what this part is."
"Wow," said Rosie, who wants to know if it will start in an hour. She could go to lunch and then come back, she volunteers, as she and her entourage - which includes two of her children - play with Pirate, the dog of jetboat owner Marc Gosselin.
All the while, she's interrupted by both adults and children who just want to get her signature or tell her what she means to them. She's always gentle and accommodating.
"I love you, Rosie. I hope you enjoy your ride," one woman tells her.
"I think we will," she replies, adding "that's why we're here, for wild" when it's suggested that maybe it's good if she doesn't get to go jetting through the falls.
The Norwegian Dawn was scheduled to sail at five o'clock so, after much discussion, O'Donnell decides to come back for a ride at 3:40; it won't be as exciting as the 5 p.m. tide, she was told, but it will still be fun.
She had no choice; the ship won't wait.
"It's their schedule; I'm just the renter," she said.
On the walk back from the jetboat dock to the Vet's van, O'Donnell had no reservations about chatting, always affable and generous with her time.
"We love Canada," she said.
"I love their politics, the freedom, the friendliness of the people, the different dialects. I just think it's a great country.
"You're much more of a democracy than we are."
But won't that change if Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is elected?
"I hope, but I don't know if he'll get in," she replied.
"America's a very racist country. Although I'd love to believe it's possible, it's hard to fathom. I'm a full supporter of his."
For people like Sheri McCarthy of Saint John, getting to speak to O'Donnell was a thrill.
She'd been standing on the dock with her rainbow flag since 8:30 a.m.
"The people of Canada have been Rosie fans forever. We'd love to see her, but we're mainly here to welcome all the families," said McCarthy.
"Rosie's very personable."
The "welcome wagon" couldn't really see the Norwegian Dawn as it docked and as people disembarked and came through the port gates, some looked a little worried when they saw the crowd, said McCarthy.
"They thought we were protesters and then they saw our (rainbow) flags. They were all coming off thanking us for welcoming them. Everybody's so friendly, all the families."
Mary Hillis of Quispamsis and her daughter, Kara, who lives in Ontario, are both Rosie fans.
"She's just got such an open personality. She's so friendly and so giving. She's just an all-round nice person," said Hillis, who was on the pier representing herself, her daughter and a woman she barely knows.
Hillis had just met Linda Dick that morning when Dick entrusted her with her Rosie doll - one she had purchased at a Rosie show in Florida - to try to get it autographed for her.
"She had an appointment to go to. She asked me if I would try and get it autographed and I told her I would," said Hillis.
And she did.
"I was thrilled," she said.
Then, as Hillis was coming back from the pier, she ran into her new friend.
And who did the two of them come across but Ross the Intern of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, who was also a passenger on the Norwegian Dawn.
"Linda said, 'You're on Jay Leno.' He came back to talk to us. He was just precious, just a sweetheart, just like he is on the show."
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She is a human being, warts and all, but she has done much to improve the lives of many people (and not just those "horrible gay people" who could really be straight if they tried), but children, the poor, the elderly - but of course the naysayers are without error or sin in their lives. Glad to have you visit Rosie! Please visit again!