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Hey everyone! I know everyone loves hearing stories about the Rascals, especially about our Smokin' Joe Don Rooney! I have a few myself, and if you are interested in hearing them, read on!
When Joe Don use to be a member of the Grand Lake Opry, some friends of ours owned the Opry. We (we being myself and my family) live in Missouri, and obviously the Opry was in Oklahoma. About every summer, my family and I would travel to Oklahoma to visit our friends and go to the Opry. During one visit, the Opry band decided they wanted to have a cake fight. Well, since I wasn't a member of the band and I didn't really know many people there, I figured no one would even consider caking me, because (duh) they didn't really know me. Well, I was walking out of the theatre and into the main lobby when Joe Don came leaping out of a ledge with a plate of cake! He got about two inches from my face when he realized that I wasn't who he thought I was. Needless to say, he didn't cake me, but we both kind of thought it was humorous.
Another Joe Don story I have was when he went to a Garth Brooks concert with my parents and the (ex)owners of the Grand Lake Opry. I don't know all the details of the concert and the great time I'm sure they all had, but my parents did tell me that they had the chance to meet Garth Brooks' mother. They then told me that Joe Don took a picture with her (the picture I am referring to is on the home page!).
At my first Rascal Flatts concert (November 21, 2003) I was able to get backstage. When I got backstage, I was SO excited I didn't know how to expect. I was just calmly standing there because they weren't in the room yet, and all of a sudden I look over and see Gary coming towards the curtain and I started freaking out. I look at my friend and go "OMG that's them... they're coming..." and she quick looks and sees them coming. To try to calm myself down, I turned to the wall and started taking deep breaths. We were towards the middle of the line, so I thought: "Okay, plenty of time to regroup yourself... pull yourself together!" As the line continued to slowly move, I kept getting more and more nervous. When it was about 2 or 3 people before my friend (who was in front of me), she yelled "JOE DON!" and he looked over. She held up one of the Grand Lake Opry T-shirts that I had brought to show him, and before he could see the shirt their manager had to take his attention away from us to take a picture. After the picture was taken, my friend yelled JOE DON! again and he turned around. He looked at the shirt for a minute and then all of a sudden his face was priceless. He looked at me and went: "That...is...AWESOME!" And he talked to us until it was our turn to get up there... and then my friend was answering all the questions before I had a chance, and then when she was standing by and talking to Joe Don, Gary looked at me and must have noticed that I looked and felt like I was going to pass out. He looked at me and went: "You gonna be okay, sweetie?" I just about died. I freaked out more inside, and like an idiot I said "No." ...NO! I said NO! Then he got this sympathetic look on his face that made me instantly melt and I quick turned around and started talking to myself... like an idiot. I just kept saying to myself quietly: "OMG, OMG, OMG..." and then he looked at me and went (again): "Are you gonna be okay?" It was the greatest thing!! And then finally I told him yes and then it was Joe Don's turn. He started talking to me about the Opry and how I knew/know the owner, and then they took our picture together. After the picture they tried to quickly make me leave, and as I was walking away Jay hit my arm lightly and grinned at me and went: "Hey baby, enjoy the show." I felt like I was floating. I smiled at him and nodded and then they made me leave... I wanted to bawl. I felt like I needed to go outside and yell, scream, cry, and just do everything and anything imaginable... but we went back to our seats and told everyone about it. Everyone, of course, was then ready for the pictures (considering I took 20+ pictures)... needless to say, the morning after we went to 1-hour photo and got them done.
Do you have a Joe Don or Rascal Flatts story that you would like to share? If you do, send it in!
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