Just'a good ol' boys … never meanin’ no harm.

Just'a good ol' boys
Never meanin' no harm.
Beats all you never saw
Been in trouble with the law
Since the day they was born

Most of you probably are familiar with the Dukes of Hazzard, a cute little late 1970s TV show featuring Bo, Luke, and Daisy Duke set in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia. It ran from 1979 to 1985, but that customized 1969 Dodge Charger stock car, named The General Lee, has been racing through reruns ever since.

This past weekend, all the surviving Dukes plus assorted main characters gathered for the Dukes of Hazzard Georgia Reunion right down the road from my house at the Middle Georgia Speedway, an abandoned racetrack.  The lure of hobnobbing with the stars was too much for Ella, who plunked down $70 of my hard-earned thrifting money to purchase weekend tickets for the both of us.  For that $70, we got the chance to listen to a few concerts; walk around the track and look at umpteen dozen real “General Lee’s”; buy $9 turkey legs; and pay to get autographs from the Dukes.

A multitude of General Lee's, Hazzard County Sheriff cars and other custom cars circled the track

To put a thrifting spin on the weekend, I had researched what Dukes of Hazzard autographs were selling for on Ebay, and figured, depending on what the stars were charging for signing their names, I might could eke out a small profit on some memorabilia.  However, my hopes were dashed when we arrived.

Each star had his/her own section of a tent, and Duke stalkers … uh … fans could buy a photograph and have it autographed for between $10 and $20.  I calculated the total cost of autographs vs. final sale prices on Ebay, and still thought I could make it work.  However, I had not factored in the crowds.

Yes, it was crowded on Saturday.  Organizers said about 60,000 tickets had been sold, and I think most of them were in the autograph lines.  It took four hours of standing in the hot sun just to get Catharine Bach’s (Daisy’s) autograph.  Ella had staked out a spot in John Schneider’s (Bo’s) line, and we both got our autographs roughly at the same time.  I think there were at least 400 people at any given time in each stars' line throughout the afternoon.

Ella is waiting patiently for Bo Duke's autograph.   She was about halfway to the stars' tents with as many people behind her as in front of her.  I was a little closer to Daisy at this point.

Daisy still looks ravishing, but angered the crowd when she took an hour lunch break with close to 400 people, including me, still waiting for an autograph

We left after that four-hour ordeal, tired, hungry and sun burnt, deciding to try our luck on Sunday morning for the remaining autographs.  I gave up on the autographs for cash idea, and decided to just enjoy the weekend, even if I did look and feel like a lobster.

We got there earlier on Sunday, and the lines at first were sparse.  Ella was able to get autographs from Tom Wopat (Luke), Sonny Shroyer (Enos), Rick Hurst (Cletus), and James Best (Rosco P. Coltraine) in about an hour. She then hit the line for Ben Jones (Cooter), and waited for two hours.  Cooter, it seems, was giving away autographs, instead of selling them, and everyone wanted their freebie.

After getting Cooter’s autograph, we wandered around the track, bought some pork rinds, and left.  We wanted to listen to some music, but there wasn’t a bit of shade, and I was not going to sit or stand in the sun for any longer.

Overall, it was a busted weekend from a thrifting standpoint, but Ella enjoyed herself, and got plenty of pictures and autographs to share with all her chat/Facebook buddies.

As for me, I’m glad Ella had a good time, but I need to start spending some serious weekend time on my online business as the weather gradually warms up.

Have a great week.