Martha wasn't
ribbit-ing
Diva of
domesticity's
leap year
birthday show
fell a bit flat
Posted:
Feb. 27, 2008
Linda Myers and
Sue Berg Roedel
seem like
gracious ladies,
too polite to
suggest
disappointment,
so I will.
They were all
jazzed up over
an invitation to
mark their
once-every-four-years
Feb. 29 birth
date with none
other than
domestic diva
Martha Stewart
in New York
City.
By way of the
Internet, Martha
sought out 165
people born on
that Leap Day to
fill her
audience for
this week's
taping of a
special show, to
be broadcast
tomorrow morning
- locally, 11
a.m. on WISN-TV
(Channel 12).
The two New
Berlin women
scored free
admissions and
headed for the
Big Apple.
So what did they
get?
A
show about
frogs.
Frogs.
Get it? Leap
Day.
A
Martha Stewart
hop-pening,
complete with
froggy nametags.
Don't
misunderstand.
The women said
Wednesday that
they had a
fabulous time in
New York City
earlier this
week and
wouldn't have
missed it.
Martha indeed
was the reason
they went, and
at their own
expense, no
less.
Their Saturday
flight went
without a hitch,
one day after a
foot of snow
fell on parts of
the Northeast
and grounded
more than 1,000
New York-area
flights. They
saw three
fantastic
Broadway shows
and ate at some
nice
restaurants.
They managed
three bus tours
of the city -
uptown, downtown
and across the
Brooklyn Bridge
for a look at
the city dressed
in night lights.
They saw ground
zero, Central
Park, Battery
Park, Times
Square, St.
Patrick's
Cathedral.
"We put in a lot
of miles," said
Berg Roedel.
They were on the
go from 9 a.m.
to midnight
every day.
But what about
Martha?
"It was an
experience,
that's for
sure," she said.
Myers said it
was typical
Martha style -
she kept to a
theme.
Audience members
had been asked
in advance to
prepare their
Leap Day
stories, with
the idea that
some of them
might get
interviewed on
camera.
Eight years ago
I wrote the
story of these
two friends and
a third, Leone
Schnetz from
Waukesha, who
always
celebrated their
Feb. 29
birthdays with
lunch, at least.
They explained
their childhood
confusion about
when they could
celebrate. Myers
brought out her
Leap Day
collection of
books, cards,
pins, jewelry
and more - to
which she keeps
adding. They
shared their
nicknames -
Leapin' Linda,
and Leap-ette
Sue - and Myers'
interest in
associations and
Internet chat
groups of other
Feb. 29ers.
Turns out
neither Myers
nor Berg Roedel
caught Martha's
camera eye,
which was
reserved for a
mother and
daughter who
both had Feb. 29
birthdays and
for a very
pregnant Leap
Day woman who
said she was due
to deliver this
Feb. 29.
It wasn't really
a birthday
party, either,
they said.
They waited
outside in line
for an hour when
they first
arrived, but it
was time well
spent, they
said, getting to
know other Leap
Day "babies."
They were at the
studio from
11:30 a.m. to 4
p.m., though the
show took just
two hours to
tape.
Inside, there
was "just a lot
of waiting and
chatting," Berg
Roedel said.
They were served
cookies and
bottled water.
No birthday
cake. No
balloons. But
they did get
presents - a
book on frogs
and a digital
picture frame.
They watched the
production of a
craft segment in
which Martha
created a frog
jumping out of a
box. They also
saw her
interview an
expert and
author on frogs
and frog
conservation,
which seemed
more than a
little ironic to
Berg Roedel
since the third
segment -
already taped
but shown to the
audience -
featured a
restaurant chef
demonstrating
how to prepare a
dish of frog
legs.
Martha, the
unlikely
ex-convict who
served federal
prison time
three years ago
for lying about
a stock sale,
was "gracious
and soft-spoken"
as she took a
few questions
from the
audience after
the show, Myers
said.
Berg Roedel has
been a Martha
Stewart fan for
a long time, and
she'll TiVo
Friday's show as
she often does
so she can watch
it outside of
her bank job.
Myers said she
really wasn't
familiar with
Martha Stewart's
show until she
boned up on it
by videotaping a
few shows after
she knew she was
going to New
York.
"Martha Stewart
fits my
personality
exactly," she
said. "I bake. I
sew. I craft.
I'm just a
Martha."
In fact, more
than a decade
ago, co-workers
at Re / Max
Realty 100 gave
her a Christmas
gift of an apron
reading "Re /
Max's Martha."
At the time,
Myers said, she
wasn't sure what
it meant or who
Martha was.
Myers said
televisions will
be brought into
her Brookfield
office so
co-workers can
watch Friday
morning's show.
And as usual,
the three Leap
Day birthday
pals will get
together for
lunch, too.
No doubt they'll
talk about their
big adventure in
the big city
when, as Myers
put it, "we were
acting like
teenagers."
Well, counting
Feb. 29
birthdays -
Myers' 15th and
Berg Roedel's
13th - they
still are.
Call Laurel
Walker at (262)
650-3183 or
e-mail
lwalker@journalsentinel.com
Walker