Exhibits And Events

Fans And Celebrities Bowling For Charity
By Christine Levitin-Breyette

The doors of the Chelsea Piers Lanes opened to a sea of exuberant soap opera fans that flooded the entrance on a recent Sunday ready to make their guilty pleasures a reality at the annual Daytime Stars and Strikes bowling event.

The event on Sunday, October 7, 2007, the grand finale to the annual Guiding Light fan weekend, brought together soap opera fans and soap opera actors for an afternoon of bowling, photographs, autographs, raffles, auctions, and of course lots and lots of fun. It’s not as self indulgent as it may sound, however, all of the funds raised during the event go to The American Cancer Society’s research and development fund.

Once all the fans were signed in and all the actors had been called down to the lanes the host and hostess, Jerry verDorn, who plays Clint on One Life To Live, and Elizabeth Keifer, who plays Blake on Guiding Light, emerged from the elevated lounge and descended the staircase to their adoring fans.


Liz Keifer, Wendy Madore and Jerry verDorn

“I love attending the Daytime Stars & Strikes bowling event because it's fun interacting with the actors and actresses on a personal level and…because all of the proceeds go to such a worthy cause,” said Lori Rubenacker, a dedicated soap opera fan. “Cancer affects everyone, whether directly or indirectly, so I can't think of a better charity to support.”

The idea for the bowling event came from Liz and Jerry’s fan club president, Wendy Madore. “It was at his (Jerry verDorn) 25th anniversary party and I asked her, (verDorn’s wife, Beth) “don’t you think Jerry and Liz need an event?” explained Madore regarding the conception of the event. “And she said absolutely” and I said, “Jerry don’t you think you need an event?” and you said, “ask these actors if they’d come” and we asked all the actors and then I wrote you and said, “was I dreaming or did you say yes?” and you said, yes, lets do it.“


Nicole Forester, Marcy Rylan, David Andrew MacDonald, Liz Keifer,
and Kurt McKinny

The event has evolved over the years, from the “The Bloss Bowling” event, which was a combination of the characters’ names Blake and Ross (played by verDorn when he was acting on Guiding Light), to being exclusively for Guiding Light fans and actors, to what it is now in it‘s fourth year, “The Daytime Stars And Strikes” bowling event that includes not only The Guiding Light, but All My Children, As The World Turns, and One Life to Live where verDorn is currently portraying Clint.

Although the event has changed over the years, the charity they donate to has remained the same. “I’m a 14 year survivor of cancer” verDorn disclosed, “so I decided, the research and development they have at the American Cancer Society is for the whole nation and it’s a general fund that you can contribute to so, everybody throughout the country can benefit from doing this event and having an auction, spending their money, and having it all go to the society.”

Each year the money raised has increased, from more than $5,000 the first year to more than $11,000 this year, through a combination of raffles for tote bags, coffee mugs, magazine, posters, buttons and T-shirts; and auctions for studio tours, and pictures in Soap Opera Weekly and Soap Opera Digest with several actors.

Soap fan, Lynn Rupley said, “I would spend hundreds of dollars on auctions, etc, because it goes for cancer…I clip coupons all year to save money for this trip.”

Kiefer and verDorn host the event each year, but they are supported by a lot of very loyal costars and friends. “For the Guiding Light actors this is the end of an extremely long weekend so these are really faithful ones that show up to this. Most of them blow it off saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve done three days already I’m not doing a fourth,’” said Kiefer. “And they are all at the cruise in the morning and then they come here.”

Kiefer, verDorn, and Madore are all supported by a volunteer team of about 20, known as “Jerry’s Elves.” “I couldn’t do this by myself. If they (the volunteers) weren’t here, there’s no way I could do this. They take care of me, and they are the nicest people and that makes me want to come back and do a better job next year,” Madore said.


Bowling volunteers with Madore and verDorn

Julie VanSteenburg, a committed soap opera fan, and first time volunteer said she comes to the event for the camaraderie of good friends, committed to a good cause. “I'm impressed not only with my friends level of commitment but the obvious care and concern that the cast members display by giving up their free time to give back to the fans and help out the ACS at the same time."

Exhibits & Events

Get Your Body In Motion Down To BODIES…The Exhibition
By Lauren Mills

“Girls are smarter than boys! Girls are smarter than boys!” a group of elementary girls chant in the school yard. “No way! Boys are much smarter!” a boy screams back in defense. Although neither side has any evidence, BODIES…The Exhibition does.

Girls brains are 2.5% of their body weight whereas boys brains are only 2%. Whether you are a girl or a boy, you will be struck by real preserved bodies doing real life things when you first walk into the exhibition. One body in running stance clenches a football tightly by his side, his bicep muscles flexing as he bypasses the invisible opposing team. Another jumping with a basketball above his head, his eyes look up at a promising shot. And no. That was not a typo. These bodies do have eyes.

Most of them even have nose hair and eyebrows. Yes, it is a bit creepy. It is even a tad nauseating. I would recommend waiting thirty minutes after eating before entering the main doors on South Street to avoid nausea. After this walk through, you will lose your appetite. However, you will gain new knowledge and jog your memory of the facts you learned in high school science class. I found the fun facts on the walls to be the most interesting information that I have read in any museum or show.

Things like “A hip joint often withstands spans 400 pounds of force in everyday activity.” I personally would never think that a hip could endure such mass! Another reads “Every drop of blood in the body passes through the heart once a minute.”

What? How is that possible? Especially after seeing the corrosion cast blood vessels, I know for a fact we have a lot of blood in our bodies. Things must be moving pretty fast inside of us if every drop of blood is passing through the heart at that rate. Science was never and never will be my subject.

I always thought human anatomy was interesting, but I just could not grasp all the terms and processes that occur inside of us. With a little bit of visual aids I could have understood much easier, and that is why I think if I had walked through and studied everything in the exhibition five years ago I could have passed my anatomy exam without even opening the textbook.

As I walked by this year and read each little face card, I was hit with information that I had long forgotten. Facts like there are three types of muscle tissue in our bodies. The skeletal tissue moves bones, and the cardiac tissue moves the heart while the smooth tissue moves food, blood and fluids. Facts like these were once memorized but quickly faded. After my trip to BODIES my mind is revitalized. Each room had something interesting to offer.

Caitlin Holland, a senior at Loyola New Orleans University, had a particular favorite section. “The fetuses! Some of them were so tiny. They looked like little gerbils,” she said. The fetus room had a large sign on the outside, cautioning the disturbing displays. The sign was a good idea, for I was quite disturbed. However, after reading a sign like that I had to see for myself what was behind the wall. It was definitely a sight to see. Like the fetus room, there is another room that seems to spark a lot of discussion. This room displays webs of blood vessels floating in glass displays of water.

A process called Corrosion Casting was used for this display. Blood vessels were injected with colored polymer to harden them. Then the blood tissue was chemically removed, revealing the delicate matrix that transports our blood. The room is dark and each display case is illuminated, showing what looks like fragile blue and red spider webs. It is mesmerizing.

“It’s like a fun science class field trip,” Tyler Wildman, a senior at Gettysburg said. “The pictures in text books could never compare to this.” Unlike other exhibitions and museums, Bodies has something that everyone can relate to, and it happens to be the focus of the whole showcase: The Human Body. Two teenage girls stand over a display case holding bones. One girl points to a bone in the center. “That’s what I broke when I was playing softball!” she exclaimed.

The excitement lit up her face as she retold the tragic sliding incident to her friend. Everyone has a story to tell about their bodies and going to BODIES is a great way to let those stories out. Just make sure to bring a patient friend who doesn’t mind hearing the story again.

BODIES…The Exhibition is enjoyable for people of all ages. You learn an extraordinary amount of new information about your body and you also get to physically see everything that is inside of you right now. After spending a couple hours walking through the exhibition, I had a thought as I hopped on the escalator making my way out: I need to get a full body scan.