Mason’s own ‘Survivor’ draws crowd
Perkins, still on ‘Ghost Island,’ cheered at party.
Enthusiastic fans, friends and family turned out Wednesday night to hang out with Mason resident Angela Perkins for a watch party at Buffalo Wings and Rings for the CBS series “Survivor: Ghost Island,” on which she is a contestant.
Perkins, 43, a military veteran who runs her own construction management company, is one of several from the region in the past 20 years who have made notable appearances on reality shows.
Hamilton resident Susan Vaughn, who has announced she is running against Ohio Rep. Wes Retherford for the 51st Ohio House District, was a contestant along with her son Patrick on the seventh season of “The Amazing Race” in 2005.
Cindy Chiang Halvorsen, a 2004 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, took home the $1 million prize for winning “The Amazing Race” in the fall of 2011 with her then-fiancé Ernie Halvorsen.
In another local connection, Marisa Calihan participated in “Survivor: Samoa,” which aired in 2009. Calihan grew up on a farm in Reily Twp. outside of Oxford and graduated from Purcell Marian High School.
Wednesday night, Perkins worked the room, posing for photos and signing autographs as people settled in to watch the show. Loud ovations occurred each time she appeared on the multiple television screens.
She was close to being voted off the island, which drew several gasps, but when she survived, the crowd roared.
“The support of the people and the restaurant to do this is really amazing,” Perkins said, pointing out the decorative Ghost Island props set up by the restaurant’s staff. “This is exciting for me, and I am happy to see so many people out here enjoying themselves, and I appreciate their support.”
Buffalo Wings and Rings in Mason, 5517 Kings Center Drive, is going to be the site for Perkins’ fan club on Wednesday nights as “Survivor” episodes air this season.
Ed Carlin, general manager, and Tamara Bates, manager, said the watch parties are special events and they are happy for Perkins, who once worked at the restaurant.
“We decided it would be a cool idea to have watch parties here at our restaurant for Angela,” Carlin said. “You can tell that this is definitely not a normal Wednesday night.”
Bates took the lead on decorating the interior to give it the Fiji look, matching where this season of “Survivor” was filmed.
“Every week it will change and there will be more and more added to it,” Bates said. “Our plan is to stay close to Angela, and she will be here 10 times this season.”
Also joining Perkins at the watch party were Rodger Bingham from “Survivor: The Australian Outback (season 2),” Marcus Lehman from “Survivor: Gabon (season 17)” and Matt Bischoff, who appeared in “Survivor: Caramoan (season 26).”
Bingham joked that he was “the old guy” of the group, but he was excited to see Perkins doing well on the show.
“I tried to borrow some money from her earlier because I figured she’s won, but she wouldn’t say,” he said.
Bischoff was a popular target for photos with his long beard, including one extension dangling below his knee. He agreed with the two other “Survivor” alums in attendance that the experience was well worth repeating.
“Definitely, 100 percent I would do it again,” he said. “I’d leave tomorrow.”