And the crowd goes wild! A packed house at Mason's Buffalo Wings & Rings cheered for hometown favorite Angela Perkins when she narrowly avoided elimination on "Survivor: Ghost Island" Wednesday night.
Perkins, 42, an Army veteran from Oregonia, remained in the game when Morgan Ricke, 29, from New Albany, Ind., was voted out of the Naviti tribe by a 4-3-1 vote. Libby Vincek, 24, of Houston, got one vote.
People cheered Perkins' many screen appearances. Finally CBS gave her some attention, after she was missing in action throughout the two-hour premiere Feb. 28. They applauded her triumphs during the immunity challenge, and booed when some of her Naviti tribe mates talked about voting her off the island because of her alliance with Chris Noble, 27, a strong personality considered a threat by some.
The owner of Buffalo Wings & Rings, 5517 Kings Center Drive, east of the I-71/Kings Mills Road exit north of Kings Island, offered to host weekly viewing parties for Perkins, who works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She recently retired from the Army after 21 years, including tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. Here's a link to my interview with her, "Angela Perkins Compares 'Survivor' Experience To Army Life."
The restaurant was decorated with a "Survivor" theme, and with tiki torches out front. Servers wore purple "Survivor" shirts. All of the 35 TV sets in the sports bar were tuned to the show at 8 p.m.
Several past "Survivor" and "Amazing Race" contestants were supposed to attend. The only person I quickly recognized was my old friend Rodger "Kentucky Joe" Bingham from Grant County, KY. He was a contestant 17 years ago on the second season, "Survivor: The Australian Outback" (January 2001).
Perkins will attend viewing parties every Wednesday this month; on April 11 and 25; and May 2, 9 and 16, says the restaurant manager. She will attend a "send-off" party Sunday, May 20, before flying to Los Angeles for the live "Survivor: Ghost Island" finale May 23. The restaurant will host a finale viewing party that night too. The parties are open to the public.
