When Jon Ridewood found out his group successfully brought Dennis Haskins to Austin, the Bayside Preservation Society chairman called his mother to tell her the good news.
"I told her that we did it, and Mr. Belding from 'Saved By The Bell' was coming," Ridewood said.
Four freshmen created the Bayside Preservation Society with the sole purpose of bringing Haskins to Austin.
Ridewood, Zach Ernst, Jason Snyder and Clay Roberson are the society, and they spent the past five months fund-raising for and organizing Haskins' appearance last Friday, when 900 students saw Haskins talk about "Saved by the Bell."
"You made my dreams come true," one student told Roberson after Haskins gave her a hug on Friday.
"All our dreams came true today," Roberson responded.
Origins
When Ernst came to UT in August, he had no great expectations for his freshman year. The only thing he planned on was not missing an episode of "Saved" in syndication. Ernst planned his schedule around "Saved." He didn't just watch the episodes, he analyzed every moment, trying to come up with answers for the burning questions he had about the show.
Ernst had a conspiracy theory for everything from why some characters left or plot lines went nowhere. He developed a deep affinity for the show, and bonded with others through Zack and the gang.
Valerie Kousler, Ernst's friend from high school, saw the same unhealthy obsession in her boyfriend, Ridewood.
Kousler introduced Ridewood to Ernst so they could watch the show together, hoping Ridewood finally had an outlet for his obsession. Instead, his love for the show intensified.
"Everything magnified when they started hanging out," Kousler said. "I'm sorry, I created this monster."
The two watched episodes together, but that wasn't enough. They began to seek out cast members.
The society crank-called Jack Angeles, who played driving instructor Mr. Tuttle on the show, and contacted Haskins' agent on the off chance they could bring Haskins to Austin.
Haskins has a $6,500 appearance fee, so the Society went to the Texas Union Student Events Co-Sponsorship Committee for help with the funding. They originally asked for half the appearance fee, but when the committee heard Ernst explain the universal importance of Haskins to college students who grew up watching the show, the committee, all of whom watched "Saved," paid for the entire fee.
"Their specific event applies to all students, and it was a unanimous decision to give them the funding," said Alicia Williams, president of the committee. "A lot of groups normally don't have a lot of passion, but these guys were serious."
The University Co-op pitched in $502 for other costs, and the Bayside Preservation Society was officially bringing Mr. Belding to campus. Williams said they are the youngest and smallest organization to orchestrate an event this big.
After raising the money, they had to organize every aspect of the event, from fulfilling Haskins' contract request that asks for a king size bed and two comfort chairs to a UT event stipulation of mandatory security detail.
"I got a call from the UTPD, and they asked me if he was an especially controversial figure," Ernst said. "I didn't know how to explain how much he wasn't."
Thursday, everything was set, and Haskins was flying in from Los Angeles.
The Society waited five months and gave up most of their freshman year for the event.
Belding odyssey
As the quartet picked up Haskins from the airport in Snyder's Mazda Thursday night, the Belding odyssey began. Haskins was only supposed to stay in Austin one night, but due to the weather in L.A., he said it would be best to play it safe.
On the flight, no one could figure out who Haskins was. The 54-year-old has a pot-belly now, and many people did a dozen takes before making the connection.
It wasn't long before Haskins used his "juice" as a '90s TV sitcom star. Since Haskins arrived in Austin a day early, the Doubletree Hotel changed the rate of his room. No matter.
"He said he played the Belding card," Ridewood said. "They changed the rate of the hotel, but he played the card, charmed the desk clerk and got the rate lowered back down. We invited the desk clerks to come see the show. They didn't come."
Before heading downtown, they first stopped at Plucker's for dinner, where all the waiters posed for pictures with Haskins as he downed a Philly Cheesesteak and 10-to-15 wings.
"That was the surreal point - sitting down at dinner," Ridewood said. "We're talking with TV's Mr. Belding, doing things like fighting over who gets the check. It's like 'What am I doing here?'"
The group then went to Sixth Street, as Haskins, a former music promoter, was excited to see the live-music scene. The first stop was Antone's, where the band Stealing Silence played a song that coincidentally had a line about "Saved By The Bell."
Pete's Piano Bar and B.D. Riley's Irish Pub followed for Haskins, but the under-21 members of the society had to go home. Haskins quickly made new friends downtown.
"He was very complimentary," said senior Marianne Bae, as Haskins bought her some drinks.
"It was probably the best night I've had in college," senior Jon Grayson said. "The best of college, and the most surreal of my life."
The main event
After his Sixth Street jaunt, Haskins was ready to be the main event. While eating at Stubbs Bar-B-Q on Friday, hearing that there was already a line of 50 people an hour-and-a-half before he was set to appear got him even more excited. Nine hundred "Saved" fans attended. Haskins was accommodating to all the fans, posing for pictures until 15 minutes before he took the stage and staying around for two hours afterwards to sign over 200 autographs.
Haskins called the event "one of the most successful appearances I've ever done."
Success also came in the form of a phone number a student left Haskins on the back of her ticket stub. He returned the call, but the two couldn't finalize plans for the night.
At 11:45 p.m. Friday, the society dropped Haskins off in front of Antone's so he could meet an old friend. If only he were meeting up with Zack Morris.
After the Bayside Preservation Society successfully brought Haskins to campus, they plan to either disband or bring Dustin Diamond, who played Screech Powers, to campus next year.
The Events Co-Sponsorship Committee said they were thrilled by the event, are encouraging the society to pitch Diamond for next year, and are hoping other small groups can follow the society's example.
"I think most people don't realize they can do an event of this magnitude," Wiliams said. "I hope this will inspire other organizations."
There is one ultimate goal for the society, but they're pretty sure it won't be made into a reality.
"We want to bring Zack and Kelly but not tell the other one," Snyder said. "Then bring them out from both sides of the stage, so they would lock eyes."
Regardless of whether they can make it happen, the Bayside Preservation Society said they will continue watching episodes of "Saved" together and remembering the weekend their dream came true.
Like the "Zack Attack" song goes, "Friends Forever / With you everywhere / Friends forever / Always we'll be friends."
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