| News - Friday, August 27, 2010
'Amazing' false alarm — TV show is a no-show
Brace yourself, Castro Street, The Amazing Race is coming!
At least that was the announcement circulated Friday by shop owner Kathleen McCabe and many others who mistakenly believed McCabe, including the Central Business Association and city officials. According to e-mails, voicemails and Facebook updates, the network TV show, which sends teams on an around-the-world race punctuated by unusual tasks, was supposedly stopping at Global Beads on Castro Street at about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 21, for some sort of challenge involving beads.
When the Voice turned up on Saturday to see what was going on, there were no camera crews, no large crowds, only a handful of onlookers, including two City Council members who had wondered if the news were true as well. Instead of a reality TV show, a mother and two elementary school kids walked up with a card table and some beads, followed by a Mercedes with some parents who frantically spelled out some words with the beads in a faux Amazing Race challenge.
The misunderstood event was actually a fundraiser for Loyola elementary school in Los Altos. It involved 14 couples and raised over $1,000 for the school.
Global Beads owner McCabe was unapologetic when contacted about the misunderstanding.
"I never used the word TV show," she said. "I think that was a conclusion that was jumped to."
People writing on the Voice's Town Square online forum suspected it was a publicity stunt to help McCabe's business.
"If they want to call it a publicity stunt, shame on them," McCabe said.
—Daniel DeBolt
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