Meeting the famous can be a thrill

A chance encounter with Steve Doocy was a major high for the Wellsville woman.
WELLSVILLE -- When she first took a job with a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., Candy Bangor was overwhelmed by the famous politicians there.
When first introduced to Newt Gingrich, she remembered some advice her mother had given her, to act as though she were just as good as anyone.
"I'm happy to meet you," she told Gingrich.
"And you are?" he replied.
"You don't know?" she asked.
"No, I'm sorry," he said.
"You mean you really don't know?" she repeated haughtily.
After a few more exchanges, during which Gingrich may have wondered how much trouble he was in, Candy relented and they shared a good laugh.
"I wonder how I had the nerve to do that, but then, I'm pretty nervy."
Meeting Thurmond: On another occasion, she saw 98-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond in a Senate office building. "I just grabbed him. I'll go up to anybody. Now, the man may be 98, but he put his arm right around me and ran his hand up and down my side. He said to my boss, 'Why, Lyle, she's such a pretty little thing,' in that Southern accent of his. It was really thrilling to meet someone like that."
The first time Candy went to New York City for a seminar, her boss asked if there was anything special she'd like to do. "I want to see the Statue of Liberty," she said immediately, "and I want to meet Steve Doocy."
Anchor fan: She knew that Doocy, a morning anchor for Fox News, worked just down the street from their hotel, but she didn't have time to go looking for him. So she was thrilled when he actually got on an elevator with her in the hotel.
"I almost didn't say anything, but then I just had to. I literally attacked him -- it's a wonder he didn't have me arrested -- and said, 'Oh, my gosh, I wanted to meet you, and here you are! You have to get off on 5 with me and meet my boss, he'll never believe it!'" She ran down the hall with Doocy in tow, shouting, "Lyle, Lyle, look who I've got!
"We all had our pictures taken with him, and I even dragged him in to meet the nurses. He had a cup of coffee, and must have stayed half an hour. He was so sweet, just like he is on TV.
"That's what I love about my job," Candy says. "When I watch TV at home, I can see someone like Dick Cheney or Trent Lott on the screen, then I can look over at my mantel and see my picture with them. I'm so lucky to be able to do this."