Some time in January of 2000 we decided on the dates we would be out on the Island and I called to give them to Louie. We had decided on May again. Louie called a couple months later to make sure we hadn't changed the dates because he was planning a trip to Louisiana around the dates for the island. When he called, he got my mom who was shocked to be hearing "Roger Collins" voice over the phone. I wasn't home when he called, so initially she thought it was me or one of my friends playing a joke on her, but being a big fan of the show as she is, she realized after a few minutes that it was indeed Louie.

Well, May rolled around and we all gathered in New Jersey at Anna's house from our various locations across the U.S. and set off for Fire Island. Mark Rainey was flying in to Islip and met us at the Ferry that would take us out to the Island. The weather turned out to be awful as it was unseasonably cold and rained constantly the entire time we were out there. Louis had planned to come out for a day or two with his nurse Robert, but we kept postponing it hoping that the weather would get better. Due to his health and the fact that the beach house was not heated, Louie couldn't come out there unless the weather was accommodating. Louie called two or three times a day while we were out there asking how we were doing and saying he hoped to be joining us the next day. Finally we realized that the weather was not going to let up, and Louie called and said he wanted to have us out to his house before we all went home. We decided to leave the Island a day early and take him up on his offer. Unfortunately Mark had to fly home the day before we went to Louie's so he was unable to join us, and Astrid decided to stay back and clean the house.

Ed Lambese lives in a town near Fire Island and graciously offered to drive us out to Louie's, as he had still not exchanged Christmas gifts with him, and wanted to do so. He had been to Louie's on several occasions and knew exactly how to get there. Of course, it being our last day, the weather began to clear up as soon as we got on the Ferry to head to the mainland to meet Ed. By the time we got up to Louie's place it had turned out to be a halfway decent day as you can see from the photos below. Robert had prepared a wonderful lunch for us and Louie broke out a couple bottles of wine for us as well. The group photo shows Beth Massey, myself, Louie, Ed, and Rich DeVicariis. Also pictured is Anna with Louie. In the foreground of the photo is the plant we stopped to buy for Louie on our way up. I had spoke with Anna a few days after Louie passed away and we were remembering how sweet of a man he truly was. Anna had lost both her parents in a 10 days span in Sept of 1999. I had spoke with Louie a short time afterwards and told him of what had happened to her. He asked me for her phone number and called her immediately after we hung up. Anna told me later that his call had meant so much to her and he lifted her spirits.

I saw Louie a couple months later at the Festival in Los Angeles and he was looking and feeling good. Here we see him there with Dennis Patrick and Nancy Barrett. He absolutely LOVED Nancy,and would tell stories out working with her and Alexandra on the show. He said the three of them would often play jokes on one another.

Louie's last Dark Shadows related appearance came in Los Angeles on October 13, 2000 for the screening of House of Dark Shadows at the Vista Theater. Along with several others who appeared in the film, Louie placed his hand print in cement in front of the theater. The photos of that event are courtesy of Midnite.

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