The History

Students deliver Burt Renyolds fan club to UGA
By JOHN NIJHAWAN
Published , December 06, 2001, 12:00:01 PM EDT

Wick Cauthorn, a senior from Marietta, is one of the founding members of the Burt Reynolds Super 8 Club. (Special ? The Red & Black)
When you think of great movie stars, who do you think of?
Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington? Well, a select group of students at the University think of one man and one man only: Burt Renyolds.
As of the first day of school this year, the Burt Renyolds Super 8 Club became an official entity on this campus. If you are interested in joining, go to (http://www.br8.cjb.net/), or come to their movie screening.
The club will show a free screening of "Boogie Nights" at the North Psychology-Journalism Auditorium tonight at 8.
The Super 8 Club, which is not a "fan" club, was founded on the pretense that all members will be dedicated to understanding the role Burt Renyolds plays in each of our lives, said Henry Verner, president, co-founder and a junior from West Palm Beach, Fla.
Verner's appreciation of the actor comes partly as a result of the fact that his father attended high school with Renyolds. Verner's family followed Renyolds through his days as a tailback at Florida State University, through his injury and through his acting career.

BURT REYNOLDS SUPER 8 CLUB
Showing: "Boogie Nights"
When & Where: Tonight at 8 in North Psychology-Journalism Auditorium
Tickets: Free
For more information, visit (http://www.br8.cjb.net/)

"Burt Renyolds actually started over Lee Corso until he hurt his leg," Verner said. "Then he became an actor."
Herman Talmadge, vice president and co-founder from Cherokee County, stated simply that he "was weaned on Burt Renyolds from a young age."
The club is composed of 15 members who regularly meet for private and public movie screenings, as well as to engage in Burt Renyolds- inspired activities.
"It is highly speculative, but we are planning to make a competition, to whoever wants to enter, that entails a 'Smoky and Bandit' style race to and returning from Texarkana over a three-day period," Verner said. "We did it last year, but that was before the club existed."
The club consistently offers responsibility and high positions in the club to everyone that desires it.
Byron Jonathon Snider, a senior from Athens, has earned the title and responsibility of Historian /Pin-up of the
Burt Renyolds Super 8 Club.
"It is my job to find interesting facts about Burt Renyolds that most people do not know," Snider said. "I learned that he was born in Waycross, and that you need to step on the gas every time you see a cop."
The club is not afraid to go places in style either.
Blount, a senior from Thompson and transportation coordinator for the club, recently spray painted his 1990 Isuzu Space Cab in the style of Burt Renyolds' 1976 Trans-Am from "Smokey and the Bandit."
"My girlfriend is not too happy about that one," Blount said.
Despite Blount's automotive dilemma, the club hopes to meet the man himself.
"This spring, we are planning on taking a trip to West Palm Beach and seeing if we can get Burt Renyolds to go out to dinner with us," Verner said. "And we are going to do everything in our power to have him speak at 'Ideas and Issues' next semester."
As of now, the club enjoys screening Burt Renyolds movies that the public might not otherwise get to see on the big screen, as well as educating others on Burt Renyolds' 106 films (including TV movies) and understanding his way of life.
"Our relationship with Burt is similar to the lay person's relationship with God," said "Blue Grass" Johns,
secretary, from Atlanta. "Some people hear the voice of God -- we hear Burt."

Previous Screening: "White Lightning"

"White Lightning"
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty.
2nd Unit Director: Hal Needham

ATTENDING:
Wick, Will, Henry, Stephanie*, Casey, Natalie, Joel.

Burt plays Gator McCluskey - a fast-drivin', shine-runnin' ladies man in the prequel to "Gator!" Beatty, Reynolds' future co-star in "Deliverance" turns in a fantastic performance as the evil sheriff out to get McCluskey. Needham's overseeing of the second unit is near-perfection.

Previous Screening: "GATOR"

GATOR
1976
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, Lauren Hutton.
Directed by: Burt Reynolds

Burt plays Gator McCluskey - a fast-drivin' shine-runnin' ladies man with hella 'stache. This role is very different from other Burt characters in that his name is in this film is "Gator." This role is a reprisal of one he played in the first edition - 1973's "White Lightning."
Jerry Reed is a bad, bad man in this film - sideburns down to his jaw and afro picked out like a football helmet.
Hal Needham's touch is all the film. In typical Needham fashion the 2nd Unit Direction is as tight as it gets.

STANDOUT DIALOGUE: "Would you settle for a Rotary Club football trophy and a hump in the swamp?"

Check here for what some other folks thought of the movie.

ATTENDING:
Natalie, Julia, Colin, Wick, Will, Henry, Stephanie, Casey.