Oprah urged people in the last broadcast of her popular talk show to find their calling and go with it.
View full sizeFans watch the last Oprah Winfrey show at the Rave Cinemas in West Springfield.WEST SPRINGFIELD – Misty-eyed Oprah addicts got their last fix Wednesday of The Oprah Winfrey Show, watching their heroine on the big screen at Rave Theaters.
The theater and CBS-3 of Springfield hosted the high definition broadcast on the big screen for 300 local fans of the talk show host so famous she needs only one name.
The screening was preceded by an Oprah Finale Party that featured drawings giving away more than $20,000 in prizes ranging from a Caribbean cruise to jewelry and a three-year lease on a Hyundai from Gary Rome Hyundai.
“It is like when ‘M*A*S*H’ ended years ago. I felt I was losing family,” 60-year-old Cheryl P. LaPon, of Chicopee, a retired public housing administrator, said of the end of the popular talk show. “I love her show. She is just a great humanitarian and a great person.”
LaPon and others who attended the showing said they are impressed by all the good Oprah has done, such as founding charities and helping people.
“She gives so much to others,” 38-year-old Cheryl A. Bascom, of Westfield, said.
Bascom was particularly impressed with an interview Oprah did with a Connecticut woman who was attacked by a pet chimpanzee.
“She did a wonderful job, very respectful,” Bascom said. “She has her own network so I’m sure she will have new endeavors.”
Oprah’s hour-long swan song featured the talk show host in a fitted pink dress highlighting her early shows and expressing gratitude to her viewers.
“This is what I was called to do,” Oprah said of her show. “Everybody has a calling.”
She urged her viewers to find their calling and go with it.
“It has been a privilege for me to speak to you,” Oprah said. “You let me into your homes to talk to you every day.”
“I thought she summed up her 25 years beautifully,” Ann G. Parker, 68, of Northampton, said.
Parker said through her program Oprah helped women become more appreciated. “I think everyone is going to miss Oprah. I hope we don’t go backwards in our consciousness because Oprah is not here,” Parker said.
Cynthia Butler, 50, of Agawam, said she was touched by Oprah’s final show.
“It was like ‘let your light shine.’ Everyone has a light,” Butler said.