Rocky Mountain Mission Trip - Work day 1

Today we roll up our sleeves and go to work.  We are doing three basic projects this week, putting in a fence on the entry drive from the highway, painting rooms for the YMCA staff and clearing wood from the pine trees that have died as a result of the beetles.  Pastor Jim McClary is in charge of the pine tree slashing, Derrick Johnson is heading up the fence building and Scott Edwards is the paint leader.  Jim and Scott have been organizing mission trips for over 8 years.  They have been friends for 38 years.  Jim is the Pastor at Savoy Methodist Church and Scott is a member of the Wesley Methodist Church in Macomb.  It's hard to imagine how many young lives the two of them have changed as a result of their planning and organizing mission trips.  I have been involved in 6 of them, and all of them have been remarkable in both the work that has been accomplished and the spiritual growth of the youth and the adults.  We are truly blessed to have them both as our leaders.  Hard to imagine I'm sure that when they met as 12 year olds back in Quincy that God had a plan for them that would continue to play out 38 years later.

Our youth is doing terrific so far.  Yesterday was a fun day, a chance to get acclimated to the elevation.  We are at 8700 ft here at the YMCA and I can feel it for sure.   Most of the group went on a horseback ride into the mountains in the morning.  The afternoon was spent either hiking, or playing on these amazing facilities the YMCA provides.  I went on the hike.  About 3 miles with a elevation change of about 500 feet.  That's a good beginner's hike.  In the middle of the trail was a beautiful waterfall.  I'll post some photos when I get back as I forgot to bring my camera download connection.  Trust me, it was beautiful. 

It rained about halfway into the walk.  Hard!  And we all got soaked.  But no one complained.  I know many of you might say, "why would you want to spend your vacation with 45 high school students?"  The answer is, because this are really special kids.  One of the real joys in working on mission trips is meeting these idealistic young men and women, listening to them, and sharing insights into some of the problems they may be facing in their lives. 

I believe most of the problems facing our youth today could be solved if adults took the time to really listen to them.  These kids have some amazing stories to tell.

One of our young men had leukemia at age 3.  He is a strong, athletic young man.  And yet he lives with the possibility it could come back at any time.  He lives each day fully.  A lesson for us all.  Most of these kids come from strong families.  They have been given the support they needed by wonderful parents, many of them whom I know.  But some are from broken families that struggle daily just to pay the bills.  Just the fact they are here is a sign the parents want to build a strong foundation for these kids to build their lives on.

The Snow Mountain Ranch has been around for over 100 years.  It started as a YMCA camp and has transformed into a retreat/convention facility.  The staff here spends all of their time providing young people a facility to learn and grow their spirituality.  It's a bit funny they aren't used to groups coming to serve them.  They are in the service business, yet having someone serve them is new.  I'm told we are the first group to come and dedicate themselves to serving the YMCA.  We are in effect, serving the servants. 

Yesterday I bumped into Bill and Cinny Green.  Many of you know them from their years building and managing GT's Western Bowl in Champaign.  Cinny told me they come here annually and help organize for the youth groups that come here in the summers.  They spend 12 weeks a year as YMCA staff helping these groups enjoy the facility.  That was fun to see them and I had no idea they were here.  Our friendship goes back over 20 years.  Amazing how God brings you together with friends, even 1000 miles from home!

So it's time to get this day started.  It's a little overcast this morning and the weather is a brisk 50 degrees.  It should heat up to about 75 later today.  Today we begin the work of serving the YMCA.  But the best work of all is reaching out to the youth and adults who are here with us and beginning the work of sharing the great message of Jesus with each of them.  Pray for us!

Rocky Mountain High! Traveling with 51 members of Savoy and Macomb Methodist Church to Colorado

So here were are!  Is this better than the mission trips we have taken to Mexico and Dulac, Lousiana?  I think so!  This is my 6th Mission trip with this group.  We have about 45 high school students from the Champaign and Macomb areas and we are planning to do some work for the Snow Mountain YMCA this week.  The Rocky Mountains are struggling with a beetle that is literally eating the pine trees.  There are hundreds of acres of dead trees in the mountains, a real forest fire hazard.  We are volunteering for the YMCA Convention center complex clearing the dead wood, painting some of their staff rooms and building a fence on the complex.  It's a lot of work, but the scenery makes it all worthwhile.  And of course they are all terrific kids.

It took us two days to get here.  We traveled in a caravan of about 5 cars and vans, loaded to the gills with suitcases and the "necessaries".  We had a few problems, first the running board for our van broke off "halfway."  Getting the other half off the van was a challenge, but our noble driver, Derrick Johnson, managed.  We stopped in Lexington Nebraska night one.  A little Day's Inn served as our rest stop.  There were plenty of Arby's, McDonalds and of course a Wal Mart where we could reload.  Who knew you had to reload after just 10 hours of driving :) .  But we got that done.  We met the group from Macomb in Lexington and our caravan grew to near capacity.  Next morning...."Head for the Mountains." 

Now the van I was in had 13 people and was pulling a full trailer.  I believe that the weight load was good for a straight road, but the mountains....no way.
We decided to go a little out of the way and drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Like all National Parks, Rocky Mountain is wonderful.  We saw some amazing landscapes, mountains, rivers and even a few live moose, elks, and a bear.  What an amazing experience!  And then, it was time to come down the mountain........

We got around the Alpine Valley look out center and started downhill.  Our van didn't stop at all the "photo sites" so we were about an hour ahead of the rest of the group.  As we came down our brakes started to fail.  Well, we pulled over quickly and tried to flag down help.  No one stopped, and an hour or so later the rest of the group caught us.  We shifted the trailer to another van and redistributed most of the kids to other cars and vans.  And Derrick and I said a short prayer and started the rest of the way down.  Of course I'm writing this so we made it!  :)
God was watching over us for sure. 

I love mission trips.  I love the work we do and the people we help.  Most of all I love the relationships we build with the kids looking for answers and the adults who always go through a change in spirit as well.  When I went on my first trip I thought I was some Knight riding in on a white stallion to help those in need.  I have discovered again and again the people we help are more noble than I, and that God uses each of us as he wishes. 

This week I'll update you on our progress.  Today is a free day and we are adjusting to the altitude.  Already the kids have gone horse back riding, and there is a hike, canoeing, basketball and even square dancing still to come tonight.  Tomorrow we go to work.  But the truth is, God's work started before we even got into our vans in Savoy.  Stay tuned!

168 hours per week! PLENTY of time to Make a Difference

Maybe the most asked question I get is "how do you find time for ....?"  Well, sometimes I don't, but mostly whenever I can I fit it in.  Providing it is either work related or fits into my master plan for how I devote my free time.  A few year's ago I found myself overwhelmed by the numbers of things I was involved with.  I found myself saying yes too often, and hadn't learned when to say no.  It was then I created a sort of a master plan for sorting my commitments.  The master plan is simple. 

"I will devote my time to projects that provide opportunities for young people (roughly age 16-21) to live their dreams out loud."

I truly believe the hardest part of any one's life is in this age group.  In particular, I believe young men and women face more changes at the age of 18 and 19 than at any other period.  Of course there are many exceptions.  But this is my basic belief.  Maybe it was because it was such a hard period for me.  Graduating high school and the safety net of friends and teachers into the real world was a rocky period.  I believed life as I knew it was over when I graduated.  And I stressed endlessly about it. 

When I arrived at the University of Illinois the stress continued.  In the mid seventies it was legal for an 18 year old to drink, and I took advantage of the law!  And there were drugs, sex and about every distraction I could find all around me.  I made a lot of bad choices in that time, digging a deeper hole seemingly impossible to dig out of. 

Fortunately I met some great people as well.   People who would challenge me and shape me more than anyone else in my life.  These folks have remained close friends ever since and continue to impact my life.  I want to be one of those "people" whenever I can.

So back to the premise of this post...."how do I find time...?"

If my math is correct there are 168 hours in a week.  When I'm really busy I devote about 48 hours to sleeping.  That leaves about 120 hours give or take a few.  I spend in the neighborhood of 60 hours a week working, although I multi task with the best of them at work.  Still that leaves 60 hours unclaimed.  I think the difference between productive people and "very productive" people is how they divide the extra 60 hours a week.  For me I spend maybe 7 hours a week walking and playing with my dog.  I multi task again and listen to music while I walk her.  That hour a day, typically between 5 and 6 AM is when I plan the rest of my day.  I run through my "to do" list in my head and determine how I'm going to start the day at the office.

Usually another hour in the morning is spent catching up on the news of the day, watching any shows from the previous night I taped, or reading the paper.  It's my time to learn, reflect, relax.  So I'll count another 7 hours to this, leaving me about 46 hours to burn each week.  46 hours is a lot of time.
How I divide the rest depends on what show(s) I'm involved with, what is going on at church, what I need to do for my fraternity, Rotary projects, or other things I may have said "yes" to.

As I said earlier,  the quality of your life is determined by how you spend your "extra" 46 hours.  Are you doing things you love, or things you have to do?  Are you surrounded by people you love, or just people you tolerate?  For me at least, changing that time in my life has made all the difference in the world

Why do I do it?  Simply because it's fun.  I love seeing others realize they are capable of taking the first steps towards success.  I particularly love watching young people achieve their dreams and stand in the spotlight, no matter if that spotlight is on a stage, or in a chapter room, or in a youth project at church.  I've said before you don't keep track of the hours when you are doing the things you love.  I LOVE what I'm doing.

Do I make sacrifices to find the time?  Absolutely.  I could certainly make more money if I devoted that time to my job.  I could watch every Cubs game.  I could see Illini games in person.  I could travel to the places I have always wanted to see, China, Rome, Paris, Scotland and Pebble Beach.   If I die tomorrow and have never seen Rome, I still will have accomplished everything I wanted to achieve in life.  All I have ever wanted to do was make a difference in the lives of the people I meet everyday.  That takes time, and you know what?  I have plenty of that.

On Jean Valjean, Willie Wonka, Joseph and Tony

I absolutely love live music.  I especially love acoustic guitar, singer/songwriters and theater solos.  Yes, I said theater solos!  :)  There is something about standing in the spotlight and singing your heart out in front of a live audience that strips away any barriers you might put up most of the time.  It's kind of like kicking the winning field goal, or making the last second basket, or maybe striking out the hitter with the bases loaded in the 9th inning when you are up by one run.  You are so vulnerable and exposed when you are on stage in the spotlight with no one to back you up.
I have had the pleasure to work with many, many actors and actresses in my 6 years in theater.  Some are remarkably talented and some are just fun to be around.  Others maybe don't belong.  But that's true every where you go in life.  I want to tell a few stories about 4 of my favorites.
Jaise Allen:  I first met Jaise when he was a senior at Mahomet High School.  All four of the actors I'll talk about come from exceptional families, who balance respect for elders with encouragement for developing talent.  Jaise was cast as Jean Valjean from Les Miserables when we first met.  This was my first "back stage" assignment for the Champaign Urbana Theater Company.  I was a little in awe of everyone and everything those weeks.  I had never moved sets or organized the back stage before.  And every night Jaise would come out and literally bring the audience out of their seats when he sang "Bring 'em Home."  I was simply amazed an 18 year old could hold an audience in his hand for 3 hours every night.  But Jaise did it.
A year later I would co-produce Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  We cast Jaise as the Beast after a long staff debate about whether it would be easier to coach an actor who was kind and gentle into a mean SOB, or an SOB into a gentle beast.  We decided to cast Jaise as the Beast and the other as Gaston.  It was the right decision.  
Jaise is someone who's roots are deeply planted in his faith.  He and I had several discussions during rehearsal about the difficulty he had in finding the Beast's character.  While he was a great singer, delivering spoken lines was a relatively new experience.  Jaise drew deeply on his faith to find the right "attitude" and in the end, his performance of "If I can't have her" is one of my all time favorites.  That moment in the show when he "softens" his beastliness was so difficult, but perfect for him. 
I had the pleasure to work with Jaise three more times, first as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , then in Annie Get your Gun, and finally as Ren in Footloose.   All three times I was backstage, so I only enjoyed the performance and didn't help in any way to stage it.  Although in Footloose I was managing the microphones back stage and it was a nightly battle to get him connected.  Footloose features LOTS of dancing and Jaise would sweat through whatever protection we arranged for the mics.  I changed his mic, his mic pack, his batteries, whatever I could to make it work.  I even had a hair dryer in the dressing room to dry out the pack at intermission to "make it right."  And yet throughout it all, Jaise was calm, respectful and supportive.  Many actors would blow a gasket in similar situations.  Not Jaise.  Patient, respectful, talented and rooted in faith best describes this young man.
Jacob Lambert:
Until the summer of 2009 Jacob was the perennial "ensemble" actor.  Jacob walks with a noticeable limp.  Directors consistently cast him in roles where dancing wasn't overly dramatic as a result of the limp.  He was born with a form of palsy, leaving his body to grow faster than his muscles.  As a result his lower body strength has suffered.  And yet the strength of his character far exceeds the strength in his legs.  In the summer of 2008 he was cast as one of the brothers in Joseph.  This role required him to dance around the stage and jump on tables.  And it required him to sing.  Jacob has a rich singing voice, and he delivers every note in perfect pitch.  His performance in Joseph led the directors of the second version of CUTC's Les Mis to select him for the role of Jean Valjean. 
I can remember the staff let the actors who had been called back leave before the cast was selected.  As the discussion centered around Valjean, the music director realized he hadn't asked Jacob to sing the "high C" required for "Bring 'em home."  I quickly dialed Jacob's number, put him on speaker and said "Jacob, sing us a high c."  He did and he got the part.
As the rehearsing moved forward it became apparent Jacob was struggling lifting and carrying Marius (David Kessler) across the stage in a dramatic moment when he saves the young man's life.  Jacob could certainly carry David in his arms, but picking him up was a huge strain on Jacob's lower body.  Serving as technical director for the show, I consulted with our staff and determined we would have David lay on a large trunk instead of the floor so the lift wasn't quite as far.  After two days of working with the amended lift Jacob came to me and said "I prefer to lift him from the floor, the scene loses it's dramatic affect if we use the crate."  We did as he asked.  For the remaining days of rehearsal and each of the performances Jacob lifted and carried David across the stage without a hint of strain.  It was mind over matter, and he willed his legs to be at full strength for the shows. 
Shortly after the final performance Suzanne Aldridge and I were presenting "Encore: A Tribute to Kathy Murphy."  Our close friend Kathy had passed earlier in the year after a long and valiant battle against cancer.  In tribute to Kathy, her friends organized a scholarship to be awarded to high school seniors who had participated in theater.  Sue, John Stuff and several others, put together a collection of Kathy's favorite songs and had actors from the past and present perform them in her honor.  Sue had a vision of Jaise Allen and Jacob singing a sort of "dueling Valjeans" presenting one of Kathy's favorites, Bring 'em Home. 
Jacob was a bit intimidated as he had been one of the Les Miz children in the first performance and greatly admired Jaise as Valjean.  Singing beside him and with him was frightful.  A 3 minute ovation after the number was evidence he held his own.  By the way, Jacob was the first winner of the Kathy Murphy Scholarship.  She would have been proud!
Cullyn Murphy:
I first met Cullyn backstage at Oliver in the fall of 2006.  He was one of the street urchins in Fagan's gang.  I mentioned Kathy Murphy earlier and Cullyn is one of Kathy's nephews.  The Murphy family is a bit odd to say the least.  At least odd from the perspective they all love to be on stage and entertain.  Cullyn is no exception. 
Cullyn Murphy has a smile stretching literally ear to ear and bright white teeth to fill in the gaps.  He seemingly never has a bad day and makes everyone feel a little bit better just because he lives his life as if today might be his last.  As an actor and singer he reminds you a bit of Dick Van Dyke and perhaps Steve Martin.  Slapstick comes naturally to him.  And he has another wonderful voice making you realize he is not just a funny guy, but a talented actor.  Over the past 6 years I may have seen every show he has performed in at least once.  I have never been disappointed. 
In 2010 he was selected to play the role of Wille Wonka.  This was his first major lead role in community theater.  Yet he was perfectly prepared to take on the task.  While he may never be cast as a romantic leading man, Cullyn can mold a role with even the slightest bit of humor into a perfected sculpted masterpiece.  The rehearsals and performances of Willie Wonka were all made brighter by the fact Cullyn was there every day to make us laugh at the story, the characters and even ourselves.
CUTC performs their shows over a two week period, taking Monday through Wednesday off in the middle of 8 or 9 performances from the stage.  However many directors call the actors back in on Wednesday to brush up the lines and dance moves. 
There is a scene in Willie Wonka when Willie reaches into a small tv to grab Mike Teavee who has been shrunk by Willie's TV transporter and "transported" to the tv.   For the performance the director had placed a GI Joe with Mike's imitated costume into a small tv looking box for Willie to reach in and grab.  On the Wednesday walk through, unbeknownst to Cullyn, I had striped the doll of it's clothes and placed it in the box.  Cullyn got to that point of the show, reached into the box and said "and here we have Mike Teavee, magically transported into the tv and he's perfectly normal except he's......NAKED!!!"  The cast and crew broke up and he moved right along with the scene as if it were planned all along.. 
Kathy loved all her nieces and nephews, but I think she loved Cullyn just a little more.  He loves the theater almost as much as she did.  And it loves him back.
David Kessler:
A lot of people think David Kessler sings like an angel.  I disagree.  I think David Kessler is an angel sent by God to remind us of the wonderful gifts he has given each of us and the obligation we all have to develop those gifts.   In the six years I have been involved in theater David is the simply the best pure singer I have worked with. 
I first met David in that same Les Miz cast 6 years ago.  He, like Jacob, was one of the street children.  Three years later he would play the part of Marius.  In between he was cast as Hugo in Bye Bye Birdie.  As Hugo he was just another talented student with a decent voice and a bright smile.  Yet he had a certain quality in his voice that made me think he might be special someday. 
I have seen David in 10 or 15 roles.  He never misses a line, a note or a cue.  A true professional every minute he is on the stage. 
This summer CUTC is presenting West Side Story.  David's dream role is Tony. I can't imagine anyone else playing it.  When Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein wrote West Side Story they must have certainly had a voice like David's in mind.  I won't say I have never seen David upset, but I have never seen him upset for long.  He brings a sense of dignity, grace and commitment to each and every moment he is in a room or on a stage.  And....his voice...is well..... angelic.

Jean Driscoll: 8 Time Boston Marathon winner and Olympic Gold Medalist. "Walking is Overrated"

Yesterday Rotary hosted the annual Interact Leadership Day at Centennial High School.  Another of my "spare time activities" is helping with the Centennial Interact Club, a group of 50+ talented seniors dedicated to community service.  And yesterday was designed to help the members learn a little about themselves, a little about their duties in the next school year, a little about leadership and elect new officers while we were at it.  We always invite a few guest speakers, and yesterday we invited an old friend, Jean Driscoll.

I first met Jean about 20 years ago while I was working at the UI athletic dept.  By the time I had met her she had won the Boston Marathon Women's Wheelchair race several times and was one of our most celebrated Champaign and UI residents. 

I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago.  I don't remember ever talking to anyone with a disability until I entered college.  At that time, disabled students attended separate schools so there was no reason for us to cross paths.  And my time was devoted to football, basketball and baseball, so I didn't have any opportunity to know anyone with any disability. 
When I came to Champaign to go to college I was immediately struck by the the numbers of students in wheelchairs.  There were ramps everywhere, curb cuts and even special buses to transport them.  My friends and I snickered and made fun of all the wheelchair "junkies" all around, and frankly made no attempt to engage a single student.  I don't recall that there were even disabled students in any of my classes.  I had a mindset that if I engaged a disabled student I might "catch" what they have.  Sad, but true.
So I finished school and went on to Detroit to work for P & G.  I managed to "keep my record clean" in terms of meeting a single disabled person other to say "hello" if our eyes met on the streets.  I moved back to Champaign after 4 years and still hadn't advanced my prejudice.  Eventually I went to work for the athletic department and it was then I met Jean Driscoll.
In my mind she was different.  She was clearly an athlete.  Whatever she "had", she overcame it in my mind, and I wanted to meet her.  Jean is a huge basketball fan, especially women's basketball, and it was at post game reception I met her for the first time.
Jean has a smile that truly warms a room.  And from the minute you meet her you know this is a special person.  Over the next few years we would say hello, exchange a few stories and she would update me on the latest training or event.  There was nothing overly significant here, just casual chatter, but I came to begin to see her as a normal person. 
When I went to work for Pepsi, our paths crossed again.  Jean was a spokesperson for Ocean Spray and we distributed Ocean Spray juices.  She was speaking at an event and I was invited to attend.  And did.   Again we exchanged greetings and caught up on what each was doing.  But then I sat down and for the first time heard the "Jean Driscoll Story."  What a story it is!  She wasn't always in a wheelchair, but an illness eventually moved her there.  It's an amazing story of how God closes one door and opens a window.  And what a window it was that opened for her.  A path that led her to a list of friends including Presidents, Kings, actors, athletes and virtually everyone you might read or hear about in People magazine. 
Over the next few years I heard Jean speak several more times.  By now our conversations were more substantial.  I was deeply interested in her, in her exploits and travels.  I began to see Jean the person and not Jean the wheelchair athlete.  And I began to understand that in truth, I was the one who was disabled, not Jean.
You see Jean Driscoll lives by the principal that we all need to "Dream out Loud."  We need to live our dreams, not store them in a box and feel sorry for ourselves because we never experienced them.  And if we keep our dreams locked up, we are truly the ones who are disabled, because we will never come close to living up to our potential. 
I truly began to see just how ignorant I had been and truly prejudiced concerning anyone with a disability.  And I began to think about all the other wonderful people who had crossed my path over my life who I just looked over or past.  Jean opened my eyes, and for that I am eternally grateful.
Today Jean works for the UI in the Applied Life Sciences department.  She is a fund raiser for their foundation.  I can't imagine a better ambassador.  Who could say no to that smile!
She also is deeply devoted to helping the disabled citizens in Ghana live a normal life.  In Ghana, the culture is such that the disabled are given a status slightly below dogs.  A reluctant participant at first, Jean was invited to help host a wheelchair track camp in Ghana.  When she arrived at the stadium she expected that the facilities would be poor and that the wheelchairs would be in need of repair.  What she didn't expect where the people who came though the gates literally dragging themselves on the ground over several blocks to be a part of the camp.
6 years later Ghana is beginning to change their attitudes about the disabled, due largely to Jean's persistence.  She has met with government officials, sport federation executives and literally anyone who would listen.  Ghana has had entrants in the Para Olympic games for the first time, and plans to send a full team to London in 2012.  She has helped to provide hundreds of wheelchairs, both of the race variety and everyday use.  There is a disabled athlete training center in Ghana now.  But more important, the athletes who she met 6 years ago are recognized as members of their families now.  They don't eat on the floor with the dogs, they aren't hidden in the back room.  Like me, the people of Ghana are recognizing their ignorance and beginning to understand that the "disabled" are not only people, but people with dreams and talent as well.
Jean says "I forget I am disabled.  I live a normal life, drive my own car, shop at the grocery store, do everything everyone else does.  Except I don't walk.  Walking is overrated."  There is nothing normal about Jean Driscoll.

Breaking the Cubs Curse!!!

Ok, so as you may know I used to work for the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Illinois.  My title was Assistant to the Associate Athletic Director, but my duties were basically two-fold.  First, I was responsible for group sales at the football and basketball games.  I organized the corporate tent parties in the parking lots for football and managed the large groups for basketball games. 
But my main duty was to oversee the baseball operations.  I scheduled travel, helped with player scholastics, monitored the NCAA rules requirements, handled the budgets, and wrote the Big 10 conference schedule for all the teams.  It was fun job for sure.
One day I was sitting in the office and Jim Lefebvre called.  It was 1992 and Jim was managing the Chicago Cubs at the time.  I had gotten to know him a little as his son Ryan played baseball for Minnesota and our paths crossed at games and meetings.
Jim says to me on the call, "Todd, I was thinking about how we can break the Billy Goat Curse at Wrigley.  I know you guys have an indian Chief at Illinois.  How about we have this Chief come up to Wrigley, smoke his peace pipe in centerfield before the game and he can lift the curse."  I told Jim that first of all the Chief didn't smoke a peace pipe, and secondly, the UI had just announced the Chief wouldn't be appearing in public anymore due to the beginning of the "Chief Controversery."  However, maybe I could convince the Chancellor to allow the UI band to come up to Wrigley to and play the national anthem, and then bring the chief along to dance.  
Jim said that would work, and let me know when they could make it and the Cubs would take care of everything, transportation, tickets, food, etc.  So, I called our Associate AD to share the invitation.  He said he would have to ask the Chancellor and would let me know.  A few days later the request was denied.  I called Jim and said, "sorry, the Chief can't make it."
Jim's head was always spinning, he said, "Todd, I know, have that Chief smoke his peace pipe in front of a picture of him, then bring it up to Wrigley, and we'll hang it in the clubhouse."  I reminded Jim there was no peace pipe...and then said "sure, we'll bring it up next week."
So, Coach "Itch" Jones and I headed to Wrigley Field the next week, photo of Chief Illinwek in hand.  We got to the stadium and it was raining.  The players were in the batting cage under the bleachers and we sat in the dugout talking to Jim.  He assembled the players in the clubhouse and proudly hung the photo of the Chief, saying "the curse is broken."
We went up to his office after the ceremony and talked for awhile about his job, the Cubs, and his most recent dilemna.  Seems future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux's contract was ending that year.  Jim said the club owner, the Chicago Tribune, had asked him to put together stats justifying not signing Maddux as the highest paid pitcher in baseball salary.  Jim pulled out some stats and said, "I don't know how I can answer this.  Take a look at Greg's opponent batting average.  First inning .189, second inning .181, third inning, .175, and showed us stats where opponent's averages dropped every inning until the 8th inning, where it then came up to about .185.  Amazing stats.  Jim said, "This guys is simply the best pitcher I have ever seen, how can I tell the Tribune not to pay him what he is worth.' 
Maddux went on to win the Cy Young that year.  And was traded to the Braves.  But it was great to get an insight into the struggles a major league manager has when he has to keep a great player from leaving.
Well, as you know they didn't make the post season that year, or any other year until 1998.  And as you also know, they still haven't made it to the World Series.  But, it's nice to know that they have tried almost everything to break the curse.  Maybe if the Chief would have brought that peace pipe up to Wrigley....

Stories from the West Side and other places!

I truly have a lot of fun working on local shows.  At the moment I have finished producing two shows in the past six months, started a third and am about to begin a fourth.  Maybe the best thing about producing the latest show, West Side Story, is that it is bringing back a lot a great memories. 
West Side Story is as old as I am!  Literally it was released on Broadway the year I was born.  So I guess I've grown old with it!
My mother was a frugal Greek woman.  She looked for bargains everywhere, complained when the price of meat or milk was too high, and often outfitted my brothers or I with clothes from the local Thrift Store.  In fact I'm pretty sure the reason she volunteered there was so she got first crack at whatever was donated that week.  We didn't know any better.  Maybe it was because fashion wasn't a hot topic in the early 60's. 
My mother loved musicals.  In particular she loved Sound of Music, Funny Girl and West Side Story.  She owned about 5 record albums.  Those were those plastic black things that we put in a "record player" and a needle played the music.  Imagine that! 
She would borrow one of my brother's record players and play her favorites every day.  And West Side Story was certainly one of her favorites.  I knew the words to "Tonight", "Somewhere", and "Maria" before I knew how to sing my "ABC's" or really any other kid song.She had great taste. 
West Side Story has simply the most amazing music of it's era.  And I am absolutely loving the fact that I get to listen to it every night at rehearsal.  To make things even better, our cast is a collection of high school students from 14 area high schools.  The best of the best.  And to listen to them sing is truly heaven.
One quick aside, I knew the story to West Side Story so well that when I read "Romeo and Juliet" in my 8th grade English Lit class I asked the teacher why this Shakespeare guy ripped off West Side Story.  :)
The performances will be in June at Parkland Theater.  Sue Aldridge and Becky Murphy are directing and teaching the choreography.  I promise it will be wonderful.
In the meantime, I'm just having a nightly flashback to my youth.