PAUL NEWMAN!

On my Blogroll is a curious site called "Hole In the Wall Gang Camp". You may ask, 'Where in the world did someone come up with THAT name? Well, it was inspired by the 1969 movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". In the movie, Paul Newman and good friend Robert Redford portray "The Hole in the Wall Gang" who robbed trains in the Wild West before attempting to escape to Bolivia (winner of 4 Oscars and 17 other Awards).

In 1988, Paul founded a camp in rural northeastern Connecticut filled with "a kaleidoscopic burst of colors and architectural odes to the Old West". A sign painted by kids in purple letters states "YIPPIE, YOU'RE HERE!" But who are they welcoming?

The answer is 1,000 children with Cancer and other life-threatening illnesses each year. They range between the ages of 7 and 15 and attend free of charge. This non-profit organization is among the top 5 in the country and is recognized by the toughest standards by the National Fundraising Association for using contributions wisely. It is here where kids have an Olympic-sized swimming pool, log cabins, a theatre, the "OK Corral" (which is an infirmary offering top-notch medical care), craft making areas disguised as Western-style shops, a cool dining hall modeled after a Shaker barn and a recreation center with camp counselors.

On the site is a 5 minute film of the camp that is incredible. A tiny little girl who is bald from chemo wearing an oxygen pack and speaking so cute says to the camera while a camp counselor holds her up in the pool, " When I came here, I was afraid that other kids would laugh at me because I'm on oxygen. But then I saw other kids on oxygen too. And nobody makes fun of me.!". A nice young man with Sickle Cell Anemia weighs in. "If I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go. But I'm not going to stop myself from what I want to do." There's a neat scene where the more physically able kids are welcomed with unconditional love and trust during a rope grappling ride from a treehouse to the ground. In a chorus the kids on the ground cheer on a girl: "You can trust us Jessica!" This is one of 3 or 4 non-profits I support.

I'll close with the opening of the tape where Paul Newman speaks off the cuff. "Whenever I'm in the dumps, I come up here. And it reaffirms everything that I think is really good and generous about this country. And to have some kid come up who's been in the hospital six months out of the year and say, 'This place, to come back here is what I live for'. (long pause) That's pretty potent stuff"

To tour a site that will make you feel positive about life and for a dose of good news (for a change) click on the site from my Blogroll list. THEN CLICK ON THE VIDEO. You'll be glad you did!

HAVE A NICE WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY!

TALENTED PEOPLE WE FORGET

When I was growing up, we had this really cool musician on my street (I'll call him Zack). He could play eight (8) instruments and for a time as a little kid he taught me guitar (don't get too excited, I'm only now returning to it). But this guy was a Genius. One of three adopted kiddos, he was primarily a bass player in area rock bands. I'd attend their rehearsals in basements and he eventually grew a beard, wore rimmed glasses and drove a VW bus. Of course, I must add here that he came home to bring his laundry on weekends and always with a striking different girlfriend. We kids drooled over the groupie chicks. I'm not exaggerating when I say he was a Genius. He could apply his high powered intellect to algorithms as he did to arpeggios on the guitar fret board. His apartment was a bit depressing with sound and mixing equipment combined with worn out furnishings in dank back building environments. I was the youngest person in my neighborhood ever to move away from home and never return. I was 19. So, I lost contact. I was so certain he'd eclipse Cat Stevens or James Taylor in popular music. The very last hint of information I heard about him was that he married a beautiful woman--a skater from "The Ice Capades". He was good at sports, quick with a sure-fired wit and evidently had some magnet to attract all those young girls we drooled over as neighborhood kids mesmerized sitting on our bicycles.

Have you lost touch with someone you've often wondered about in terms of what they did with their lives?