Saturday, January 14, 2012

Smiling

I am so thankful for friends who are willing to drive into Vancouver with me to take a peak at what my boy has been up to.

The Polaroid Party that "Team Awesome" threw last night was pretty amazing. The venue, The Canvas Lounge in Gastown, opened at 8 for Polaroid viewing & purchasing ($10 each, proceeds going to building schools in India and Ethiopia via Dalit Freedom Network and Imagine 1 Day). And then at 11 the "party" was going to begin with a couple of dance floors and a number of DJ's.

My plan was to pop in at the start of the evening, buy a few polaroids, say hi to Clint and Dallas, then leave. Last time I talked to Clint, they had pre-sold 90 tickets, and on facebook 432 invitees had replied.

By the time we arrived in gastown, found parking, waved off weird men and made our way to the club, it was only 7:40 pm. WE WERE NOT going to be the 'old' people who arrived early. So we wandered around a magical gastown with the brick streets, old lampposts and twinkle-lit trees looking for a coffee shop.

We got back to the Canvas Lounge just before 9.
There was a line up outside the doors with bouncers determining who could go in. I showed them my tickets, bought online earlier in the day, but they still shoo-ed me to back of the line. When we finally got to the doors, we were ID-ed. We burst out laughing. Seriously. Take a look at our faces. Our clothes. Our footware choices. We are old, man.

Didn't matter.
He needed to see our driver's licenses.

Eventually we made it through their entry process and were blown away by how crowded it was and how much positive energy was buzzing through those rooms. Hundreds of people were there. Half the Polaroids were sold. Familiar faces everytime I turned around. It was crazy.

I called Clint from my cellphone and my smiling boy slid up behind me and gave me a hug. Months of planning and prep, weeks of worry and wonder and days of no-sleep and attention to details paid off. He was astounded by the turnout. And thrilled with the response.



We manged to look at all 20 photographer's displays before leaving about an hour later. I bought 4 Polaroids from 'kids' that I know: Adam Shellenberg, Kelly Swanson, Sean Dalit and Clint.

In the end, they had just over 800 people partying with them.
They raised about $10,000 from $10 Polaroid sales and $10 entrance fees.
Most importantly; they had fun.
Fun.
Having fun, fundraising.

And everyone on the planning team was born in the '80's.

I know there's a lot of talk and concern about this next generation ... but so far? I'm wholly supportive. Once they figure out what's important, they throw their entire beings into it. They are a passionate bunch.

Our job? Is to encourage, guide, listen and cheer.
I love watching them go after their dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. Another set of Drew's friends - determined to help him get that engine out:
























































































(My garage was SO clean before this project started ...)

2. It snowed on the drive home last night.
This was the scene outside my bedroom window at midnight:
















So pretty, no?
















The flakes were huge.
The earth was quiet.
















3. I had my first Cadbury Cream Egg of the season and it was delightful.

All in all a solid day.
:)


Shalom,

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