There have been different ways of expressing how meaningful some of the Rolling For Autism adventures have been. Dan has said that there are stories that he will tell his grandchildren. My sister, Sue, says that there are memories that she will take to her grave but that her grave may come sooner as a result of RFA due to her worrying about the skaters for 54 days! I was fortunate to travel with the RFA group during parts of their journey in NJ, NYC and New England. The afternoon at Dover was a special time amid a journey with many highlights.
My husband, Neil and I arrived in Dover about an hour before the skaters scheduled arrival. Folks were busy setting up, and I offered to help at a booth that was distributing T-shirts from every state in the US. These T-shirts were the result of the efforts of Austin Fisher who worked with his mother at contacting every governor, requesting a state T-shirt. While passing out shirts, I got to meet some of the families from the Dover area, many of whom were associated with the Easter Seals Autism Network. I was told of the effect that autism can have on a family, a school and a community.
Members of the community had brought all kinds of delicious food, both homemade and donated by local businesses. There were booths with games and information. The Ashmont Station Band set a festive note. There was excitement in the air as we anticipated the arrival of the skaters. Folks gathered at the edge of the park as the police escort car came into sight followed by Dan, Sean, Jason, Carson and Elaine amid cheering and music from the band. The skaters were introduced and given a cake and gifts. They then made their way into the crowd greeting people, playing games with the kids and having their photos taken with many kids wearing the state shirts. Skater, Jason Ortalano played baseball with a group of kids. The skaters chatted with family members and were down at eye level visiting with the excited kids. Some of the skaters were interviewed by the local paper. The media attention has helped to create awareness of autism, its impact and the need for services and support.
We were delighted to see friends and family of all ages, some who had driven a distance to be at the event. It was a windy, cool August day, far different from the blistering heat the skaters encountered as they skated through the south. We donned jackets and hoodies. Elaine was asked to show her very bruised upper leg and Carson could be seen stretching his injured knee. This was the last stop before the final two skates and the finish at Kittery, Maine. The skaters were intact, a bit road weary, but still full of enthusiasm. Ginny Johnson, the lead singer in the band asked a young boy if he would like to sing on stage. With much encouragement he ventured forth and joined Ginny in singing a John Denver song, "Country roads, take me home..." It was the home stretch; after many roads, time to think about home.
We would especially like to thank Viki Gayhardt of Raymond Easter Seals who organized this wonderful event. We express appreciation to Patti Rawding Anderson, Program Director at Easter Seal's Family Place. Additional thanks go out to Jen Fernald and Dawn Brady of Dover Easter Seals. Thank you to Sherry Paplaskas of Raymond Easter Seals and Krissy Caster of the Autism Society of NH for the social story and signs. The day would not have been the same without the great music of the Ashmont Station Band. We were deeply touched by generous financial donations to Rolling For Autism. It is impossible to name all the people who donated food, and time to organizing such an event, so here's a big THANK YOU to everybody who came with such energy and spirit.
Lini Marcotte Tatar
AKA Ben and Dan's Mom
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Beantown Fun
Hi Friends,
After a much needed break, we're going to be back for the next few weeks sharing our experiences, stories, and lessons from the road. Please comment often, as we want this to be an open forum. Ask questions, tell about your stories...we want to hear from you just as much as you want to hear from us. If anyone we met along the way wants to post to the blog, let me know and I'll give you access.
Friday night was our Boston Event, and it didn't disappoint. Chris Konnick, Dennis Quandt, and Brian Kerr organized a night of fun at the Improv Asylum Comedy Club and the Bell in Hand Bar in Boston's Fanieul Hall.
After two months on the road, we decided to make the Boston event a night of adult oriented fun. Not only did it give the RollingForAutism Skaters the opportunity to reacquaint with our friends, but it gave some very deserving parents a reason to get a babysitter, and leave the house for a night of fun. The night began with a cocktail hour with appetizers, a silent auction, and plenty of chatter. Around 7:30, the crowd was escorted into the small theater, and the show opened with Carson Strang on the mic. Carson welcomed, thanked, and shared a few cheeky jokes with the crowd. Carson spoke briefly of some of the lessons learnt from the road, and more specifically, of the energy Carson received from teaching kids to rollerblade at the Timothy School outside of Philadelphia. I was on the microphone next, and easily overshadowed each of the night's comedians.
After the show, the crew headed to the Bell in Hand Bar where over 200 RollingForAutism friends gathered for a few drinks. The night was a huge success as nearly $4,000 was raised!
Saturday's trip to Dover to follow, with a special guest poster....my mom.
Bests,
Dan T.
After a much needed break, we're going to be back for the next few weeks sharing our experiences, stories, and lessons from the road. Please comment often, as we want this to be an open forum. Ask questions, tell about your stories...we want to hear from you just as much as you want to hear from us. If anyone we met along the way wants to post to the blog, let me know and I'll give you access.
Friday night was our Boston Event, and it didn't disappoint. Chris Konnick, Dennis Quandt, and Brian Kerr organized a night of fun at the Improv Asylum Comedy Club and the Bell in Hand Bar in Boston's Fanieul Hall.
After two months on the road, we decided to make the Boston event a night of adult oriented fun. Not only did it give the RollingForAutism Skaters the opportunity to reacquaint with our friends, but it gave some very deserving parents a reason to get a babysitter, and leave the house for a night of fun. The night began with a cocktail hour with appetizers, a silent auction, and plenty of chatter. Around 7:30, the crowd was escorted into the small theater, and the show opened with Carson Strang on the mic. Carson welcomed, thanked, and shared a few cheeky jokes with the crowd. Carson spoke briefly of some of the lessons learnt from the road, and more specifically, of the energy Carson received from teaching kids to rollerblade at the Timothy School outside of Philadelphia. I was on the microphone next, and easily overshadowed each of the night's comedians.
After the show, the crew headed to the Bell in Hand Bar where over 200 RollingForAutism friends gathered for a few drinks. The night was a huge success as nearly $4,000 was raised!
Saturday's trip to Dover to follow, with a special guest poster....my mom.
Bests,
Dan T.
A Dad's Perspective
I would like to extend my thanks to so many of you for supporting the skaters throughout their journey, and the success of Rolling For Autism certainly was built upon such support. The experience has been life changing for many, myself included. One just has to see the expression of excitement on the face of a child or hear the most genuine words of appreciation from a parent to realize that true accomplishment is measured by what we can do to help others. I was fortunate to be able to join the team for the final two weeks, and found everyone constantly busy with fund raising, parties, media events, travel, and (of course) roller blading. The trip was truly an adventure, with many interesting activities and a few good stories to boot! In a time where so much focus is placed on the problems that we face around the world, it has been refreshing to see this group of recent colllege grads set an example that we can all strive to follow. I applaud you for sticking to this cause from start to finish. Rolling For Autism has come a long way since our earliest discussions and planning of almost a year ago.
Now that the finish line has been crossed in Kittery, it will be important to keep the effort moving forward, and we will continue to build upon the momentum that has been created.
Neil T.
Now that the finish line has been crossed in Kittery, it will be important to keep the effort moving forward, and we will continue to build upon the momentum that has been created.
Neil T.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Home at last
Good evening,
Our journey ended around 9:30 this morning as we crossed the finish line in front of a nice crowd in Kittery, Maine. The entire weekend was full of festivities...and we're going to write about all of them.......but not tonight. Its 11:04 and I'm beyond tired. Please check back everyday this week for news from the final three days, as well as a post trip entry from each skater and several of our behind the scenes teammmates.
Until I get some energy...
Bests,
Dan T.
Our journey ended around 9:30 this morning as we crossed the finish line in front of a nice crowd in Kittery, Maine. The entire weekend was full of festivities...and we're going to write about all of them.......but not tonight. Its 11:04 and I'm beyond tired. Please check back everyday this week for news from the final three days, as well as a post trip entry from each skater and several of our behind the scenes teammmates.
Until I get some energy...
Bests,
Dan T.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Finish Line Is Almost Here
Hello All,
The last two days have been full of skating through Connecticut. Yesterday we skated near Dan’s high school, Loomis Chaffee Prep School in Windsor, CT. Windsor is a beautiful little town with a flat surface. We skated 30 miles and had three falls. As Striech was helping Ben down a small hill, Ben lost control and brought Striech into the bushes with him. Thankfully no one was hurt. In the last half a mile, I clumsily skated over a stick and ate it on a curb. I ended the day with a nice big bruise and scrape. Kelly and I now have matching wounds on our upper left leg. Don’t worry, we will take a picture and post it for the rollingforautism website. Now I can put my four years of nursing school to use to put a dressing on Kelly’s bum. Thanks to Doctor Stevens she has medicated cream and antibiotics to help heal her grapefruit size scrape.
Today we visited, Patty, who kindly raises dogs with the help of her children to give to children with autism. Her company is called North Star and runs throughout the nation. We had the opportunity to play with two goldren retriever puppies who were amazingly calm. These dogs can make a tremendous difference in how children act; decreasing anxiety and fears. We thank you for inviting us into your home and feeding us lunch! This afternoon we skated from Hartford, CT to Sturbridge, MA. Kelly and I drove and let our legs heal. There were a lot of fairly big hills so great job to the skaters…Dan, Streich, Carson, Amber, and Billy!! Tomorrow we have another six skaters joining us as we head to Worchester, MA.
Reminder, this Friday is our big event in Boston. 6 PM at the Improv Asylum in the North End and then 9 PM at the Bell in Hand Bar.
Hope to see you all there!
Elaine L.
The last two days have been full of skating through Connecticut. Yesterday we skated near Dan’s high school, Loomis Chaffee Prep School in Windsor, CT. Windsor is a beautiful little town with a flat surface. We skated 30 miles and had three falls. As Striech was helping Ben down a small hill, Ben lost control and brought Striech into the bushes with him. Thankfully no one was hurt. In the last half a mile, I clumsily skated over a stick and ate it on a curb. I ended the day with a nice big bruise and scrape. Kelly and I now have matching wounds on our upper left leg. Don’t worry, we will take a picture and post it for the rollingforautism website. Now I can put my four years of nursing school to use to put a dressing on Kelly’s bum. Thanks to Doctor Stevens she has medicated cream and antibiotics to help heal her grapefruit size scrape.
Today we visited, Patty, who kindly raises dogs with the help of her children to give to children with autism. Her company is called North Star and runs throughout the nation. We had the opportunity to play with two goldren retriever puppies who were amazingly calm. These dogs can make a tremendous difference in how children act; decreasing anxiety and fears. We thank you for inviting us into your home and feeding us lunch! This afternoon we skated from Hartford, CT to Sturbridge, MA. Kelly and I drove and let our legs heal. There were a lot of fairly big hills so great job to the skaters…Dan, Streich, Carson, Amber, and Billy!! Tomorrow we have another six skaters joining us as we head to Worchester, MA.
Reminder, this Friday is our big event in Boston. 6 PM at the Improv Asylum in the North End and then 9 PM at the Bell in Hand Bar.
Hope to see you all there!
Elaine L.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Winding hills, Wrong directions, and Medical attention
How's it going -
Today was fun. It was a good mix of humor, fun, nervousness and excitement. The day started out late. For me anyways. I didn't get up until 11 o'clock 11:30ish. Dan was up early I heard as he was on the phone with people and doing some business for the trip. 6 days left including today. They can't believe how fast the trip has gone and they are all looking foreward to sleeping in their own beds for a change. We left between 12 and 1pm-ish to do our daily skate. We drove out into the middle of nowehere. Myself, Dan, Carson, and Sean got out - laced up our skates - and started skating. We had the cars go ahead a couple miles and we would meet them there to take a brief break to allow us time to hydrate ourselves and give our legs a rest. We did this numerous times........
When I stopped skating - 10 miles or so later, I joined Amber and Vicki in the van and rode with them for what we thought would only be alittle while. Elaine drove the Subaru ahead of us. We guessed wrong on how long we would be driving. We talked to Streich at one stopping point and apparently there was a miscommunication of where they [the skaters] were supposed to turn off to meet us. So when we turned off on the road to where Kelly, Sean, Orto, and Carson were to meet us Vicki, Elaine, and Amber all went out for a short skate. And Vicki tackled her first real hill on rollerblades. So congratulations to her:) They returned and we still had not heard from any of the four main skaters. So we went out looking for them. It wasnt until one of the skater's cellular phones rang in the back of the van that we had our first clue of where they were. Apparently, Orto and Kelly both fell. Orto fell into a tree and Kelly slid down a hill. Medical attention was administered and both are doing fine now.
After we recieved the phone call, we took down the address of where they were, punched it into "Jim" the GPS system and expected him to guide us there. Well - it guided us to the middle of nowhere. This scenic path outside of town. We called back the number at which we were called from and then spoke to someone (I don't know who because Vicki did the talking). We got the correct address and went out looking for it - without the use of the GPS system. We pulled up to a complex on the main road to find Streich waving us to the driveway and two skaters laying on the front lawn. From this point we took a couple of minutes to gather ourselves before heading for gas and then to our place to stay for the night. A beachouse in Milford, CT. Thank you to Dan's aunt for allowing us to stay at their place. A couple of us went to the beach. We had a BBQ with burgers, corn and such. All the food was good.
Today was my last day on the trip. It has been a good time. The memories last. And so will the friendships. I have a big travel day tomorrow before I have to work tomorrow night so I'm going to go to bed.
Take care,
Jamie C
Today was fun. It was a good mix of humor, fun, nervousness and excitement. The day started out late. For me anyways. I didn't get up until 11 o'clock 11:30ish. Dan was up early I heard as he was on the phone with people and doing some business for the trip. 6 days left including today. They can't believe how fast the trip has gone and they are all looking foreward to sleeping in their own beds for a change. We left between 12 and 1pm-ish to do our daily skate. We drove out into the middle of nowehere. Myself, Dan, Carson, and Sean got out - laced up our skates - and started skating. We had the cars go ahead a couple miles and we would meet them there to take a brief break to allow us time to hydrate ourselves and give our legs a rest. We did this numerous times........
When I stopped skating - 10 miles or so later, I joined Amber and Vicki in the van and rode with them for what we thought would only be alittle while. Elaine drove the Subaru ahead of us. We guessed wrong on how long we would be driving. We talked to Streich at one stopping point and apparently there was a miscommunication of where they [the skaters] were supposed to turn off to meet us. So when we turned off on the road to where Kelly, Sean, Orto, and Carson were to meet us Vicki, Elaine, and Amber all went out for a short skate. And Vicki tackled her first real hill on rollerblades. So congratulations to her:) They returned and we still had not heard from any of the four main skaters. So we went out looking for them. It wasnt until one of the skater's cellular phones rang in the back of the van that we had our first clue of where they were. Apparently, Orto and Kelly both fell. Orto fell into a tree and Kelly slid down a hill. Medical attention was administered and both are doing fine now.
After we recieved the phone call, we took down the address of where they were, punched it into "Jim" the GPS system and expected him to guide us there. Well - it guided us to the middle of nowhere. This scenic path outside of town. We called back the number at which we were called from and then spoke to someone (I don't know who because Vicki did the talking). We got the correct address and went out looking for it - without the use of the GPS system. We pulled up to a complex on the main road to find Streich waving us to the driveway and two skaters laying on the front lawn. From this point we took a couple of minutes to gather ourselves before heading for gas and then to our place to stay for the night. A beachouse in Milford, CT. Thank you to Dan's aunt for allowing us to stay at their place. A couple of us went to the beach. We had a BBQ with burgers, corn and such. All the food was good.
Today was my last day on the trip. It has been a good time. The memories last. And so will the friendships. I have a big travel day tomorrow before I have to work tomorrow night so I'm going to go to bed.
Take care,
Jamie C
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Carson Sang
Good Evening,
The RollingForAutism Team spent this past weekend in the Big Apple, and as predicted...things got a little "bonkers."
The weekend started Friday evening with a party at Manhattan's Bar XII. Arranged by several RollingForAutism Team Members and Bar XII, the night was an enormous success. Through the combination of Bar XII's drink specials, cover charge, and generous patrons, nearly $1300 was raised in just a few hours. More important, everyone in attendance had a great time, and the night gave our skaters and workers an opportunity to mingle with old friends and meet new supporters. Not to mention enjoy a great night out in an amazing city.
After a skate through Queens, the rollingforautism team was lucky enough to have two amazing supporters and friends, Guido and Lenny, invite them all out to a fantastic dinner in one of downtown Manhattan's trendiest restaurants, Botino. Lenny and Guido treated the 25 or so RollingForAutism skaters, family and friends in attendance to one of the best dinners and most memorable nights of the trip. After closing down the restaurant, most of the crowd Migrated with Guido and Lenny to a hip piano bar in the East Village, where we had the pleasure of listening to the artistic stylings of RollingForAutism's most talented performers, Carson Strang. With a unique rendition of our country's Star Spangled Banner, Carson was the hit of the night.
The weekend ended with a skate into Southern Connecticut for a trip to the Bridgeport Zoo. Luckily for the skaters whom were unable to shower between their skate and the zoo, their scent was overshadowed by the animals. We'd like to take the opportunity to thank the animals of the zoo for making our stay more pleasurable.
Briefly, thank you to Guido, Lenny, Jenkins, Calabros, Mrs. Silvestri, Bar XII, and Francis Scott Key.
Cheers,
Dan T. and Vicki K.
The RollingForAutism Team spent this past weekend in the Big Apple, and as predicted...things got a little "bonkers."
The weekend started Friday evening with a party at Manhattan's Bar XII. Arranged by several RollingForAutism Team Members and Bar XII, the night was an enormous success. Through the combination of Bar XII's drink specials, cover charge, and generous patrons, nearly $1300 was raised in just a few hours. More important, everyone in attendance had a great time, and the night gave our skaters and workers an opportunity to mingle with old friends and meet new supporters. Not to mention enjoy a great night out in an amazing city.
After a skate through Queens, the rollingforautism team was lucky enough to have two amazing supporters and friends, Guido and Lenny, invite them all out to a fantastic dinner in one of downtown Manhattan's trendiest restaurants, Botino. Lenny and Guido treated the 25 or so RollingForAutism skaters, family and friends in attendance to one of the best dinners and most memorable nights of the trip. After closing down the restaurant, most of the crowd Migrated with Guido and Lenny to a hip piano bar in the East Village, where we had the pleasure of listening to the artistic stylings of RollingForAutism's most talented performers, Carson Strang. With a unique rendition of our country's Star Spangled Banner, Carson was the hit of the night.
The weekend ended with a skate into Southern Connecticut for a trip to the Bridgeport Zoo. Luckily for the skaters whom were unable to shower between their skate and the zoo, their scent was overshadowed by the animals. We'd like to take the opportunity to thank the animals of the zoo for making our stay more pleasurable.
Briefly, thank you to Guido, Lenny, Jenkins, Calabros, Mrs. Silvestri, Bar XII, and Francis Scott Key.
Cheers,
Dan T. and Vicki K.
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