The following is my latest draft story about an event that I was a part of, at my son's school, in support of the Terry Fox Run. The final story will be appearing in the November issue of The Byron Villager and it will only have one photo accompanying the story. I thought that you (my readers) would enjoy seeing a few more photos in this version.
Please enjoy!
The Evolution Of Inspiration
The halls were vast and silent as I
entered the building. Looking right and then left, I wondered which way to go
and then, faintly and in the distance, I heard a din. As I approached, I began to hear the rhythmic
strumming of a guitar and the sound of childrens’ voices, rising and falling in
harmony. A face appeared from behind the
glass window of a large metal door and a figure stepped out, smiling at me. “You must be Mr. Jim!” he stated. “The students are very excited to meet you.”
Three weeks prior to this day, I received an
email from Paul Cox – the organizer for the London chapter of the Terry Fox
Run. Plans were gearing up for this
year’s event which was to celebrate the 35th year of this National
effort designed to raise awareness as well as funding for cancer research. I was glad that Paul had remembered my
previous contributions to this organization and I was glad that he was asking
me to participate again.
Paul’s email explained that he was looking for
participants who wanted to become involved by dying the number 35 in their hair
to mark this anniversary. I replied by
telling him that this was a good idea… but I had what I felt would be a more
engaging plan. Paul loved my proposal
and soon other emails and phone calls were being made to bring this idea to
life.
First, we needed a venue - a public place
filled with members of our community. If
we were going to bring attention to the Terry Fox Run and inspire others to
become involved, Paul and I both agreed that a place filled with children
should be our goal. I immediately
thought of my son’s school: Byron Northview Elementary.
I found it interesting that when I was in the
main office, sharing my idea with the receptionist, she turned and said,
“Oh! Here’s Jeff Gallant, right now,” as
a teacher entered the room. “He’s our school’s Terry Fox organizer.” Talk about serendipity!!
Jeff and I shook hands and I shared my idea
with him. As I spoke, his smile grew
broader and wider. “We can definitely
have a school assembly here,” he said.
“But who’s going to shave the portrait of Terry Fox onto your
head?” I told him that I still had a few
more phone calls to make, “But don’t worry!
When I set out to do something, there is very little that can stop me!!”
The second serendipitous moment in this
adventure occurred just an hour later. I
was scanning the Yellow Pages’ “Hair Stylists” listings and as my fingers were
walking along the page, the listing for Studio H Artists Group jumped out at
me. Soon, I was speaking with Heather
Wenman and soon again, another agreement was made! Now all I needed to do was to produce the
artwork that would act as a template for the design that would, by week’s end,
be shaved onto my head. Being an artist,
I found little challenge with this final portion of the planning.
The gymnasium floor was filled with all of the
children from the school. They were just
getting to the end of the song that had lured me to find them. Many excited fingers pointed towards me and
throughout the crowd I could hear, “There he is! There’s the guy who’s gonna get his head
shaved!!” I laughed and gave everyone my
best peaceful salute.
The principal of Byron Northview, John Richmond
introduced Jeff Gallant who then introduced Paul Cox who spoke to the assembly
about the importance of Terry Fox’s contribution to cancer research and how
Terry’s dedication has inspired an entire country to continue to believe in
dreams. “And, today, we are all about to
witness how Terry Fox continues to inspire us… 35 years later!” This was my cue.
I introduced Heather Wenman, who had a variety
of shaving tools in hand, sat down and got comfortable. This was going to take a bit of time…
Buuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Jim Kogelheide
2015
No comments:
Post a Comment