BACK FROM BOSTON

March 22, 2008

We returned from Boston late last night. It took us 21 hours to get home, which was way better than the 23 hours it took us to get there. It will take us a couple of days to catch up on sleep, something we didn’t get too much of while in Bean Town. But we had a blast...

Jason Hees, Alison Firor (Logan’s co-editor), Barbara (Logan and Ben’s mom), and 13th crew member Justin Bell made the looonnng drive to Cambridge, MA, where we were greeted by cold weather and a few snow showers! We arrived at our hotel at 2:00 AM on Tuesday and couldn’t wait to fall into the comfy beds at the Hyatt Regency. Thank you, Shawn Tuttle, at Harvard for providing us with awesome accommodations!

Our screening at Harvard was early Tuesday evening. Before that, we cruised the campus, strolled through Harvard yard, and had lunch with some of Logan’s friends, including Chris Spence, who is the genius behind our new (coming soon) DGW website. The screening was at 5:30, and there was a great crowd (about 165 people or so). One of Logan’s favorite professors (David Dockterman) introduced the film. Afterwards, we got a standing ovation and had a great Q&A. As expected, we were asked many scientific questions, so we were grateful to have Charley’s Fund director of research and strategic planning, George Vella, Ph.D., participate in the Q&A. The best news: we sold over $1,100 worth of DVDs and DGW merchandise after the screening! From there, Shawn treated us all to an awesome dinner at Legal Seafood, where we had the best clam chowder! She also gave us all gift bags, so Darius is now sporting a Harvard cap!

Did we mention that when the film was introduced there was talk of looking into giving Darius an honorary degree to Harvard? How cool would that be?

On Wednesday, we had a free day, but the weather was rainy and cold, so we slept in. In the afternoon, we took Darius into Boston and had a late lunch at an Irish pub, then explored the aquarium. Wednesday night, we ate at this cool restaurant called Fire and Ice in Cambridge, where you pile your choice of raw meats and vegetables into a big bowl, then have it cooked before your eyes on some hot grills. It was all-you-can-eat, and it was delicious. After that, Logan had to leave us to write a paper, but the rest of us hung out with some of his friends and had a great time.

Thursday we had a screening at Fayerweather Street School. From the second we walked into this place, we knew it was going to be a great audience. The classrooms were very open, and almost every inch of wall space was filled with wonderful artwork and cool projects the students were working on. Jason even managed to ’break into" the music room and show off his drumming skills after the screening. Scot Oxholm (math and film studies teacher) was our host with the most, and he managed to attract an audience of about 75 (a combination of students and parents). They gave us a really long standing ovation afterwards and asked tons of great questions. They also bought lots of DVDs and DGW merchandise. That, combined with the $5 donation each person made to see the film, brought the night’s total to around $1,200!

We decided to leave for home after that screening so we would have the weekend to recuperate and enjoy Easter.

A few hours before leaving for Boston, we had a great Q&A at Athens First United Methodist Church with their youth group. There was a huge crowd! They had watched the first half of the movie beforehand and finished it before Darius and some of the guys arrived. They fed us pizza, asked great questions, and lifted everyone’s spirits with a friendship circle and a prayer for Darius. Afterwards, we collected $32 in donations for Charley’s Fund and sold $380 worth of DGW merchandise. Thank you, Amy Valdez Barker, for this wonderful invitation. We always love a hometown crowd!

Overall, in terms of fundraising, it’s been a great week!

On Monday, many of us head up to Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC for a screening hosted by the Council for Exceptional Children. Check out all the new pictures we’ve posted from our latest events.

Know about it!