OH, CANADA!

April 20, 2008

We have just returned from an amazing trip to Toronto, Canada and Buffalo, New York. It was exhausting, and we had some car trouble along the way, but we had a blast...

On Tuesday at 10:30 PM, Sam, Darius, Barbara, and DGW "13th crew member" Chris Williams hit the road for Nashville to pick up Jason. From there, it was supposed to be a 12-hour drive to Toronto, but it turned into about 16 hours for us. In Louisville, KY, a truck in front of us "lost" some of its scrap metal load, which cracked our windshield (the crack is about the size of a baseball). We had to stop and call the company to complain. They said they would cover the costs of a new windshield, but it would come out of that driver's "last paycheck." Apparently, it is company policy that drivers cover their loads with a tarp, and this dude had not done that. Soon after that, the van started losing power periodically, and the "check engine" light came on. In Cincinnati, we wasted over an hour trying to find a Dodge dealership that could work on a Sprinter van. We finally found one, and the mechanic there said he thought the check engine light referred to routine maintenance needing to be scheduled. The dealership was packed, so we decided not to wait, and the van seemed fine by then, so we drove on to Toronto.

By 6:30 PM, we had crossed the border and stopped to look at Niagara Falls (Canadian side). It was magnificent (check out our pictures). Darius called it "the Grand Canyon with water!"

We finally pulled into Toronto around 8:00 PM, found our hotel, grabbed showers, and headed out to find a place to eat dinner. We were starving! The film festival put us up at a great hotel right in downtown Toronto (a city that is a lot like New York City, but soooo clean and soooo cool!). We got lost looking for the restaurant we wanted to go to, though, and Darius's chair was running out of juice. Finally, we found it and stuffed our faces. We were joined at dinner by Cathy McKee, director of the Calgary Reel Fun Film Festival and a great friend of DGW's, as well as a film distributor/DGW fan we'd met last year in Cleveland, Ryan Bruce Levey. It was awesome to see both of them again and to catch up. After dinner, we all crashed.

Thursday morning, we were due at the Toronto Arts Centre for two back-to-back screenings and Q&As at the Sprockets International Youth Film Festival. We started out in plenty of time (honest!), but, unfortunately, someone had left a light on in the van, and the battery was dead. We had to pay a cab driver $15 to give us a jump, but the cables we had sucked, so it didn't work fast enough for him. Luckily, a really nice guy was leaving the parking lot (he normally drives a tow truck), and he offered to help. He had some powerful jumper cables, so the job was done in a flash.

By then, we were running late, and even though we only had to travel 7 miles to the venue, the traffic was horrible. By the time we got there, many of the kids who had come to see the movie had left. One class (from Earl Haig High School) stayed behind to greet us, though, so we had an impromptu Q&A in the lobby. After that, students wanted to buy DVDs and t-shirts, but because the Arts Centre wouldn't allow us to sell DGW merchandise inside (without taking a cut), we had to go across the street and sell stuff out of suitcases (check out the picture). It was hilarious!

While the second screening was going on, we grabbed some lunch and ate it outside the Arts Centre. It was such a beautiful day, which Canadians told us was very rare for this time of year. Our second screening was packed, and the Q&A went really, really well. Milton, Ontario DGW fans Priscilla and Tanveer (who had showm DGW at their school a month or so ago) came with their principal to meet Darius, and we gained tons of new supporters.

After the second screening, we decided to walk over to Earl Haig Secondary School for a visit to Lydia Hughes' and Patty Koutrabis' class. They had been at our first screening and invited us to pop in. We were so glad we did! The class we visited had two students who do salsa dancing, but they were too shy to perform in front of us. So, Darius said, "If you'll salsa dance, I'll rap for ya'll!" They did, and he did! It was so much fun! The kids in this class are now talking about sharing the movie with their entire school (1,200 students) and raising money for Charley's Fund. Know about it!

Thursday afternoon, we took D shoe shopping (what else???) in Toronto. Thursday night, we were treated to dinner by al the festival folks at Sprockets. It was great hanging out with Allen, Elizabeth, Tony, and Ryan, and dinner was delicious. After dinner, we met up again with Cathy McKee and her actor friend, Julian, and hit the streets of Toronto. It was a late night, and we had an awesome time.

Friday morning, we packed our bags and headed to Monarch Park school in Toronto, where DGW fan and occupational therapist Mona Sidler-Hosios had invited us to visit one of her classes. The kids were all waiting outside for us to arrive! While there, we answered questions about the movie (they had seen it the week before), found the music room, where Jason (on drums) jammed with one of the students, Liz (on guitar), then were treated to pizza and cookies for lunch. The class also gave us all glass coffee mugs with their school logo on them. We were so touched! Before leaving, the kids challenged the crew to participate in a wheelchair hockey game in the gym. It was hilarious (check the pictures) watching Sam, Jason, and Chris roll around on office chairs!

Around 1:00 PM, we left Toronto and shuffled off to Buffalo. Once there, the guys all took a nap while Barbara got an oil change in the van. We had a community screening scheduled for 7:00 PM, organized by DGW fan Chris Muller. She has a 23-year-old son, Ben, who has DMD, and she and her husband, Rick, founded and runs what is called The Independence Foundation. Through this inredible organization (check it out at www.theindependencefoundation.org), Ben is a homeowner and lives independently with two roommates! We were invited to have dinner at Ben's house before the screening, and we were blown away by how awesome and roomy it was. Also, Chris and her daughter had prepared a homecooked meal for us: barbecue chicken, potatoes, pasta salad, and tossed salad. It was so delicious!

The screening in Buffalo was fantastic. About 200 people showed up (despite that it was spring break), and Darius and the crew got a long standing ovation at the end. The Q&A was fun, and afterwards, lots of folks bought DVDs and t-shirts. Best of all, ticket sales generated $1,000 for Charley's Fund!

We decided to hit the road for home right after the screening. It was a loooonnng drive, especially since we kept losing power in the van and had to stop often to let it rest for a few minutes. We limped into Nashville by noon and got back to Athens by 6:00 PM.

This week, we have a screening at Georgia College in Milledgeville and another one at UGA (for Jerry Hale's classes). In between, we must find time to get the van serviced, the windshield replaced, and get D's chair fixed. Never a dull moment!

KNOW ABOUT IT!