Final Preparations

Posted by Gabe on October 18, 2010 under KAH Day 2010, Kids are Heroes | Read the First Comment

Well Kids Are Heroes Week is upon us. I just wish I could slow down time when I want to so it doesn’t rush by so fast as I know it will. We spent most of the weekend making preparations for it. It’s either a gift or a curse but both my wife Michelle and I are very detail oriented. That makes for a lot of preparation, especially since this will be our biggest event ever.

The reason why we had to finish the preparations early is because things get started tomorrow.  As we have been telling you, Diana Onyonyi is coming all the way from Nairobi, Kenya as one of our heroes to take part in the celebration.  She actually arrives tomorrow as she is meeting the Kenyan ambassador to the United States.  She and her chaperon will meet us at the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC.  From there we will escort them back to Frederick where they will be our guests for the week.  MaryMargaret is very excited about this and quite frankly so are we.  We have never met her, nor have we even spoken to each other on the phone or via Skype.  If you think about it it’s kind of an amazing thing.  On July 31, 2010 Diana was featured on our web site.  And lo and behold less than three months later she will be traveling 7500 miles from Nairobi to stay with us the better part of a week.  We are so looking forward to it.

But it’s not all fun and games while she’s here. She came early because she specifically wanted to get out and speak to schools and spread her message any way she can.  So on Wednesday she is spending the better part of her day at Middletown High School visiting several classes.  Thursday she is joining our other partner Levar Fisher (ex-Arizona Cardinal) at two local elementary schools to speak.  And on Friday we will be at the WHAG studio in Hagerstown so she can be interviewed live on the noon news show.  In the meantime I am hoping that she is willing to help MaryMargaret with her speech that she plans to deliver on Kids Are Heroes Day.  Diana will also be speaking at 11:30 on that day.

This year will hold the record for us regarding most heroes in attendance (25) and  hero traveling farthest (Diana of course).  Instead of certificates usually given by the mall management, Frederick County is issuing proclamations to all the heroes.  County commissioner President Jan Gardner will be on hand to help pass them out.  Levar Fisher will also be there as he was in Gettysburg in June.  I would say that his speech (to be delivered at noon) will not be a speech per se, it’s more of an experience.  His “assistant” is William Green, a former Cleveland Brown.  Football players are known for among other things their strength, and William is no exception.  While Levar speaks William is going to be — what’s they best way to describe it — ”destroying” things with his bare hands.  We don’t have all the details but if you are a big fan of baseball bats, steel bars and/or frying pans then you might have to look away.  Each segment of this “act” is for a purpose and that is to get a message across to all children in attendance.  Having seen them do this once before, I highly recommend you come and see it if you are within driving distance.

This will be our third annual Kids Are Heroes Day.  Each time I experience one I wish I could share it with everyone.  The warmth, hope and inspiration emanating from the children is so bountiful that it stays with you well after the event.  I hope to see you there.

Here is a list of all the heroes in attendance: