I already blogged about other lottery tickets, but last night I had a dream I won the lottery so I figured tonight would be a good time to buy some more. The funny thing about my dream was that no one in my family seemed excited that I won. So in my dream, I kept rechecking the numbers to make sure that I had – and I did. I hope their real life reaction is a little better than it was while I was sleeping…
It was February of 2009 when I wrote down in my journal the idea to skate 24 hours for Hope Lodge (you can see the scan of that entry and how my idea was made into reality here).
Even though the initial idea was just for me to skate, Skating for Hope ballooned into a much bigger event – one I certainly needed help with. Like they had been doing my whole life (brain cancer comes to mind), my family and friends rallied around me in support and helped with all of the non-skating responsibilities needed to pull it off.
We had to organize food, raffle items, hockey players, volunteers, announcements, the website, special guests, music, and other things I’m sure I can’t think of. The Skating for Hope committee had the responsibility of making sure all of these ran smoothly during the event.
Even though skating and playing in three hockey games for 24 hours straight may seem difficult, I think I had the easiest job of anyone that was working at Skating for Hope – I was having fun the whole time.
To me, Skating for Hope was a perfect melding of two dreams. One dream of mine is to do whatever I can to help Hope Lodge. The second is to have my own hockey rink. Well, I did have my own hockey rink for a day and I used it to do the things I love: help cancer patients, skate, and play hockey.
There are so many people to thank for helping me make Skating for Hope happen, I’m sure I will forget someone. My family and friends are a constant reminder of the fact that the most important thing in life is the people you have in yours – I am able to do what I do because of the support of my family and friends. The Skating for Hope Committee (which was mostly my family), Jess, Nick and the FMC employees, Skating for Hope volunteers, Danny Manning, Jr., Greg Montalbano, Justin Horton, the BC/BU hockey alum, the 501st Star Wars people, the Sharks, the Bruins, Worcester Magazine, The Worcester Telegram, people who donated raffle items, The Catholic Free Press, WHS and SJ Alum, all the skaters, and everyone who made a donation all contributed into making the first Skating for Hope a success – close to $15,000 was raised.
We had a post-SFH meeting today, and I shared with the group what part of my plan is for the future Skating for Hope events. I will continue skating/playing hockey for the full 24-hours until $1,000,000 has been raised for Hope Lodge. If we double the amount each year, that should take less than 10 – definitely doable.
I scanned these things because I finally put all of the pictures and videos together and posted the “Skating for Hope Short Film” here. I hope you enjoy and keep in mind there are a couple of parts that I’d call “PG-13”.
Thanks to everyone for helping out!
My name is Dave and I love hockey. I never played in an organized game as a kid, but got in plenty of street and pond hockey. As a member of the McGrath household, my NHL allegiance was unquestionable. We watched the Bruins, went to the “Gahden”, and suffered together each year they fell short of winning The Cup. College hockey wasn’t a big part of my life growing up, but that all changed in the summer of 1991…
One afternoon while I was working at Mini Farms in downtown Westboro, my aunt called me to see if I wanted to go with her and my cousin Katie on a tour of Boston College. Growing up I had rooted against BC when we went to see the Eagles play Holy Cross (my dad’s alma mater), but I liked the idea of going to a Catholic school near Boston.
As we walked around Upper Campus, I was impressed. When the tour took us into Conte Forum, everything changed. I pictured myself watching hockey games there, and I knew BC was the school for me. The following year I applied early, and got into my #1 pick.
Although the Eagles didn’t have their most successful years while I was there, they did win the Beanpot my sophomore year. After I graduated in 1996, the program really started to take off.
When I moved to Waltham in 1997, one of my roommates was in the Pike’s Peak Club, and we followed the Eagles religiously that season. Even before the season started, he managed to score the prior season’s team picture and we proudly hung it up in our “bar room” (I loved it when people came over and asked me where I was in the picture). We were chaperones (no joke) for the Pike’s Peak sponsored trip to a BC game up at UNH, where the yellow Superfan t-shirts were unveiled. We watched the Eagles rise through the national rankings, and went to the Championship game against Michigan that year. To this date, it is the most heartbreaking sporting event I’ve attended.
Still, I kept following the BC boys and watched them fall short in 1999 and 2000. In 2001, BC Hockey did something I’m guessing no other team in any other sport has ever done. They had lost in the NCAA tournament to Michigan in 1998, Maine in 1999, and North Dakota in 2000. In 2001, they beat these three teams in their way to BC’s first hockey championship since 1949. Two really great things about this: 1. It was the first time one of “my” teams (Bruins, Sox, Pats, BC) won a championship. 2. Those freakin’ BU fans couldn’t chant “1949!” anymore (I actually started chanting “1995!” whenever I went to a BC-BU game after 2001).
The Eagles have since won titles in 2008 and 2010, and (even with this year’s first round upset) don’t appear to be letting up anytime soon. My name is Dave, and I love BC hockey.
I love BC hockey, and it was really a no-brainer that as soon as I had booked the rink for Skating for Hope, I started trying to get some Eagles there. Three former BC hockey players (Jamie O’Leary, Blake Bellefeuille, and Bobby Allen) responded immediately that they wanted to participate, and I have been looking forward to skating with them ever since. Now, Paul Stewart is going to ref this game and it looks like we’re going to have some former BU Terriers to play against (I predict I will be in the penalty box about 10 seconds in). Skating for Hope was a dream of mine 2 years ago, and these BCers are making part of it a BC Hockey fantasy for me. Thanks again, guys.
Here are some of the BC pictures taken by my dad and me:
Bobby Allen from 1998 championship game against Michigan.
Blake Bellefeuille from 1998 championship game against Michigan.
My friends Patrick, Scott, Father Monan (then BC president) and me at the 1998 championship game.
Me by the team photo before going to 1997-1998 BC Hockey postseason dinner.
BC skating out at a game in 2000 (senior night?).
Blake Bellefeuille at warm-ups.
The sign on the Mass Pike (it was fun pulling over to take this one!).
I know my writing is horrible, so here’s my translation:
2/12/09 12:48 AM
Skated @12:00 MM- said she wasn’t going but showed up,
My idea – skate 24 hrs straight for H. Lodge
Deb & Erin – good idea!
CVS, Stop & Shop, Target – Crohn’s
(Edited) arrive
New Demitri Martin Show
Important Things: Timing
Texted Andy – had met Daily Show guest (UC Davis prof)
So, I first wrote about the Skating for Hope idea 2 years, 4 months, 25 days ago. That’s 875 days ago. And now, it’s 23 days away.
A lot has happened since I first wrote this idea down…
I spent most of 2009 trying to find a rink that would let me have the event, but had no luck finding anyone that would donate me the rink time. After calls and emails, FMC told me that I could rent Buffone Arena in Worcester at a discounted rate. That was good news, but I still didn’t have enough money for the 24-hour rental.
Before he moved away to Oregon, my buddy Glen gave me a wake-up call by giving me this MacBook I am typing on, an iPhone, snowboard, and a bunch of other things. His generosity made me think about all the “stuff” I had and how I really didn’t need it.
After my cousin Katie gave me this t-shirt for Christmas that year, it came clear to me how I could fund the rink rental for Skating for Hope – take donations for my t-shirts. My sister Megan was the one who came up with the idea for me to blog about them, and www.davestshirts.blogspot.com was born. Thanks to my family, friends, Hope Lodge guests, websites, and local businesses, I was able to make it through 2010 wearing a different t-shirt every day. All of my family and cool friends came to see all of the t-shirts on display on New Year’s Eve that year, and everyone helped kick start my donations by going t-shirt shopping.
At the beginning of this year, my sister Carolyn set up http://bit.ly/davestshirtsforhope and I was able to take donations for the t-shirts online. By the beginning of March, I had received enough donations to make the payment for the rink rental.
After I knew Skating for Hope was going to happen, I started picturing how it would be in my head. I remember my first skate at Buffone after I had paid for the rental. I did my usual watery eyes, really happy, but trying to hold it back so I don’t look like a bawling fool in public. I thought of Danny and Justin. I thought of Denis Leary, Cam Neely, and Michael J. Fox skating next to me. Hey, when I dream, I dream big.
In the months since booking the rink, I have done what I can (with a lot of help) to make my visions a reality. I contacted former BC hockey players, and right away some of them said they would join me. I reached out to WAAF, Star Wars 501st Legion, Oprah Winfrey, Cam Neely, Michael J. Fox, The Bruins Foundation, The Worcester Sharks, Bauer, Powerade Zero, Pure Hockey, Hockey Monkey, and others I just can’t think of right now. Some of them got back to me, some didn’t. Some initially said they would help, but then stopped responding to my emails (like Hockey Monkey).
My mother reached out to Ann Leary to see if her husband Denis was interested, and Denis’ assistant emailed her back and said he couldn’t make it, but would donate items for a raffle.
Then, we started the Skating for Hope Committee meetings and everyone has helped out a lot to help make SFH an event people will want to participate in repeatedly. My father and another SFH committee member (Mark) helped me get in touch with Paul Stewart, a former NHL referee who is a cancer survivor. My sister designed the poster, and a friend of my father’s printed them for free. Green Mountain donated a coffee brewer for a raffle prize. Ocean Spray is donating juice. After unsuccessful attempts with getting a website through ACS and Relay for Life, www.skatingforhope.myevent.com was launched. People have signed up to skate and volunteer. The schedule is getting more concrete.
Today, Paul Stewart emailed me and said I can announce on the website that he will be there. I’m talking to him tomorrow night about the event. I’m very happy about this!
I know there is still a lot of work to do in the next three weeks, but my initial idea from that night in February 2009 is happening - Skate 24 hours straight for Hope Lodge. I am doing that, and playing in 3 hockey games in the middle of it. One of those games is going to be with guys that I watched play at BC, and one of them played with The Bruins…these are all things that make me smile.
I’m not sure what will happen with other people the SFH committee and I have reached out to, but I’m thinking positive thoughts. It worked for me with cancer, it worked for Timmy Thomas winning The Cup, and it will work with Skating for Hope too…looking forward to July 30th!
PS – A little more translation with the journal entry: The MM I refer to is my friend Megan, who was skating with me when I asked her if she thought we could skate for 24 hours. You can see how she skates here.
My friend Andy is a professor at UC Davis, and I texted him to see if he knew the guest who was on the Daily Show that night – he had met him, which I thought was pretty cool. I guess I also watched the Demitri Martin show that night!
I also wrote down the names of the Hope Lodge guests who came in that night… I censored thanks to regulations.
Finally, Deb and Erin are two ACS employees who I shared my idea with…glad they thought it was a good one!
