The 2014 National Wilson Awards

Got a big birthday coming up. Lotta folks gonna throw parties all over the whole world. Question for me is, what present to give? Gold? Frankincense? Myrrh?

This Jesus thing is interesting. People make a big deal about him. Son of God. The Messiah. You gotta do this because Jesus says so.

But did he even exist? My answer is yes, he does – at least as an idea.  And Christmas is a wonderful idea – too bad it primarily belongs to the merchants.

I think if Jesus had a birthday wish, it would go like this:

"Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

I don’t have any personal friends who need anything. And so, for Christmas, I honor my friends by giving Jesus something in their name. This year I’ve elevated that practice to a sort of mini-academy awards for the people I have encountered who practice that simple notion of helping others.

And so, by virtue of the authority, which I have brazenly assumed, I would like to announce the 2014 National Wilson Awards. (I say “national,” because I’m probably the only guy in the U.S. with a One World Futbol named Wilson. It’s my game, so it’s my rules.)

Each One World Futbol I purchase will be assigned a name that recognizes the honoree(s). Here they are, in no particular order:

Apostle: This one is named for Paul, a guy I call the Apostle Paul. He lives in the basement of the church at the other end of my block. Paul stands on the corner at all hours and all weathers, with his arms up in the air, facing foot and auto traffic. I first saw him when I would park at night and walk past him. He would mutter, “Jesus loves you, brother.” That led me to taking the longer way home. But then one day I was walking past the church and he was out mowing the lawn! Wow. We struck up a conversation I learned he was eccentric, but not dangerous. He’s doing some sort of atonement, and we all could do a little bit of that. Paul is my friend now, and he’s doing his penance by talking about Christ as he understands him. When I came home at 11 p.m. the other night, there he was on the corner, with his arms in the air, waiting to share Jesus’ love with anyone not too spooked to walk the other way.

Mary: A couple years ago, I placed a singles ad on Criagslist as a whim and Mary responded. We’ve been friends ever since. She’s a landlady, and she advised me on renting my house. I’m a bachelor and I advised her on dating. She’s now engaged. The reason she qualifies for a Wilson has to do with her heart condition: it is very big and soft. She recently went to great expense to upgrade a rental so that a grandmother could live in it with her family under rent assistance. Mary took a risk for someone in need who appeared to be a worthwhile person. The jury’s out on whether this was a good business decision. But it was a good heart decision. She made a sacrifice to put a roof over someone who needed one.

Innocence: The Innocence Project has uncovered wrongful convictions of hundreds of people who have languished in prison for years, many on death row. In some cases they have not only exonerated those who were wrongly convicted—the program has also uncovered official misconduct. It also has transformed criminal law practices, reducing the likelihood of wrongful convictions in the future. (Hebrews 13:3-- Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place.)

Betty: This is a long-overdue posthumous award for the woman I spent 31 years with. Betty was a Cum Laude graduate in home economics at Penn State University and a Volunteer In Service To America (VISTA), the domestic Peace Corps. Betty started her service in Western Virginia by driving a Ford Fairlane into remote places with names like Lick Skillet Holler to deliver library books. She observed that these people were poor because they were school dropouts. And they were dropouts because they didn’t have good clothing to wear.

So Betty turned grant writer and found a supplier for five Singer sewing machines and she taught those mothers how to make reversible jumpers for their daughters. The photos here are of one mother making clothing, and a whole lot of happy girls in a sort of fashion show they held afterward. There are adults living today who graduated from high school because they had decent clothes to wear. Betty transformed lives. Afterwards she became a school social worker, married me and transformed my life.

1966: In Appalachia, a mother makes a dress for her daughter cheaper than she can buy it and gives the girl a greater incentive to stay in school.

Fashion show: The young women show off the clothing their mothers made for them.

Dancer: This one is named for Ron Bolin, Terry West, Eva Lucero, Patricio Touceda and Rick Gossard, my most frequent dance instructors/DJs. Yes, they do this for money. But they are so much more. Through their work they have given literally thousands of individuals the joy of movement. They have transformed lives by helping people connect with others in energetic and artistic fashion. They have broadened imaginations. They have enabled individuals to self-actualize.  While the One World Futbol gives children the gift of play, these instructors have given the gift of play to adults. There are too many dance instructors to name here, but Dancer honors them all.

Dance instructors: Bolin, Lucero, Touceda, Gossard, West

Roger:  Roger Matthews is my billiards and hiking buddy. It was he who first convinced me to try climbing Mount Adams nearly four years ago when I was in training for a medical tourism trip to Peru. Without compensation, Roger has used his technical knowledge to help many, many individuals and groups with their computer issues. He has made many lives a lot more livable. He also made a donation that covered one tenth of the cost of my time in Peru, where our group ran health clinics, promoted water filters and constructed clean-burning wood stoves that improved the lungs of mothers. (For details: incadiaries.blogspot.com)

Shirley: I met my good friend, Shirley Ganse, through ballroom dance several years ago. You couldn’t ask for a better traveling companion. She used to speak Chinese fluently, is an expert on Chinese porcelain and has been a Smithsonian lecturer. But that’s not why she gets a Wilson. She gets a Wilson because for years she was a Red Cross volunteer, and she was there for people whose world came crashing in on them abruptly. She only mentions it in passing, but for those who received help, her contribution mattered a lot.

Donna: I met Donna Boehm  online some time ago, drawn in by her lovely smile, displayed to the right. She lives in Talent, OR, very close to Ashland, where the world-famous Shakespearean festival has created a vibrant theater community. Donna gets a small stipend for keeping the shows going by managing costumes. She also markets greeting cards made from fabrics left over from the creation of costumes. The image below is an example of a card she made for me. Nice, eh? Thousands of people benefit from her underpaid effort, and she has earned her Wilson.

Velma: Just by chance, Shirley sat next to her on the plane back to Seattle from our Costa Rica jaunt. Velma expressed great interest in Wilson, because of her volunteer work in Haiti. It’s amazing. When you look around, you see all sorts of people who are worth a Wilson award. I’m naming this one for Velma just because. Sorry, no photo available.

Jasvir: And speaking of Haiti, another honoree is Jasvir Kaur Singh, whom I met on my public health tourism trip to Peru. (incadiaries.blogspot.com/) There were two physicians in our group, and one pharmacist – Jasvir. She is a native of the Punjab and a Sikh. When the Haiti earthquake hit, Jasvir took time off work to go there. She created a pharmacy out of the drugs that were flown in to respond to the emergency. If that doesn’t earn someone a Wilson, I don’t know what could.

Satts:  I’ve known Fred and Nancy Satterstrom for more than 40 years. Our children grew up together. A few years ago I donated to some cause in their name, so they decided to get even and  purchased some geese for a third-world country family through Heifer International, in my name. A tradition was born, I think.

RHCP:  This one is named for a long-ago girlfriend. She used those initials because I bought her a glass slider one time that looked like a tiny chile. RHCP couldn’t embrace the concept that a guy who took occasional free cruises as a dance host could be faithful, and so we parted company. At the time I couldn’t understand her lack of confidence in the fidelity of a significant other, but time clarified for me how thoroughly trust can be betrayed. Chile Pepper couldn’t understand why I stayed in touch, but I never forgot what my Betty told me years earlier: Relationships don’t end; they just change. She’s got her man now, but she contacted me several months ago to share with me a difficulty she was having. For some reason I was the one she wanted to tell. What a wonderful—and perhaps courageous--gift of affirmation.

Fred: Fred Fraser is a shirt-tail relative who died recently of ALS—Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was a retired art instructor who probably helped thousands of children find new ways of expression. Fred faced his impending death philosophically, courageously and graciously.

Fran:  Fran Fisher is a life coach I’ve known for years through ballroom dance. She makes her living transforming lives. A couple years ago I purchased a desk for two kids, in her honor. The desk would go to an African school where the youngsters had to sit on the ground in a crowded classroom. Fran reciprocated by purchasing two desks on behalf of two clients. Thanks, Fran.                                                                                    

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Bill:  As in the “Bill of Rights” This one is named for Colleen Waterhouse and Pat Fletcher, two ladies who were involved in the Tacoma Chapter of the ACLU, before the ACLU decided it didn’t need a Tacoma chapter. That’s gratitude for you. Anyway, in their own way, they worked to protect the first Ten Amendments to the American Constitution, and by doing so worked to protect all of us. Thanks, ladies.

Pastor Mark:  I lived in Pacific, WA for 35 years. There are probably communities that are more dysfunctional, but Pacific would give them a run for their money. (Public safety director who pretends he’s a police chief; fails lie detector test for threatening with a handgun; loses his license for failure to take a breathalyzer test for drunk driving; tampers with a witness in his son’s negligent driving case; fails to maintain the police department's accreditation; accused of having subordinates watch porn with him on duty; instigates racist polices against Latinos, etc. Who on the council is the crony who’s watching out for this guy, and why?) Mark Gause, who is appropriately wearing a Santa Hat in his photo here, is the pastor of New Hope Lutheran Church in Pacific, which operates a food bank and a pea patch as well as a pre-school. Mark has patiently and steadfastly stood up to that misguided city for its enabling behavior, and worked to protect the disadvantaged. If anyone has earned his Wilson…

Jeanne; Jeanne Fancher, who lives in Pacific, has endeavored to create open communications by recording and publishing meetings of Pacific officials, and distributing notification of those videos to a list of Pacific residents. Given the long history of Pacific’s dysfunctionality, her effort reminds me of Vachel Lindsay’s poem, “The Mouse that Gnawed the Oak Tree Down.” Or maybe the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. Thank you, Jeanne.

Jay: Those of you who have followed my blogs know Jay Hastings as my childhood friend who is spending his semi-retirement years helping impoverished Cambodian fishing villages build capital. Twice a year, Jay flies to Cambodia to make $250 interest-free loans to the villages, which then loan the money to their residents, retaining the interest from those loans to build capital. I’m thoroughly impressed at what he was able to accomplish. (fisherstonlesap.blogspot.com).

Vianney:   This one is named for Jan Kline and her home-building brigade from  Saint John Vianney Parish in Kirkland. A whole passel of Catholics from that church fly to San Diego once a year to build a house in Tijuana for a disadvantaged family. (See tjposada.blogspot.com for what happened last year). The talent pool has included an architect and a mechanic, so you know the houses are well constructed. A wonderful service by good-hearted people.

Filander: Filander Rodriguez, our Costa Rica guide, spent a few minutes with Wilson and decided he wanted to raise funds to bring the One World Futbol to remote villages in Costa Rica. The country isn’t on the normal distribution route for the futbols, but there’s got to be a way to make it happen. We’re working on it. Filander, if you are reading this, I want you to know I was tempted to leave Wilson with you. I just couldn’t do it—The Indestructible and I have been through so much together. At least you got to autograph him.

Renee:  Renee Walker is a tango dancer, a counselor and a yoga instructor whom I met as a dance cruise photographer. I’ve watched her lay flat on her back, put her hands on the floor above her shoulders, push off and rise to the vertical. Wheh! One afternoon in Juneau, I think it was, she put into words an idea I had been struggling with, whose clarity had escaped me: There is no truth as damaging as any lie. Thanks, Renee. That’s a clarity worth hanging onto. You’ve earned your Wilson.

I know there’s people I should have mentioned and failed to, and I’m sorry for any omissions.
Maybe you readers can fill in the gaps. If you know someone deserving of a Wilson award. It’s not too late to remember them. There’s no procedure in place for One World Futbol Project to notify them that a Wilson has been purchased in their honor. However, you can still buy one at oneworldfutbol.com/campaign/wilson/ and let them know you did so on their behalf. They’ll trust you. Every ball that gets purchased helps an estimated 30 kids.

Note: The campaign section of the Web Site for One World Futbol has been reformatted. The direct home page is now http://www.oneworldplayproject.com/; you go there, select "campaigns" and look for the Wilson site.  The remodel is ongoing, and it will be a while before they again display the chart showing the number of balls purchased in the Wilson campaign, but effective today the number was about 29, and tomorrow the number will be 49 or more, thanks to the folks we celebrate with the Wilson Awards.

So there they are, the 2014 Wilson honorees. Some have done magnificent things, some ordinary. But regardless of the scale of their gift, they all illustrate one simple observation:

In every life, no matter how seemingly insignificant, there are opportunities for endeavor, courage, grace and nobility. And in that, there is majesty.

Have a nice holiday season.
Love,
Robert,
and Wilson.