Memorial for Geewiz, July 5, Friday 10-12

[kittygilchrist]

Memorial for Gary Brown
Friday July 5, 10-12, Odell Recreation Center
Hosted by the Beatlemaniacs, neighbors and friends
Come when you can and leave when you must.
Gary would be so pleased to know how many of us cared about him. I hope many of us can come and share our grief as well as our joy at having known a great soul.

One of Gary's favorite places was Odell Center's Beatlemaniacs, where he could play his guitar with a like-minded crowd. Gary played for a party at my house, where he pumped up our single friends to go hear his son play during his anticipated visit July 5. Gary said something like, "Sam kills the drums..he is outstanding..."
Little did we know Sam would be drumming at his father's memorial. The family should be arriving a couple of days before that...

PM me if I can answer any questions..
Kitty

[kittygilchrist]

ps Gary's neighbors are bringing finger foods on the 5th...anybody else who wants to do that for the memorial, just do it.
Kitty

[kittygilchrist]

reposting to keep this on new posts..people are hearing about the memorial and asking for info....
Kitty

[queasy27]

Anyone who would like to donate for the memorial bench can also contribute through PayPal to account [irolseivad at centurylink dot net].

I'll give it a week and then provide an accounting of funds collected.

[kittygilchrist]

Anyone who would like to donate for the memorial bench can also contribute through PayPal to account irolseivad@centurylink.net.

I'll give it a week and then provide an accounting of funds collected.

thank you Queasy, the bench will be placed along St Charles Place near Gary's home in St. James.
Kitty

[chachacha]

bump....

[kittygilchrist]

Gary's last wish as far as I know, was that friends come hear his son, Sam play drums at Odell Center July 5, 10-12. Gary could not shut up about it, he really could not. Gary's life energy hung on the musical connection he and Sam have...it seemed the only thing I heard of Gary's intended legacy to TV was that we hear his son play..."Sam, a killer on drums".
come when you can, leave when you must...informal, casual.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Just to clarify this a bit. Kitty and I spoke and agreed that it would be nice to do something for Gary at one of our Beatlemaniacs meetings. Gary's son is a drummer and Gary had always talked about him coming down and playing with our group. Gary had even invited several people to come and hear Sam play. Even though Gary is gone we have the opportunity to make that happen.
As it happens, this week's meeting is within a few days of Ringo's birthday and the plan was to feature Ringo and his drumming. So, we will have drums there for Sam to play.
Gary loved the Beatles and the Beatlemanics club. We are sure that he would have wanted us to continue on with our meetings and that is what we will do. We will honor him by doing the things that brought Gary to our club and into our lives. Have a discussion about the Beatles and play music. Those are the reasons that Gary came to our club. We will also allow time at this special meeting for anyone that would like to speak about Gary to come forth and do so.
So please come and be aware that this will not only be a memorial for Gary, but a weekly meeting of the Beatlemaniacs. Be prepared to hear some Beatles music and tell some Gary stories.

[kittygilchrist]

The memorial service will be held at the entry to the room so people can come and go..
hoping to have some school pictures and mad rocker pictures of Gary. Did you know he was a redhead?
Gary was so proud of Sam's "killer" drumming! Hearing him play will be granting Gary's last wish.
I know Gary wanted his son to see his lifestyle and meet his frends and this wonderful opportunity
for Sam to pay honor to his father with a Ringo event may well be Sam's most poignant memory of this time.
It's as if Gary planned it...
Kitty

[kittygilchrist]

EDITING POST:
Thanks to two major donors we have the funds for the bench, BUT VCDD is unable to give us a location other than Paradise Park. This became clear after I proposed 6 locations that were rejected and had numerous conversations with folks who were encouraging but helpless about a location. Believe me, it is a runaround not worth pursuing.
Apologies for inconvenience. Donations will be returned.
ORIGINAL POST:
Donations to the memorial bench to be placed on St Charles near Gary's home may be made by cash or check at the memorial service or mailed to:
Marilyn Escue (aka Kitty)
2961 Amherst Way
TV, 32163
The bench will happen. There are anonymous backers who never met Gary whose lives he touched through TOTV. Your contribution is appreciated.
Kitty

[queasy27]

Hi -- Donations made via PayPal have been refunded. Please check your accounts and let me know of any discrepancies.

Thanks for trying, Kitty, and everyone who contributed!

[kittygilchrist]

Hi -- Donations made via PayPal have been refunded. Please check your accounts and let me know of any discrepancies.

Thanks for trying, Kitty, and everyone who contributed!

thank you, Lori. We had the bench funded easily, but VCDD does not have their act together. Based on their encouragement that I locate a site, I proposed 6 of them, which were not right for 6 different reasons not specified in advance, and then VCDD finally said only Paradise Park is available, and that is too far away from Gary's turf. :ohdear:

[bandsdavis]

thank you, Lori. We had the bench funded easily, but VCDD does not have their act together. Based on their encouragement that I locate a site, I proposed 6 of them, which were not right for 6 different reasons not specified in advance, and then VCDD finally said only Paradise Park is available, and that is too far away from Gary's turf. :ohdear:

We have also been working on a bench and have gotten the same information. But, we have also been told that benches will be available in multiple locations south of 466a at some point, so we are on a waiting list and expect to get a good location once they become available. So, those trying to establish one for Gary may want to consider this as a possibility. It won't be immediate, but there is no reason to think it would not happen eventually. Just a thought.

[DougB]

One of my favorite Posts by Gary

Consider the context....I might buy a home tomorrow...so, the pluses far out weight this complaint...and honest feedback isn't a bad thing.

So....I went out late to get a bite and some cat supplies...coming back, in the dark, my regular gate was unavailable with a note that said use the Morse Drive entrance.

Error 1: No directions to said entrance. This is on the visitor's gate...guess what - visitors don't know the streets, yet.

My dinner (post gastric bypass) is quickly moving through the pipes. One hour later I find the Morse entrance. The young (sic) lady at the Morse entrance doesn't even know the street I am living on...she finds a card with directions...but, the card is bereft of distances on the directions and the street signs are tiny, not well lighted, so...I miss the important turn.

That was error 2. We are now over an hour into this adventure and the pipes are screaming.

Error 3: The next gate I come to...again, the guard has no idea about the street, he tells me to go back to guard no. 1 as he can;'t read the card due to age and has no idea about the streets. I beg the guy...call someone..police, a guide dog, a genie....he just points and says "go that away." I will stop talking about the pipes at this point...

Finally, the GPS kicks in and I get back to the house...1 1/2 hour into a return from Walmart.

Upon entering the home Rada, the kitty, who was forced to spend 6 hours in a box due to the flight...rolled over on her back and with 4 paws in the air, started to laugh. Very hard. Do you know the meow translation of "Karma?" I do now.

Rant over...

[kittygilchrist]

Rada loved hearing this story again. She still laughs about it.

[CFrance]

Rada loved hearing this story again. She still laughs about it.

And I'm laughing too... and crying. A lot of us never knew how sick Gary was. He so treasured life; he put his illness way in the background on TOTV. He gave and gave to this forum. I truly hope we can put a bench somewhere in his name. Kitty, does it matter if it's not close to where he lived?

[kittygilchrist]

reminder. Memorial Friday July 5, Odell RC, 10-12. for Gary Brown, Geewiz.

[kittygilchrist]

...

[graciegirl]

And I'm laughing too... and crying. A lot of us never knew how sick Gary was. He so treasured life; he put his illness way in the background on TOTV. He gave and gave to this forum. I truly hope we can put a bench somewhere in his name. Kitty, does it matter if it's not close to where he lived?

You always say it right CFrance.

Bless his dear heart and yours and Kitty's and everyone trying to do what they can to keep his memory always alive.

See you all in a little while.