Letters to the editor

Mascot Games brings “New Hope for Kids”

Last month, the 20th Annual Celebrity Mascot Games were the starring attraction at Orlando’s Amway Arena, delighting thousands of area families and children as one of the summer’s most fun and inexpensive attractions. Most tickets were either complimentary or were available for a $10 donation to benefit New Hope for Kids in Maitland. The Mascot Games have come a long way from their opening day in the now-retired Tinker Field.

“In 1992, the beloved mascot of the Orlando Magic, Stuff the Magic Dragon, and Children’s Wish Foundation (later known as New Hope for Kids) Executive Director Joel Jones put their heads together to plan the first Celebrity Mascot Games,” said Rosie Wilder, director of New Hope’s “Wishes for Kids” since 1999. The inaugural games were held at Tinker Field (where the Rays played minor league ball) with about 40 mascots participating. Rosie adds, “On a hot and humid Florida day, the mascots were a wet-and-tumble group after a downpour sent them running for cover under the bleachers! Spectators’ spirits were not dampened as they followed the Mascots, who signed autographs for all the adoring children.”

Two decades later, the Central Florida Sports Commission has helped to build the attendance to more than 2,000 strong, with three weekend performances held in Orlando’s newest venue. A carnival-like atmosphere accompanied the 2012 Celebrity Mascot Games with Radio Disney blanketing the arena entrance with live music, and ticket holders of all ages jamming together in anticipation of coming events.

Though the Celebrity Mascot Games are open to the public, New Hope for Kids hosts a special preview for the families they serve in Central Florida, in both their “Grief” and “Wish” programs. The 20th Annual Meet & Greet held at the Lake Mary Marriott on July 19 was a huge success, as more than a dozen mascots from teams all over the country posed for pictures and signed autographs, delighting hundreds of kids and parents alike.

“In addition to raising funds for hundreds of children receiving grief support, as well as wish services at New Hope for Kids, the Celebrity Mascot Games have become the most affordable family event in Central Florida,” Wilder said. Wilder continues, “The entire Orlando community has benefited from an idea initiated by two pioneers in the world of children’s entertainment and charitable events.”

Rhonda Stankiewicz, New Hope’s event manager, said, “Even after 20 years, the best part of the Mascot Games is hearing the laughter of children all around me. Children who have lost their childhoods through medical conditions or loss, recapture their youth for a few hours when Stuff the Magic Dragon huffs and puffs, which is accompanied by an outpouring of screams and applause. The antics of Albert and Alberta Gator of the University of Florida gets the kids giggling, and pretty soon even the adults are cheering and dancing in their seats.”

Rhonda adds, “No matter who wins the games, we know we are all winners because New Hope for Kids can help more children through the funds that are raised. The fireworks close the evening, but they pale in comparison to the sparkle in the children's eyes! ”

To make a donation or inquire about events visit newhopeforkids.org or call 407-331-3059 and ask for Rhonda.

—Pamela Ruben

Orlando author

pepperypress.com

Film documents Florida’s poets

For the past two years, the Drey Endowment of the English-Speaking Union of Central Florida has been supporting the creation of a groundbreaking film on Florida poetry. Named after the first English poem about Florida — the 1564 “Have You Not Hard of Floryda?” — the film includes almost 30 important poets from Tallahassee to Miami reading their work and discussing how they write and how the Sunshine State shapes their art. In addition to reading their own poems, each poet also reads a classic work from the state’s past. Those classics include poems about Florida by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Allen Ginsberg, Wallace Stevens and Elizabeth Bishop, as well as Florida folk songs and Seminole songs.

In reviewing the film, Billy Collins, the United States Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, observed, “It should come as no surprise that poets who happen to live in the same state can exhibit an exciting range of styles and sensibilities. The real surprise here is the intimate look the videos provide of poets, usually at home, talking freely about their craft and reading their poems not to a public audience, but to themselves and you.”

Maurice O’Sullivan, Kenneth Curry professor of literature at Rollins College and executive producer of the film, said, “This project is the most comprehensive visual introduction to Florida poets and poetry that has ever been attempted. It represents the English-Speaking Union’s salute to our state’s quincentennial in 2013.”

The poets included range from Phil Deaver, Carol Frost and Campbell McGrath, to Florida’s Poet Laureate, Edmund Skellings, the St. Petersburg Poet Laureate, Peter Meinke, cracker cowboy poet Doyle Rigdon, and the Seminole Tribe’s Poet Laureate, Moses Jumper Jr.

In addition to the two-disk edition, a short introduction to the project for book clubs will be available in a special Book Club Edition, narrated by the distinguished actor Peg O’Keef.

Mary Anne Hodel, library director and CEO of the Orange County Library System, has called the book club edition, “A must-see for anyone remotely interested in the poets who capture and bring to life Florida’s rich and unique culture.”

Filmed and edited by award-winning Florida technical director Bill Dudley, both DVDs will be available in October from the Florida Historical Society, the Florida Humanities Council and the Angel Alley Press at Rollins College. Later in the fall, more information will be available at FloridaPoetsProject.com

—Nick Leo

Vice president of communications

English-Speaking Union of Central Florida