Penguin World Conference IV
Toronto, Canada
May 24 to 27, 2002The first international Penguin encounter and the first encounter outside of the United States
PWC IV Report from Violet Elder of Ann Arbor, Mich...
Date: Mon May 27, 2002
Subject: PWC4 Report, sort of
There will be lots of reports on PWC4, with plenty of loud praises for the events, the organization, the fun, and the warmth—-all true. And lots of incriminating pictures, I hope! I could talk at length about the positives—-there were no negatives—-the hotel was great, the events were perfect, the Toronto Penguins gave us the right balance of things to do and time to connect with old and new friends. I have rarely seen the synergy that was present in the Toronto Penguins-—all the other local PB chapters have much to learn from the way these folks worked together to make PWC4 a tremendous experience. They worked together like a fine-tuned clock, and had fun with it to boot.
I could talk about the joy of seeing old friends (lots) and meeting new/old friends (people I’ve talked to on the list, but have never seen in person). I even met a person who is not on the list, who came with a Penguin friend to support her race effort, who turned out to be the daughter of my old band director in southwest Pennsylvania! How cool is that?
I could talk globally about the race in Burlington, but I will stick to my own experience. I won’t talk about the many PRs, the disappointments, the acts of bravery and the acts of selfless giving—-those stories will come from others. I will just say that they are all true. I can say that I owe a debt of gratitude to Millard, who sacrificed a certain PR to pace with me
because of my asthma, and although I didn’t PR (2:36:40), I ran a tough race and I’m happy with the result. I'm happy that I could RUN OUTSIDE again!I MUST talk about the world’s best water stop!!! (This is for sure—-they won an award that day and they really deserved it.) At mile 18.3, when I was deep in the BMZ, I heard our names announced, to the ringing of cowbell, and rounded the corner to see familiar cheering faces, including Mary D, who was not certain that she could attend. I got FOUR BIG HUGS—-and I guarantee you that I was incredibly sweaty at the time. WHO ELSE LOVES YOU ENOUGH TO HUG YOU WHEN YOU ARE SWEATING? Think about it!
I have never felt so much consistent warmth and acceptance as I did these last few days. I’m feeling tremendously lost now that we are home and back into our routine. The trip back into the states was uneventful (although we did wait on the bridge for 1-1/2 hours, but that’s fairly good for holidays), until about 10 miles from home. Millard was driving at about 70 mph when the car started to careen, and smoke belched up from the back. We blew a tire! He
managed to maneuver us off the road. The tire (a Firestone Wilderness, not the same model as those recalled) was completely blown through the sidewall. They have less than 26,000 miles on them and have been maintained on schedule. Before we left, I told Cher that she was better off flying—-it’s far more dangerous on the road—-and little did I know how true that was!Anyway, we’re home, the house survived being tended by our daughter, and I have more interviews this week, so I’m going to refocus. But I do know this—-I will be at next year’s PWC, and the years following that, regardless of where they are. I have a year to plan
and I'll start saving now. What we had in Toronto this year was incredible, and I personally am not the same person as the one who left this house on Friday. To all you who couldn’t make it, we missed you, lots. And for those who did, I can just say . . . WOW. "Thank you" just doesn't seem to cover it.Violet in A2
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