Yeah, OK, Why Not?...

I’ve often said that I’m not very interesting but that I’ve had some interesting experiences.  I’m interesting by proxy.

I’m really not sure how I get into some of these “interesting” situations other than my inability to say No when asked.  “Why not?” comes out of my mouth more frequently than “No, thanks.”  I have no regrets thus far so I must be doing something right.

I was reminded yesterday of one of these things that I agreed to without knowing what I was in for.  In hindsight, the whole idea was crazy and never should have worked.  But it did.  Beautifully.  And I’m so glad I jumped in.

Back in late 1999 or early 2000, I met a woman named Ronda.  She was fairly new to town and we hit it off right away because we had the same love for Blues music.  While I was always a fan clapping enthusiastically from my seat in the audience, Ronda was more outgoing and had a knack for getting closer to those performers we admired and they welcomed her into their world.

One day, she told me about her idea to do a photo shoot featuring the huge pool of Blues musicians in Georgia.  We both knew and loved the 1958 Great Day In Harlem photo and she envisioned something similar so I said “Yeah, ok, why not? Let’s do it!” From that moment, things happened quickly and I’m still not really sure HOW we even got started.  Ronda’s vision was to do the shoot at the “Cool Spot” in Piedmont Park, so she started there.  We stared at a calendar, trying to figure out the best time to do such a thing and decided that October 1, 2000 would be the day.

The girl doesn’t mess around!  Using the contacts she made in local blues clubs, she recruited a photographer who would capture the moment.  They scouted the location and planned the setup and positioning and got the required permits. I wrote press releases and we got the word out about the project.  We begged local businesses for sponsorship dollars, called friends for their support, and just generally tried to keep the excitement going.

People were talking.  Many were skeptical that even if we could pull this off, our intentions were probably not honorable and we were just looking to take advantage of musicians.  Fortunately, for every one naysayer, there were a dozen who were behind us.  When there was doubt, one old blues legend or another would tell us to keep going.  So we did.

When that beautiful sunny day arrived, we still had no idea what we were in for, but we were certain that we were going to give it our all.  With the help of volunteers (including my mom and sister who have never said No to me), we set up tables and grills and laid out so much donated food.  We organized a check in system with release forms and “mugshot” snapshots for identification.  What I saw from my side of the clipboard was remarkable!  From this crazy idea, magic happened.

We had no idea how many to expect but they just kept coming!  From the 9 year old grand-niece of Otis Redding, to 91 year old Frank Edwards, they showed up for what became a Blues family reunion of 184 Georgia musicians.  Local news cameras were there to film the hugs, stories, songs, and memories being made.

We got the photo and it was better that we could have imagined.  It was presented in poster size to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.  Printed posters were sold at cost and can still be found in blues venues all over town.  Mine is still on my wall, and many people I know have one somewhere in their home.  18 years later, people still talk about that day.  It truly was extraordinary.

 

That was only one of many adventures Ronda suggested to me and I said “Yeah, OK, why not?” and I’ve never regretted any of them.  I’ve never gotten any closer to saying No. 

I don’t see why I should rush to add that to my vocabulary when Yeah, OK, why not?” has taken me to so many beautiful places.