Kids are what Pirates are all about

When I was asked to write of my experiences in the Seafair Pirates, I asked myself, "What is the most significant thing I can relate?" Of course there's Seafair, the Cayman Islands, the operations, the endless business meetings, but what is the most significant thing that strikes me? Quite frankly, it didn't take long to come up with an answer.. the kids.

Regardless of the controversy the Pirates may cause, in whatever quarter, the kids are always there and always ecstatic when the Pirates come around, the look on kids' faces when you come up to them in a parade is always memorable. At 6'5" and 240 pounds, I can look almost as intimidating as Rich Alba and when I slowly and menacingly walk up to a kid on a parade route, they have a look that says they don't know whether to be terrified or to laugh. Then I put a sticker on them and the look changes from indecision to glee.

Most strikingly, however, are the kids that we so frequently have the opportunity to work with in special situations. The special kids at Camp Long during Seafair that we sing to, give Pirate treasure to, and who get to crawl all over the Duck. The terminal kids at the Seahawkers annual Christmas party, the kids in the various hospitals, the kids that ride on the Duck during the Seafair Special People's hydroplane pit tour, the kids in the schools when working with Ben Cherry and the Blackbeard "Pirates don't use drugs" campaign and the kids we invariably meet when we go out of town.

One incident is indelible in my memory. While several of us were in Houston, we put on a show for terminal kids at Texas Children's Hospital. Myself, Tom Chase and Weaver Dial were the only instrumentalists there and I believe we put on a whale of a good show for them. As we were heading back to the elevators, a nurse's aide came by pulling a beautiful little girl in a little red wagon who had missed the show. I got down on one knee and sang "Puff the Magic Dragon" for her. As I was singing she just kept looking at me and when I finished she lifted herself up out of the wagon and gave me the biggest hug I ever had.

I think it was Curley Haviland who said "Kids are what Pirates are all about" I fervently second the notion.


HOME	Adventures With Seafair Pirates	PORTS O'CALL	PICTURE ALBUM	CANDIDATES APPLY HERE	GUEST BOOK	NEWS, LINKS, SPONSORS	PLUNDER Gift Shop