Cool on Wheels
Column loyalists (hello, you two!) may recall that earlier this summer yours truly took advantage of a fine opportunity to hang out and tag along with a big-shot honcho at Meals on Wheels as she delivered a run in East Austin. Well, we received this fine missive from another pal, Kayla at MoW, about a cool summer project and have decided to run most of it for you here:
“Many folks know the name Meals on Wheels & More, but they may not know what the ‘and More’ means. These services are the Groceries to Go, Care Calls, Medi Wheels, and Handy Wheels programs. This past Saturday, our Handy Wheels program held its Annual Air Conditioner Installation. The program, begun in 1995, matches volunteers with MOWAM clients for safety-related home repairs such as smoke detector installation, changing light bulbs, and, especially during the summer months, installation of air conditioners. I had the opportunity to join in on the fun. I got to help a 73-year-old client receive an air conditioner for the room he rents in a house on the Eastside. He has diabetes, so it is extremely important that he remains cool during the day, otherwise his health is at serious risk. As I looked around his room, I realized that his whole life was probably represented in there. Boxes were stacked on one side of the room. In the middle there were trunks, and I can only imagine what information about his life could be in them. On the other side of the room were his bed, a refrigerator, and a shelf that held his medication. It was very hot in the room. After the volunteer finished installing the A/C, we turned it on. At last, some relief from the heat!
Many people are in the same situation, but have no way to get help. The Handy Wheels program works only with Meals on Wheels clients. Eleven out of the first 12 phone calls received in our offices last Monday morning were concerning the A/C program. Some were from companies and individuals wanting to make donations, but most were from people who needed air conditioners. When we explained that this service is only for our clients, each asked how they could become one. We love this, because no one should have to go without something as important as this. Many of our clients do have health issues, and not being able to be cool during the extreme heat could be very dangerous, even terminal, for some.
Meals on Wheels, along with some generous sponsors, is planning a fundraiser event on Friday, July 27, to specifically benefit the air conditioner part of MOWAM Handy Wheels Program.”
Sounds cool, eh? Okay, bad pun, but hey, it does, and we’ll tell you more about the fundraiser in next week’s column. www.mealsonwheelsandmore.org or 476-6325.
Good One, Madonna!
When Madonna first uttered her now-legendary punchline over a decade ago on SNL‘s Wayne’s World: “Yeah, you might. And monkeys might fly out of my butt!” … you know what we were thinking. Well, aside from that, we were thinking, of course, about those crazy bellboy monkeydogs with wings from the Wizard of Oz. You know we looooove those crazy bellboy monkeydogs with wings from the Wizard of Oz. And you know that we are going to mention those crazy bellboy monkeydogs with wings from the Wizard of Oz in each and every column until the big event. And the big event, of course is Project Transitions and aGLIFF‘s second annual Summer Sing-Along, this one, of course, tackling The Wizard of Oz at the Paramount, Saturday, July 28. For Sing-Along virgins, here’s the deal: The show melds the best intentions from cult classics like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and karaoke, tossing a beloved film classic up on the big screen and letting the audience have at it. Last year’s Sound of Music Sing-Along was a fiscal and cultural phenomenon, selling out and bringing down the house. Despite the fact that it was Austin’s first ever, last year’s show saw an amazing array of bedecked audience members: the Lonely Goatherd’s love child, rap group “T With Jammin’ Bread,” a group of women bonneted in all of Sister Maria’s favorite things, a wide variety of Marias, not to mention nuns and Nazis. It was quite the scene. Folks rewrote and shouted key script sequences, choreographed entire numbers, and performed both from seats and at the front of the stage. Austin will be Austin, you see, only small bits of all of this anarchy was actually planned, as folks took matters into their own hammy hands. It was a blessed melee that somehow worked. Now this year, prepare for the same homage, this time to el Wiz. Tix went on sale last Friday, and we wanted to give you plenty of notice. So, click your heels together three times and get your tickets today. Tickets: 469-SHOW; Project Transitions, 454-8646.
This article appears in July 20 • 2001.