Mark Olson - Walla-Pa-Looza Volunteer

Ladies and Gentleman I present to you….

Behind the scenes here at the Walla-Pa-Looza world wide headquarters we are always coming up with ideas to grow our events. We talk, email and bounce things off each other all the time. So, when someone comes up with something good, we run with it. A lot of people think that I am this one man wrecking crew. Well, the truth is, I do some wrecking but we have an incredible group of volunteers. Since I put together this organization in May of 2009 I had an outpour of people that called me or e-mail me wanting to do something. Some of them, well all of them work behind the scenes never asking for recognition.

So, without further ado I present to you Mark Olson. Mark is one of the volunteers that flies under the radar but is always first to do anything thats necessary. Mark and I have known each other for over twenty years. Although we did not hang out during those past twenty years we have been able to reconnect because of Facebook. So, when Mark came to me and asked “what can I do?” we assigned him some tasks. Since then Mark has become our go to guy when it comes to selling tickets, loading and unloading bands, setting up, breaking down and much, much more!

Mark is one of our best volunteers. He brings a positive attitude, a sense of humor and a big heart. Those traits will take him a long way in life and I am glad to have him on our team. When you have a group like we do it helps to have people like Mark who just go with the flow. Since reconnecting with Mark I found out that he loves football, the Cubs, snowmobiling, fishing and his family. He is also married to Lauri Olson who happens to be the Village President of Richmond, Illinois. So, when you see Mark loading gear or selling drink tickets at Walla-Pa-Looza say hello. Thanks again Mark. It’s nice to have you on our side!

Mark volunteers for Walla-Pa-Looza and you can too! Hit the contact us page on our website today. If you cannot volunteer, spread the word, invite a neighbor or become a friend of ours at http://www.facebook.com/wallapalooza.

CW

Becoming the guy that decided to throw a party in his backyard and then turning it into a fund raising effort certainly has its ups and downs. My “need to party” has something that has been a part of my social activities since 1985. I can remember the first party I threw at my parent’s house in Eastwood Manor like it was yesterday. Word traveled pretty fast through the halls of McHenry East Campus. The next thing I know, I have a hundred or so people wandering around, drinking liquor and doing things that I am sure would have completely shocked most of us today. But, hey, we had a need to party. Those times were different. The police would come, everyone would scatter and the guy that threw the party had to clean up, repair things and plan to basically get his ass kicked. I have to tell you the truth. IT WAS COMPLETELY WORTH IT!

My “need to party” has given me the ability to meet some incredible people and that is something I will take to my grave. That is as long as “my need” does not put me their first. But, seriously, over the years, those parties have become children’s birthday parties, Fathers Day parties, baseball picnics and anniversary parties. Funny, I am still partying but maybe just a little more laid back that’s all. Socially, I love the part where I get to introduce people I know to other people I know. The interaction is very cool. As I get older I tend to think that I am the friendship match-maker. It’s me that is the common denominator. I know it’s a pretty twisted reality, but it’s true.

Walla-Pa-Looza is living proof.

The party aspect has put me in front of a lot of fun people – the Raisin’ Cash For Cancer part has given me a nice dose of “hey pay attention dummy” reality. People die from cancer. Just take a look around. It’s starting to feel like I am constantly reading about someone that has just lost a friend to cancer or has a family member that died or was recently diagnosed and has a hell of a fight on their hands all the time. I see it from my friends on Facebook, I see it in my e-mail inbox, and I see it around my community. So partying is my way of giving back. Some run relays, some play poker, others shave heads. I party. That’s what I know.

Sometimes, we get good news. Like this past week. My close friends, Nick and Traci Bionda found out that their son Zak is still cancer free. The Bionda’s are lucky; Zak was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma and has been cancer free for sometime. I am so pleased to hear that Zak is continuing to do well. Those types of stories give me hope. Hope that other people I know will get that same kind of news. If not, I am still willing to party. Only instead of having a few people at mom and dads house I will continue to invite the 2,000+ people I know to celebrate with me. It’s a celebration of hope, dreams and cures.

See you on July 31st

Craig

PS – I hope the fathers and grandfathers had a great day yesterday. I know I did.

What a special week we had here in the Chicagoland area. We were blessed with a Stanley Cup by our Chicago Blackhawks and we had the Cross-Town Classic between the Cubs and the White Sox.

We also celebrated my son Justin’s 9th birthday. I love you very much Justin, you make me so proud!

This week I was also presented with a plaque by the Mustang Cubs for sponsoring the team. I was very proud that Walla-Pa-Looza was able give back to the community. It was so nice to see the team present it to me and say thank you. At first, I didn’t think much of it but realizing we helped contribute to the growth of the young folks in our community is pretty cool. These boys work very hard and knowing that playing baseball teaches them teamwork, sportsmanship and finding new friendships is “choice” as well. This year was special for me as I was a team coach and sponsor.

On the same day that the team presented me with our sponsorship plaque my son Justin played well enough to earn a game ball. I was very proud to see how hard he played. He had a nice hit out to right field, a stolen base and his defense was perfect. I forget how much pressure these kids put on themselves but I love teaching at this level. The coaches on our team, Jim Belfanz, Scott Rowe and I try our best to remind the kids that this is supposed to be fun. But, they want to succeed. We are not the best team in the league in fact we are one of the teams that struggle’s to win games but if we can walk away knowing that we were good role models and they learned something that will be good enough for me.

The next few weeks, things will heat up for the volunteers in Walla-Pa-Looza as we will be having another meeting and will be discussing corporate sponsorship, raffle items and much more. We have a couple more parades here locally and will be starting our advertising and marketing in the area. If you can, help us spread the word.

Also, take a look at our website. You’ll find our Paypal donate button up on the left top area of each page of the site. This gives you a quick and easy way to donate to the cause. In the coming weeks, you will also see some of our sponsors on the site as well.

Craig

Memorial Day Float

Parade Recap – brought to you by Da Bears Den, Ebyte, Weber Grill, BK Boats & Sleds, SawStop, The Mega Event, ½ Times Pizza, Woodstock Infantry, Bundy Audio and hopefully many more  sponsors to come.

I really enjoyed typing that part of my blog this morning because it shows me that Walla-Pa-Looza 2010 is getting close. I can already taste the roasted corn that the Johnsburg Lions will be grilling and the Ice Cold Miller Lite provided by Charles Herdrich & Sons Inc.

But let’s move on to the Memorial Day parade.

Monday morning we met around 7:30 am to put together our float. Special thanks to Shawn Strach from Dream Real-Estate for pulling our parade float through town and making sure our purple balloons were full for the children attending the parade. Mike Betts our parade chairman purchased the necessary goods to put together our standard float. Once we arrived in our designated parade spot we gathered together to listen to some local politicians remind us of those who fought for our country. Afterward, the Johnsburg Marching band played the Star Spangled Banner and we headed back to our spot in line.

Our spot in the parade was supposed to be next to the Johnsburg Lions so Doug Carlile from CLM Insurance and I could walk with both groups. As you know Doug is our new food and beverage stool. Anyway, we were lined up next to them for awhile and that allowed us to deploy our newly purchased water guns and squirt pretty much everyone around us. Remember, I said we wanted to make raising money for cancer fun so of course we had purple water pistols. I got soaked, Carlile got soaked and so did everyone else in the Walla path of squirt gun destruction.

So off we went, The Johnsburg Lions headed out first then they held us back so the local politicians could ride behind the veterans in the Lions float then finally the Walla-Pa-Looza gang. During the start of the parade the Johnsburg bridge was packed with people. I was extremely proud of the younger walla-teers as they made sure everyone received a flyer. While they were working the flyer angle the others threw candy, handed out balloons and shot water at the crowd. It was one big Walla-Pa-Looza barrage. As we made our way down Fairview you could see the storms coming in. Lighting and thunder were close but we kept on. Nothing was going to stop us, we were on a mission.

We finally got to our destination at the Johnsburg Community Club without a drop of rain. We then departed and said good bye. Some for afternoon cook outs, others to jobs, others to visit with family. The rest of us participated in the Memorial Service. My wife, Joanne and I worked the bar for the Johnsburg Lions the rest of the day. Afterwards, I went home, ordered a ½ Time’s pizza and rooted our Chicago Blackhawks onto victory.

Whew, what a weekend! Oh, and I only had one beer and it was BEFORE the parade. It was a Corona Light. Yeh, I know, 7:30 am? But, hey a man has his traditions.

Have a great week and listen to STAR 105.5 the next few months and let me know if you hear Walla-Pa-Looza mentioned.

Craig