Backlog: Setting Up Sunday
Who: Rowan and Blaine
When: Sunday, January 16, 2019
Where: Bradfield Community Center
What: Project planning and common ground
Rowan tugged on the handle of the community center door and entered the building. When she had expressed interest in holding Project Birthday for the disadvantaged youth in the area, Sharon, the center’s activity director, had told her there was a like-minded social worker interested in starting the organization as well. This led her to be given the contact info for one Blaine Anderson and through a few exchanged emails, they had agreed on a time to meet up and plan together.
Between helping with the organization of a book drive, a charity run, and now this, Rowan knew she was channeling her pent-up thoughts into projects again, but she liked focusing on others instead of herself. Plus she was pretty sure there were way worse outlets people have used to escape their own issues. Volunteering for the community wasn’t exactly a habit that was frowned upon.
Unless, of course, you had no soul.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Row walked into the designated meeting room to find a man already standing there. He seemed to be gazing at the pictures on the wall that had been drawn by the kids who frequently visit the center. He turned towards her as she entered.
“Hi.” Rowan greeted him with a smile. “You must be Blaine.”
Blaine stepped towards her, holding out his hand. “Yes yes, Blaine Anderson at your service. And you must be Rowan. It’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Rowan shook his hand. They smiled at each other for a moment before she led them over to the empty table. “So,” she started casually, lugging her bag onto the table and pulling out a notebook, a planner and a pen, “Sharon said you were interested in holding the event on the 5th?”
"Yes, on my birthday actually." He smiled as he took a seat across from her. "I had been thinking of a way to celebrate. And what better way to do it with the kids? It's a win-win for everybody."
“Aw, that’s really sweet. And I agree. Total win-win.” Rowan grinned as she settled into a chair. “So how’d you hear about Project Birthday? Not a lot of people around here knew what I was talking about. And by ‘not a lot’ I mean zero.”
"Well, it's about time we introduce it to Lima!" Blaine smiled back, leaning forward in his seat. "My Alma Mater used to hold it at the student center. I helped out when I could."
“Really? So did mine.” Rowan regarded him intently, crossing her arms and resting them against the edge of the table. “Where did you go?”
"Surprise, surprise. I went to San Francisco State. What about you?" Blaine rested his chin on his hand.
Rowan tilted her head to the side as she regarded him in surprise. “You’re kidding. So did I! For my bachelor’s.” She grinned and shook her head in disbelief. “Small world, huh?”
"I have the urge to sing the song, just so you know." He chuckled in response. "But the sentiment is true. Who would have thought?"
“Oh, trust me, I’m suppressing the same musical urge. Seriously. A fellow Gator.” Rowan beamed, clasping her hands together before bringing them up to rest under her chin. “What brought you to Lima then? Is this your hometown or...?” She seemed to be meeting a lot of people who moved back here lately.
“Go Gators!” Blaine grinned, bringing his hand up for a fist pump. “Lima’s not my hometown. Fortunately. My being in Lima is a long story. I don’t want to bore you to death with the details. We just met, after all. And you? What brought you to Lima?”
Rowan emitted a cheerful laugh as she mirrored his gesture then tilted her head in thought. “Hmm. Guess I’ll give you the cliff notes version. After my brother and I graduated high school, my parents moved here to be closer to my uncle. When I was weighing out grad schools, OSU Lima had the program I wanted and while I’m all for independence and ‘writing my own story’ and all that, I missed my family.” She shrugged, a serene smile on her face. “Yeah. Sorry. I guess I was the one to dish out the boring details.”
“It’s okay.” Blaine nodded. “I understand the feeling. Part of the reason I came back to Ohio was family. If I may ask, what are you doing for grad school?”
“Social work. It’s not even what I got my bachelor’s in, but I completely fell in love with it.” She leaned her arms atop the table again, momentarily forgetting the planner that lay beneath them. “So Sharon tells me you’re a social worker?”
“Indeed I am! I know how you feel. I never had any intention of getting into social work. The plan was to be an artist with music on the side. But, to quote you, I completely fell in love with it.” Blaine smiled in response. “And the rest is history. I did art and social work for my undergrad and I have my masters in social work. So, if you need any help...feel free to text, or call, or something. But right now, I do believe we have a project to plan?”
“Well what do ya know, I considered doing music on the side, too.” Row smiled as she listened. They seemed to have a lot in common. “That’d be awesome, thanks. I’m halfway through the program. It’s great but it can get pretty brutal, workload wise. So it’s always nice to hear from others who got through it.”
She blinked at his following words. She hadn’t realized they had gotten offtrack. “Oh, right. Of course.” She flipped through her planner before stopping at a certain page. “First things first, I know a few volunteers who are interested in catering the event for free, so I guess that marks one thing off the list.” She looked up from her planner. “So what kind of activities did you have in mind?
“Music, eh? We should have a jam session. That will be fun.” Blaine tapped his fingers on the table as he considered her question. “What do kids want? They want food, games and entertainment. Maybe we can bring in a clown or a magician? Maybe even a clown-magician.”
“Yeah, that’d be cool. I’m always up for a jam session.” She smiled at the suggestion. “Sharon recommended a couple websites for party entertainment rentals like that. We could definitely look into it.”
Rowan reached for her bag again and pulled out her laptop. “I have a general sketch of the budget. I think it’s pretty doable. I got some pretty generous donations. And at least by starting early we’ll have an idea of how much fundraising we need to do in the future.” After logging onto the center’s wifi she opened up a few documents and bookmarks, including uClick, the Yellow Pages online app directory. “So I’m thinking once we brainstorm and narrow down the activities, we can make a task list of what we need--like supplies and numbers to call, and divvy it up between us. Sound good?”
Blaine nodded. “That sounds reasonable.”
Looking up from her laptop screen, Rowan paused. “Let me know if I’m talking too fast. My faculty advisor says once I get into ‘planner mode’ it’s hard to stop me,” she smirked, joking. Mostly.
He smiled back at her, using his fingers as air quotes. “Then by all means, go into “planner mode” and let’s plan away.”
When: Sunday, January 16, 2019
Where: Bradfield Community Center
What: Project planning and common ground
Rowan tugged on the handle of the community center door and entered the building. When she had expressed interest in holding Project Birthday for the disadvantaged youth in the area, Sharon, the center’s activity director, had told her there was a like-minded social worker interested in starting the organization as well. This led her to be given the contact info for one Blaine Anderson and through a few exchanged emails, they had agreed on a time to meet up and plan together.
Between helping with the organization of a book drive, a charity run, and now this, Rowan knew she was channeling her pent-up thoughts into projects again, but she liked focusing on others instead of herself. Plus she was pretty sure there were way worse outlets people have used to escape their own issues. Volunteering for the community wasn’t exactly a habit that was frowned upon.
Unless, of course, you had no soul.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Row walked into the designated meeting room to find a man already standing there. He seemed to be gazing at the pictures on the wall that had been drawn by the kids who frequently visit the center. He turned towards her as she entered.
“Hi.” Rowan greeted him with a smile. “You must be Blaine.”
Blaine stepped towards her, holding out his hand. “Yes yes, Blaine Anderson at your service. And you must be Rowan. It’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Rowan shook his hand. They smiled at each other for a moment before she led them over to the empty table. “So,” she started casually, lugging her bag onto the table and pulling out a notebook, a planner and a pen, “Sharon said you were interested in holding the event on the 5th?”
"Yes, on my birthday actually." He smiled as he took a seat across from her. "I had been thinking of a way to celebrate. And what better way to do it with the kids? It's a win-win for everybody."
“Aw, that’s really sweet. And I agree. Total win-win.” Rowan grinned as she settled into a chair. “So how’d you hear about Project Birthday? Not a lot of people around here knew what I was talking about. And by ‘not a lot’ I mean zero.”
"Well, it's about time we introduce it to Lima!" Blaine smiled back, leaning forward in his seat. "My Alma Mater used to hold it at the student center. I helped out when I could."
“Really? So did mine.” Rowan regarded him intently, crossing her arms and resting them against the edge of the table. “Where did you go?”
"Surprise, surprise. I went to San Francisco State. What about you?" Blaine rested his chin on his hand.
Rowan tilted her head to the side as she regarded him in surprise. “You’re kidding. So did I! For my bachelor’s.” She grinned and shook her head in disbelief. “Small world, huh?”
"I have the urge to sing the song, just so you know." He chuckled in response. "But the sentiment is true. Who would have thought?"
“Oh, trust me, I’m suppressing the same musical urge. Seriously. A fellow Gator.” Rowan beamed, clasping her hands together before bringing them up to rest under her chin. “What brought you to Lima then? Is this your hometown or...?” She seemed to be meeting a lot of people who moved back here lately.
“Go Gators!” Blaine grinned, bringing his hand up for a fist pump. “Lima’s not my hometown. Fortunately. My being in Lima is a long story. I don’t want to bore you to death with the details. We just met, after all. And you? What brought you to Lima?”
Rowan emitted a cheerful laugh as she mirrored his gesture then tilted her head in thought. “Hmm. Guess I’ll give you the cliff notes version. After my brother and I graduated high school, my parents moved here to be closer to my uncle. When I was weighing out grad schools, OSU Lima had the program I wanted and while I’m all for independence and ‘writing my own story’ and all that, I missed my family.” She shrugged, a serene smile on her face. “Yeah. Sorry. I guess I was the one to dish out the boring details.”
“It’s okay.” Blaine nodded. “I understand the feeling. Part of the reason I came back to Ohio was family. If I may ask, what are you doing for grad school?”
“Social work. It’s not even what I got my bachelor’s in, but I completely fell in love with it.” She leaned her arms atop the table again, momentarily forgetting the planner that lay beneath them. “So Sharon tells me you’re a social worker?”
“Indeed I am! I know how you feel. I never had any intention of getting into social work. The plan was to be an artist with music on the side. But, to quote you, I completely fell in love with it.” Blaine smiled in response. “And the rest is history. I did art and social work for my undergrad and I have my masters in social work. So, if you need any help...feel free to text, or call, or something. But right now, I do believe we have a project to plan?”
“Well what do ya know, I considered doing music on the side, too.” Row smiled as she listened. They seemed to have a lot in common. “That’d be awesome, thanks. I’m halfway through the program. It’s great but it can get pretty brutal, workload wise. So it’s always nice to hear from others who got through it.”
She blinked at his following words. She hadn’t realized they had gotten offtrack. “Oh, right. Of course.” She flipped through her planner before stopping at a certain page. “First things first, I know a few volunteers who are interested in catering the event for free, so I guess that marks one thing off the list.” She looked up from her planner. “So what kind of activities did you have in mind?
“Music, eh? We should have a jam session. That will be fun.” Blaine tapped his fingers on the table as he considered her question. “What do kids want? They want food, games and entertainment. Maybe we can bring in a clown or a magician? Maybe even a clown-magician.”
“Yeah, that’d be cool. I’m always up for a jam session.” She smiled at the suggestion. “Sharon recommended a couple websites for party entertainment rentals like that. We could definitely look into it.”
Rowan reached for her bag again and pulled out her laptop. “I have a general sketch of the budget. I think it’s pretty doable. I got some pretty generous donations. And at least by starting early we’ll have an idea of how much fundraising we need to do in the future.” After logging onto the center’s wifi she opened up a few documents and bookmarks, including uClick, the Yellow Pages online app directory. “So I’m thinking once we brainstorm and narrow down the activities, we can make a task list of what we need--like supplies and numbers to call, and divvy it up between us. Sound good?”
Blaine nodded. “That sounds reasonable.”
Looking up from her laptop screen, Rowan paused. “Let me know if I’m talking too fast. My faculty advisor says once I get into ‘planner mode’ it’s hard to stop me,” she smirked, joking. Mostly.
He smiled back at her, using his fingers as air quotes. “Then by all means, go into “planner mode” and let’s plan away.”