[GaryVoshol]

Woodie spoke with several members of our team on Friday. One member in particular was especially excited about that. Saturday morning I was looking for an FLL official on Einstein and Woodie happened to be there. His "minder" (*) was Susan Lawrence, and I was talking with her for a moment while Woodie finished his conversation with whoever he was talking to, and then he turned to us. I thanked him for speaking with our team, and mentioned how excited Devin was - "never going to wash that hand again" - and kidded how I could now one-up him by saying I shook Woodie's hand on Einstein. Woodie said he didn't know why he had that kind of a celebrity effect on kids, but he was sure glad it was better than them being drawn to something destructive. I know why kids like Woodie, Dean, Dave, the field announcers, etc - because they see someone dedicated to something they love, who are willing to share themselves with "the peons". Most kids can't have a friendly conversation with their own school principal, let alone approach a person known in a wider context. These people take time out of their lives for the kids, and the kids appreciate it.

(*) - Top people have minders who help keep them to their schedule. It's easier for a lesser-known person to interrupt and say something like, "I'm sorry, Woodie, but we have to be in the conference room in 3 minutes."