On behalf of team 3467 The Windham Windup we wanted to extend a massive Thank You to all of the teams and individuals who helped us over the course of the Championship event.
12 hours (midnight) before we were due to leave for St. Louis we received a phone call that our bus had broken down with no replacement available. As if planning travel after District Championships was bad 6 hours is worse! Even after we reorganized our week continued to spiral out of control with rental van issues, kids not feeling well, an emergency landed plane in Indiana, you name it!
Teams 319 & 811 graciously squeezed rookie team 4925 who was originally traveling with us into their bus at the last moment. Teams 58 & 133 kindly stopped and left a whole bay under their bus for us to put all of our equipment. On the way back they went above and beyond waiting for our team to finish competing in eliminations & Einstein so we could re-load our stuff on their bus for the long journey home. They pushed back their arrival in Maine to very late Sunday night but they again stopped to unload our equipment taking so much of their time and effort after a long week to help us out.
Countless other teams and individuals offered and helped us out over the weekend. Since the team was delayed by several hours on Wednesday and we only had 3 people for load in teams 1310 & 58 helped us load our equipment into the pits and setup. 126 baked us the best cookies and they (along with so many others) offered us whatever space they had back to the New England area on vehicles or in crates.
Another group who helped us a lot was the unknown individuals who picked the locks to our toolbox since the key was hours away. You guys rocked!
Thank you to Jamee Luce, Jess Boucher, and whoever else was eagerly helping us track down a new bus, empty seats, and plane tickets very early on Tuesday morning!
Finally to our elimination partners who asked us to join their alliance (2590, 1625, & 1477) we thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to play with you. After the crazy week we had ending it with a trip to Einstein was quite possibly what made the entire week worth it. Your teams are full of some of the nicest people I have worked with in FRC and I look forward to when we can play on the same side of the glass in the future!
To anyone who helped our team or offered their assistance we sincerely thank you no matter how big or small and we hope we can do the same for you in the future if not more!
This is once again an example of the gracious professionalism of FIRST Robotics. Our team had a similar experience. 3 hours before we were supposed to leave, we got a phone call saying our bus was not going to make it. Turns out the company we used, US Coachways, has a habit of overbooking so that they guarantee they rent out all their busses. Our coach reached out to the community around us for any assistance, and team Talon 540 and team 1086 Blue Cheese came to us and fit our team collectively on their busses! I was in awe at once at the audacity of the company for canceling moments before, and at the absolute unselfishness and uncomparable kindness shown to us by these two gracious teams. This has been an exciting weekend, and we could not have done it without you guys! Thank you Blue Cheese and Talon, and to every team in FIRST that has lent a helping hand to a needy team!
Frantic text from Brendan - “We’re in the tan suburban, come help!”
I remember hearing this over the PA. “Team 3467 Archimedes requires a locksmith.” I just looked at one of my teammates who helped you load in, and smiled.
Texas Torque (1477) very graciously gave my son’s FLL team a ride on their bus to St. Louis for Ultimate Ascent. I believe they (maybe their school) use a small, local bus company where the driver for part of the trip was the owner of the company. That strategy may prevent being the victim of overbooking.
Oh yeah, the ride back was a very happy one for both teams.
This goes to show that all skills can be valuable, and you never know when you might need them. Just remember to use your skills for good and against evil.
Nice post Brendan, these kind of things just warm my heart.
