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I told them that I had a homework assignment for them to complete over the break.  This was obviously and appropriately met with some groans, but when I told them that I had burned a Widespread Panic cd for each of them, and that their assignment was to listen to it, and then tell me which song they liked best, they were so grateful and ecstatic!!!  I couldn't have asked for a more enthusiastic response to the gift I was giving them--they were pumped!!!  The first question they had was whether This Part of Town was on it.  And of course, it was, and they had actually been listening to the cd the past two days.

When I played This Part of Town one last time before they all left for break, the boy who tapped his feet the first time that he heard the song, was singing and acting out the words during the song!  Absolutely priceless!!! Before they left, I told them to listen to the cd on new year's eve, because that was where I would be.  My one group even yelled out with me, "WIDESPREAD PANIC!!!!" the way that I believe Garrie Vereen used to do when he introduced the boys, long before I ever saw them.

The Story Continues:  April 10, 2002
On a beautiful spring day in Virginia, Chris Cowan led his class in a presentation of This Part of Town before parents, faculty, and other students at the school where he teaches.  Eric Martinez and Joshua Stack, founder of Panic Fans For Food, were invited to attend. 

Ever since I did the lesson with the kids, I wanted to finish the whole idea/theme off with some sort of culminating activity.  Having met both Josh and Eric only about a year ago, and gradually becoming family, I wanted to incorporate their love of music and incredible talent into this. After hearing them jam a couple of times, it all seemed to fit.  So I asked them to come in to play for the kids, and they took it upon themselves to learn This Part of Town -- which, according to Josh, is not an easy tune to learn.

When I originally told my kids about the idea, they were really excited to hear some of my friends play music, but I knew I wanted to wait until spring--my idea all along was to have the performance outside, since it would be a prettier environment, and plus those two would blow-out the temporary walls separating the classrooms. Having the kids sing along with Josh and Eric playing was going to be awesome, but I also wanted to videotape the concert and hopefully get it to the band so that they could enjoy it as well. It is my way of saying thank you to them for all of their inspiration.

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