I believe that my college entrance essay (written by my mother) started, “My life has been spent bouncing balls…” I was lucky enough to be a product of the Silver Spring Boys Club, where I spent my youth trading summer’s swimsuit for fall’s cleats for winter’s sneakers for spring’s spikes. It was my second home, a place to spend the hours after school until my parents could pick me up on the way home from work. I received guidance and wisdom from caring coaches and counselors and, in turn, refereed and coached kids younger than myself. O.K. I was four-time Boy-Of-The-Year, smashing my sorry ass brother’s record. The SSBC gave me a sense of place as a young man.
That is a distant memory to me now. I rarely bounce balls anymore. I’m fatter and can no longer dunk; I feel like the kid from Hoop Dreams. My idea of sport is a late night game of Golden Tee with Phil, or trudging around a golf course if I’m feeling really crazy. Skiing, by the way, is for morons. I started thinking about this last week when Vintners participated in the Taste of Tribeca, which benefits PS 150 and PS 234. Taste was started as a way to raise money for the schools and it has grown into a behemoth of an event in downtown Manhattan. It’s a street festival on crack, and if you don’t participate, you feel like you’re gonna get a visit from Luca Brazi.
The brilliant thing about TOT is that they get the kids out en masse to help out at all of the tents, etc. They are like Ewoks running all over the place. It definitely helps to hammer home the point. The whole day is an example of how neighborhoods truly exist in New York and amid the madness of the city a community can come together. Who said raising children in the city was crazy?
New York Vintners was a stop on The Wine Geeks V.I.P. wine tour, but more importantly, we had an open house for the community. Hundreds of our neighbors stopped in throughout the day to drink Bastianich Rosato and Sauvignon ‘B,’ Puig Parahy Rose and some Chardonnay. We all had a blast!!!! We were able to show off our event space and make new friends and say, “Hey Tribeca! We are here for the kids!”
So, thank you fundraising, annoying parents for starting this whole thing many years ago, for taking me back to my roots and for making me realize how lucky I was as a child. Friends in Tribeca, come back and see us again soon. Until next year!
The swimsuit thing was embellishment because I can’t swim.
Here are the wines we drank:
Dirler 2004 Sylvaner Cuvee Luc Antoine $21.99
Bastianich 2006 Vespa Bianco $36.00
Bastianich 2007 Rosato $13.99
Gurrutxaga 2008 Txacolina Rosado $21.99
Michael Sullberg Chardonnay $11.00
Puig-Parahy 2008 Rosé $13.99
Coeur Esterelle 2008 Rosé $11.99
