Ball Drive Remains On The Map

by Woody

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn

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Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive

Remains On The Map

Chuck Thomas, the longtime sage of this Saturday column space as well as my friend and mentor, wrote a novel published nearly three decades ago that revolved around a small-town newspaper and features a Norwegian Elkhound named Woody.

It remains a cherished kindness that I keep in my bookcase and heart. I bring this up not in boast, but because the novel’s title seems remarkably fitting these days: “Getting Off The Map.” I think that describes how most of us have felt during 2020 – like we’ve fallen off the map.

Some “smiles” before they were delivered to disadvantaged kids last year…

As this holiday season approaches I worry, too, that disadvantaged youth will fall through the cracks more than ever before. Which brings to mind this wisdom from Chuck, who passed away 11 years ago this month: “Help someone today because you may not have the opportunity tomorrow.”

Helping local underprivileged children is the aim of Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive that officially kicks off again today. The inspiration for the annual endeavor was twofold, beginning a quarter-century ago at a youth basketball clinic when former Ventura College and NBA star Cedric Ceballos awarded autographed basketballs to a handful of lucky attendees.

Leaving the gym afterward, I happened upon a 10-year-old boy who won one of the prized keepsakes. He was dribbling it and shooting baskets on the rough blacktop outdoor court while perhaps imagining himself to be Ceballos.

Meanwhile, the real Ceballos’ Sharpie signature was wearing off.

Curious as to why the boy had not carefully carried the trophy basketball home and put it safely on a bookshelf, I interrupted his playing to ask.

“I’ve never had my own basketball,” he answered matter-of-factly between shots.

That holiday season, thinking of that boy – and other boys and girls who do not have their own basketball to shoot, soccer ball to kick, football to throw – I got a second assist of inspiration from Julius Gius. Specifically, the long-running Christmas Bellringer campaign he started long ago as editor of The Star to support the Salvation Army.

Instead of asking readers to drop loose change and bills into a kettle, I asked them to drop off brand new sports balls for kids in need. A great thing about a basketball, football or soccer ball as a holiday gift is that no batteries are required. Also, unlike most toys, a rubber ball is all but unbreakable.

In the introduction to a collection of his “Editor’s Notebook” columns published in 1988, Gius wrote: “I have had a rich and rewarding life. Everything has come up roses for me. I count my blessings every day and wish them for everyone.”

The pandemic poses an added challenge this year, like a sixth defender on the basketball court, but nonetheless I am again encouraging you dear readers to help pass out roses and blessings by dropping off new sports balls at any Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, youth club or church and they will find a worthy young recipient.

You can also drop balls off (weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Dec. 18) in a no-contact collection box outside Jensen Design & Survey at 1672 Donlon St. near Target on Telephone Road in Ventura; or have online orders shipped to the same address; and I will take it from there.

And please email me about your bouncing gifts at woodywriter@gmail.com so I can add your generosity to this year’s tally.

In closing, and in advance, let me quote the character Salena in “Getting Off The Map” who at one point says: “Thanks for the support. It means a lot.”

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …