28 March, 2008

"Street Stories" Piece

http://www.wpri.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=2333822&at1=News&h1=Street Stories: A Day in the Life of a Firefighter

Above is the link to the video from "Street Stories".

"Street Stories"

Wow - okay. I am very happy about the "Street Stories" segment that was just aired on WPRI Channel 12. I was really happy that they talked about my granddad. I was also happy that they used pieces of me talking about how firefighters never get used to seeing the things they see and some of the video they used was stuff that I didn't even know they were taping. I'm pleased.

I'm sad that they did not use the piece with me talking about DAC Mike Day - which came right after the bit that they used where I was talking about the cancer and heart issues - but that's okay.

I was pleasantly surprised and I thank Walt Buteau and John Villella of WPRI Channel 12 for their support and for making this story feel more about "My Firefighters" than it was about me. I appreciate that more than I can say.

If you missed the piece tonight, it airs again tomorrow morning (Saturday, March 29th) at 7 am. That might be good for some of the firefighters hoping to catch it, but for the rest of us... oy!



You can click on the link above if you are not in the Southern New England Area. Once you get there, click on the "Video" tab at the top of the page and choose "Street Stories". it will bring you to their homepage. I don't know when the piece will be posted for viewing, but check back if you don't see it.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Channel 12 News... Again...

Hey, All -

Provided the ridiculous basketball junk gets through eating up the airwaves before 6 pm tonight, the "Street Stories" piece on the film will air on tonight's news broadcast at that time. If it is, once again, preempted by the games, then it will air next Friday, April 4th at 6 PM and again on Saturday, April 5th at 7 am.

Keep your fingers crossed - hopefully I can have a relaxing weekend!

21 March, 2008

Preempted

Sorry, everyone. Seems as though Channel 12 bumped us because of the basketball game going into overtime.

I spoke with someone at the station and she said that it will either air next Friday or the one after, depending upon whether the news gets preempted again or not.

So much for being able to relax about this... aaarrrgghhh!!

Thanks to those who tuned in, anyway.

20 March, 2008

Channel 12 News

If you saw my post from yesterday, you know what this is about. If not, please read that one first.

The piece will air tomorrow, March 21st at 6 pm on Channel 12. It apparently is re-run on Saturday mornings at 7 am, but who's up then? LOL

Here's a link to their video blog about the piece.


Street Stories Video Blog 3/19


19 March, 2008

Awkwardly Being Me

Okay, so if you've been following along on this fantastic journey of mine, you've seen that last year, two newspaper writers contacted me and wrote articles about the project. As I've stated before - this is always awkward for me because in my mind, the story is about the firefighters, not me. However, I do understand that THEIR story is about a woman who has nothing to do with the fire department but is shooting a documentary about it anyway.

This morning, I got up at my usual 6:30 (ish) and went through my usual morning routine. I was nervous - this time would be different. I was getting ready to meet with Walt Buteau of Channel 12 News to shoot a piece for his series, "Street Stories", about the documentary project. The last two instances of publicity for the project involved meeting for coffee and a super-long phone conversation, both of which were followed up by a couple of e-mails for clarification. This time involved ME being in FRONT of the camera. Allow me to digress...

I started my theatrical career when I was a toddler. No, I'm not kidding. My family used to do parties and events as a clown family and I did that with them when I was just a year or two old. My "stage name" then was "Smiley" and I even had my own signature denim hat with yellow daisies sewn onto it. I do remember a couple of events that we did, but I don't remember it well. My first real "stage" performance took place in 1976 at Providence City Hall's Bicentennial event. It wasn't a speaking part, but it was very important. I was dressed as the Statue of Liberty. Mom's Girl Scout troop, of which I was the mascot, put on a mini-cabaret of patriotic songs and at the end of it, the girls formed a "V", then split apart and I came walking out in the middle of all of them. That even made the evening news at the time. I have since done a great many stage plays and have done some film work in the past - I appeared in a cable tv documentary years ago for Girl Scouts and I've also made corporate-type videos. So, needless to say, being in front of a camera doesn't normally faze me - it's not foreign territory for me.

This morning, however, was different. I think I pinpointed the problem - once again, this isn't about ME. This wasn't an acting job - I had to be me. I didn't have the "comfort zone" of playing a character. I wasn't able to hide behind that mask of the theatre. That's kind of scary.

Anyway, the weather this morning was awful - cold, rainy... the type of day that makes you want to crawl back into bed, pull up the covers and hope for the sun tomorrow morning. Walt called me around 8:30 - we were originally planning to shoot the piece in front of the Washington Street Fire Station in Providence. Well, that wasn't such a great idea in the nasty weather conditions. Luckily, I had called my good friend, Lt. Ernie Young, last night and talked with him about the possibility of filming with him and the guys on Engine 8. Ernie, as always, was willing to help out however he could. I suggested this to Walt and he thought it was perfect, so we agreed to meet at the Messer Street Fire Station instead for 9:30.

Excellent. A stay of execution! So I regrouped and geared myself up for then. As per usual... with the unpredictability of the fire service... all was not well.

I had tried to get hold of Ernie and was unable to. That told me that they were catching early morning runs - probably rescue in nature, because when there's a drop of rain falling from the sky, all hell breaks loose on the roads. I got to the station and a short time later, Walt and John, his cameraman, showed up. We agreed to wait for them for a bit. After a few minutes, Walt began to ask me questions about the project - a pre-interview, if you will. He sat in the Eyewitness News truck and I sat in my car on the ramp at the station exchanging questions and answers. Just as I was about to suggest trying to find another venue, Engine 8 returned to quarters. I ran in and talked quickly with Ernie to let him know what was happening, said hello to "my guys" and then introduced Walt and John to them.

The next forty minutes were a bit of a blur. John had me put on a microphone - which automatically made my stomach knot up - and the next thing I knew, I was talking with Walt about the project. I didn't even realize that John was filming part of it as we spoke. Once I was aware of the camera, I just tried to ignore it as best I could and focus on talking with Walt. After talking with me for a bit, they decided that they wanted to get some footage of me filming with Ernie. I took out my camera and started to talk with Ernie, who was explaining the Engine's function and purpose to the fire service. Ernie, being a rather shy type, was a bit nervous about doing this. Initially, he tried to get Todd Jones to do it. I think we all knew that wasn't going to happen - he's even more shy than Ernie is. Ernie did agree to do it and I began to film with him. John followed me around with his camera as I filmed Ernie talking about the Engine.

So, the piece is shot. I don't know yet when it will air, but I'll post the date when I find out. We milled around and talked for a little while afterward and once I left the station it hit me again. This isn't about me - it's about the firefighters. However, as I've said before, it does gain attention for the project and people will be looking for it. Hopefully they will remember and when it's ready to air, they'll watch.

More importantly - they'll learn about the true value of these amazing men and women who have dedicated their lives to the fire service. Hopefully my admiration and respect for them will become contagious. With any luck.

16 March, 2008

Inspiration

15 Mar 08

I spent the morning very nervous, praying that this meeting today would not be a cause of upset to this fine family. I got my equipment together and tried to relax a little bit before I got going. I left home and headed over to the Providence College area of town toward the home - my meeting was scheduled for 2 PM and I was running on time. I got to my destination and found a parking space, took a deep breath, grabbed my equipment and headed for the porch. I took a moment before I rang the bell.

The door was answered by a pretty young lady wearing a high school sweatshirt. She looked to be about 16 or so, very polite, inviting me in. Cindy Day, the wife of DAC Michael J. Day, came walking toward me from down the hall. We greeted each other warmly and she said that she had some other visitors there that I may know. She led me to the kitchen, where Chris Janitto was standing with his two girls. Cindy introduced me to her daughter, Stephanie, who had answered the door and let me in. Chris introduced me to his girls, as well. They had stopped by to visit the Days during their travels. We all spent some time visiting for a little while and a short time later, we were joined by Michael, Cindy's son. Once Chris and his girls left, Cindy, Stephanie, Michael and I all sat down and we talked about the project. Cindy and Michael were familiar with the work I've been doing, but Stephanie wasn't. I didn't know how the rest of the family was going to react to what I was trying to do, but I wanted to give them the opportunity to decide whether or not they wanted to participate. Once everything was explained, Cindy and the kids began telling me the story of June 13, 2006.

I cannot fathom what these people went through that night. When Battalion Chief Ken Bock showed up at the house, Brianne, the Day's third child, went to answer the door, as Cindy was in the basement doing laundry. Brianne looked out the window, saw a Chief's vehicle and thought it was her father, Mike. She opened the door and there stood Ken, according to Cindy, white as a ghost, explaining that they had to go with him. Cindy, having been married for 22 years to Mike, knew that this was not good. Their youngest, Stephanie, was babysitting. Michael was at work. Their oldest daughter, Amanda, was away at school in Virginia. Ken told her not to worry about Michael and Stephanie - that he would have them picked up. Police officers were sent to pick them up. Cindy called them and let them know while they were en route to Rhode Island Hospital. Once she had called the kids, Cindy finally asked Ken if he could tell her what was going on. All Ken could say to her was, "he coded." Cindy knew that meant he had had a heart attack, but she wasn't expecting the worst.

They arrived at RI Hospital's ER and were rushing down the hall toward where a large group of chiefs and firefighters had gathered. Then Chief David Costa stopped her in the hall and asked her if she knew that Mike had been pronounced dead. Costa comforted the women for a few moments before escorting them into the room where Mike's body lay. While Cindy and Brianne began their grieving process, Michael was dropped off at the hospital by a Providence Police Officer. He went directly into the room and by his own account, just assumed that his father had a heart attack, but would be okay. He recounted that he didn't notice that the heart monitor, still hooked up to Mike's chest, was not actually on. He stood on one side of the gurney, reached across his father's body and took his mother's hands, telling her it would be okay, that Mike was strong.

"No, Michael," Cindy replied to her son, "it won't be okay. He's already gone."

Michael told me that just as he was about to completely "lose it", someone came in and said that "the other daughter" was there, meaning Stephanie, the youngest. The family rushed out to the hall, not wanting Stephanie to walk in until she had been told that Mike was already gone. They took her into a nearby sitting room and broke the news to her, then returned to the room where Mike was. After a while, Cindy walked out of the room and began seeing people from outside the department - civilians, family friends. She asked one woman how she knew and was told that Mike's name had been announced on the 10 PM news. Her thoughts immediately went to Amanada, who was in Virginia. She and Michael rushed outside to call her, but it was too late. Someone had already called to give their condolences. Cindy was devastated and furious that his name had been released before the family had been notified.

That was only the beginning of what was to come. Chief Costa and union President Paul Doughty worked together with the Day family to prepare a funeral for Mike with full departmental honors. It would be a difficult week for the family, but they had the support of an entire fire department and their blood relatives, as well. Firefighters did all of the work around the house - cooking, mowing the lawn - you name it, it got done. Battalion Chiefs chauffered the family around to get clothing and flowers for the funeral. They were never alone.

What is truly amazing about this family, to me, is the grace with which they dealt with this situation. Cindy was strong, elegant and realized that although she, her own children and their extended family were grieving, so were the firefighters. The people on duty at Washington Street Station that night worked on Mike themselves, trying desperately to save him. She knew that they would be devastated, as well - he was family to them. She told her children to try as hard as they could to be strong, that their fire family would be grieving, too. Stephanie volunteered to read a prayer during the funeral mass and Michael asked to give his father's eulogy. Whenever I mentioned not knowing where they got their strength from, they all had the same answer - Mike (or Dad). Mike was "the rock" of the family - their go-to guy. The children stepped up and did what they had seen their father do so many times before.

The hardest part of the entire thing for them? Again, their answer was the same across the board. Watching the firefighters and seeing the pain on their faces. That feeling of helplessness that they just cannot digest. Cindy added one more item to that - the firefighters' wives. She said that they each had that look of "my God, this could have been my husband". Cindy told me that she told every single one of them to hold on to their men - appreciate them now and do not take them for granted.

Once all of the ceremonies were done and Mike was laid to rest, the family finally set about their own grieving process. They still had all of the support that they needed, though. Ken Bock came to Cindy and asked her about the renovations that Mike had been in the middle of when he passed. He had gotten some of the work done on their home and was preparing to do some more. She explained what was left to do and Ken told her not to worry about it. He showed up that weekend with an army of firefighters. They ripped out walls, painted, built an island in the kitchen, did tile work, redid the basement - everything that Mike had intended to do was done.

There is so much more to this story and after talking with the family - for a full six hours, by the way - I have been moved, humbled and inspired by their strength. This family is truly amazing and I am honored to include their story in this film. Michael and Stephanie each want to film a segment for it - I'll be in touch with them soon for that. I could write for another two hours about all that they shared with me, but a good deal of it will not be shared - it was simply me listening to a family remembering their loved one. It was an afternoon and evening filled with sad and funny and amazing tales of a great man and his incredible family.

I guess the only way I can sum this up is to say that Mike, I'm sure, was very proud of his wife and family and all that they built together. I'm sure that somewhere, he still is proud, too, of all how far they've come since his passing.

My eternal thanks to Cindy, Stephanie and Michael for sharing so much with me - and for their support and encouragement with this project.

09 March, 2008

Update on the Film

Hello, all...

For those who have been wondering what the hell happened to the film... I haven't quit with it. Things have been a little hectic with my actual, paying job, which has put a bit of a damper on everything. However... that being said...

I have some outside filming that needs to be done. However, I have not been able to do it because it's either been raining, snowing, or thirteen degrees outside on my days off. Some of the filming also requires another person to work with me operating the camera. I also need to contact three people for filming, which I will be doing this week.

So, fear not - the film will be completed. It's just been tough with scheduling and weather conflicts.

Keep visiting for updates!

Be well & stay safe out there.