TREVOR "The Games Man"

[Appearances]
[More FUN Stuff]
 
 "Looked FUN, whacky, zany, Seuss-like. Very entertaining."
~Rae Griffiths, Program Coordinator, Springfield Museums & Library Assoc., Springfield MA
 
       

TREVOR'S Goofy Gigs,
Unusual Occasions,
Uncommon Venues, and
Other Odd Events Appearances

 1984-2024 arranged alphabetically by state & town      6.2% of total lifetime gigs to date
470 appearances for 158 events
in 69 towns in 10 states
 

-------> This is the page where I get to tell my tales! <-------

 

 
NOTE:
This page contains:
1) Goofy stuff that happened before, during, or after a gig,
2) Unusual events and events with unusual aspects,
3) Events that happened at an uncommon venue,
4) Odd, strange, and downright peculiar events,
5) Events where I just plain have something to say about it.
 
Enjoy!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  California
Mountain House Cub Scouts Pack 511 Blue & Gold Banquet (21)
       This was not my first time playing with a group in California. It was also not my first
       Cub Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet. This was also not anywhere near my first online
       show.  No, what was unusual about this show was that all the Scouts — boys and
      girls alike — all showed up sporting big black mustaches!
Palm Desert Desert Chapter, Brandeis University Alumni Association Bingo Night (20)
       This group originally planned an online fundraiser, but they were advised that Bingo
       is considered illegal gambling an California so it became a social event. (They told me
       afterwards that they actually got more in donations than they would have raised
       charging for Bingo cards. Guess that turned out alright!) When I was contacted
       about calling an online Bingo game for this group, I wondered how they heard of
       me. Then I remembered that there's a photo of me calling Bingo on my Master of
       Ceremonies page. So if you google "Master of Ceremonies Bingo", I come up at the
       top of the list! Anyways, it was a blast to call Bingo again after a nearly 20 year gap.  

  Connecticut
Avon St Francis Care Medical Building Grand Opening            (99) ---------------------------------------------->
       Although it was their Grand Opening, and although
       the medical rooms were ready for use, there was
       only one usable room on the entire first floor, so
       they had a little party set up in it. It worked out
       just fine.

Hartford Connecticut Forum "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"
          (07[2x])

       I shared a stage with Bob Saget!

   Connecticut Valley Girl Scouts Council Cookie Banquet (93)
       This one was just really FUN! It was all the Girl Scouts in the area who had sold the
       most cookies in their troops. There were 250+ Girl Scouts plus their parents and
       troop leaders in the Aetna auditorium: nearly 900 people! One of my very biggest
       shows. Everyone was happy, cheerful, bouncy, and exuberant. It was one of those
       just plain TERRIFIC audiences.
   Learning Dynamics Inc. (93)
       This company was doing a very intense, 4-day, anti-discrimination staff training and
       wanted something to break it up on the first day, so they called me in. I walked into
       a room of about 20 very jittery, nervous, distracted people and an hour later walked
       out of a room full of people with very obvious looks of relief on their faces.

Ledyard Foxwoods Casino Grand Pequot Hotel (00)
       This one was just plain weird: I did a kid's 8th birthday party in a casino!

Leominster MA Library Performer vShowcase (21)
       I've presented in quite a few performer showcases in my career, but this was the first
       time online! It was an unusual experience because 90% of the audience had their
       camera and microphone off, so we performers couldn't see the audience. Since my
       shows are 100% participatory, I had to bribe them to turn everything back on so I
       could do my thing.

Manchester Matthew Skwiot's 4th birthday party (01)
       I performed in a school bus inside Randy's Wooster Street Pizza Shop! I was sitting in
      the driver's seat when the kids arrived. As a former school bus driver for 8 years, it
      was GREAT to be back in the driver's seat again!
Middletown Affordable Care Act enrollment at Community Health Center (15)
       This one was a little strange. They booked me to do "close up" entertainment for the
       people waiting in their large lobby to sign up for health insurance. Having live
       entertainment was advertised as an incentive to get more people to attend.

Simsbury Chabad House day camp (01)
       I did a Cooperative Play staff training with
about 20 single ultra orthodox Jewish
       women that, as a male, I wasn't allowed to
have any physical contact with. Sure wish
       they'd told me that ahead of time!
Southington Athena Health Care Softball Tourney (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22)
       It's not just a company picnic — it's a HUGE event with multiple employee teams
       playing games on several fields at Panthorn Park. There's tons of food, and other
       activities besides the softball games, including me. The first two years, I did four
       hours of stiltwalking "walk-around" entertainment. Starting with the third year, they
       added an hour and I got to do the full gamut of my Fair &  Festival entertainment.

Windsor Advo Inc. (98)
       It was "Take Your Daughter to Work" day and I guess they didn't want the girls to
       get too bored, so they booked me to come in and entertain them for an hour after
       lunch (just like it is at work for their parents when they're bored, right?) Anyways,
       they put me in their lunchroom with about half a dozen girls and just left me alone
       with them the entire time. I guess they trusted me, but it was still a little weird.

   Loomis Chaffee School (99)
       A  fairly normal gig, and my second year in a row at it. The previous year, the woman
       in charge of entertainment had made a point to book me at the end of the event for
       this year. Afterwards, that second year, none of the staff had any idea where my
       check was, so they took me directly to that same woman in charge of entertainment.
       "What are you doing here?" she said, "Who booked you?" To which I, of course,
       replied, "You did." Don't worry: I got paid.

    Maine
Wilton
Wilton Blueberry Festival (97)
       I drove nearly two hours to this event, and they hadn't put me in the schedule, didn't
       know where I was going to perform, and sent me to the bleachers of a ball field on
       the far edge of town where there was a fireman's muster going on in the outfield,
       but *surprise surprise* absolutely nobody was there for my show. Weird. 

    Massachusetts
Agawam Jay Davis's high school graduation party (91)
       His mom wanted something FUN for Jay and his friends. Turned out to be only 8
       teenagers. We had a boodle of FUN anyways!

   Josiah Davis's NOT a birthday party (02)
       The family are Jehovah's Witnesses, which doesn't allow birthday celebrations (nor
       Easter or Christmas either), so the mom very carefully told me not to say anything
       about birthdays, politics, or religion. But everyone brought NOT birthday presents,
       and there was
a NOT birthday piñata, and a NOT birthday cake with NOT
       birthday candles on it... but we sang "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" before he blew
       out the candles so I guess it really was NOT a birthday party after all.

Amesbury
Northeast MA Association of Student Councils (93)
       About 250 teenage student council leaders in an auditorium!
Amherst
Amherst Barbers Grand Re-Opening (96) -------------->
       I was amused that this long-haired
hippy who's never been to a
       barber in his life was giving handouts to college-
aged men
       f
or $10 haircuts. I told the owners ahead of time but they didn't
       seem to mind.

   Amherst Leisure Services Family Fun Fair (85)
       My first picture in the paper playing games professionally!
   Community Home School group (04, 06[12x], 07[11x], 10[2x], 12[11x])
       I've been running a weekly
homeschoolers drop-in "gym class"
       on a year-round basis since 2011, and it all started out with this
       group. Thank you for the great idea and a good start, Beth
       Moonstone!

   Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) Japanese Teacher Exchange
          annual USA conference (95, 96, 97, 99, 00)
       I did a Cooperative Play staff development training each year for about 3 dozen
       Japanese teachers, most of whom did not speak English. They especially liked the
       American cowboy game Quick Draw! And I'm delighted to report that I've been
       instrumental in bringing New Games & Cooperative Play to Japan! 
   4-H Teen Conference (89)
       What's unusual about this is that I had 400 teenagers in a field playing games
       together!

  
Marks Meadow Elementary School closing (10)
       UMass-Amherst
       decided that this was
       going to be the last
       year for their
       "teaching" school that
       they've been running
       on campus as a public
       school in Amherst
       MA, so it was a very
       bittersweet
event. For
       me it was quite a bit
       of a blast from the
       past, too. When I first
       moved here in 1982, I
       immediately landed a
       job working the
       Amherst Leisure Services after school rec programs in all four Amherst Elementary
       Schools, so I was at this school once a week for an hour and a half every single
       school week from 1982-1989. That's nearly 300 times I was leading games at this
       school! So to be back again on the last day ever was probably as tough for me as it
       was for everyone else. But it was not my first last-day-of-school-ever performance!

   Michelle Devaney's 7th birthday party (84)
       My very first birthday party performance! I had no idea what to charge so I told the
       mom to just pay my however much she thought it was worth. Having been a $4/hr
       wage slave for years, I was stunned when she gave me $25 for an hour of games.
   Mullins Center Racquetball Courts (16[11x])
       I lead my weekly homeschoolers' "gym
class" inside one of the UMass racquetball
       courts that winter! It was echo-y, but well-contained.

   Munson Library (03[22x], 04[14x], 05[10x], 06, 11[11x],
       12[14x]), 13[22], 14[13]) ------------------------------------->
       This little library has a full gym inside it! It worked great
       for my weekly homeschoolers "gym class" those winters!

   National Association of College and University Food
          Services conference (12)
       This was a reception for adults held at the Eric Carle
       Museum
of Picture Book Art!
   Pioneer Valley Co-Housing annual retreat (11)
       In the past, they've booked me several times to entertain
       the children at some point during the adult's meetings,
       but this particular year they asked if I'd supervise the
       child care program. Basically, it's a fairly small room that I stocked with a truckload of
       my old day care stuff for the kids to play with, and I planned a few specific activities
       for times when they needed a little boost. It was great FUN!

   Rhodes Family Reunion (91)
       Irving Rhodes is a big stinker! He booked me, several other entertainers, a caterer,
       and a facility; paid the deposits necessary for his family reunion; all the time knowing
       full well that he had declared bankruptcy and would not be able to pay any of us the
       other 75% of our fees! What a stinker!

   WMUA "The Kids' Show" radio program(10)
       I was interviewed and got to play some games on the
       radio!
  --------------------------------------------------->
   Womancraft Midwifery (03)
       Doing a Team-Building Workshop with a roomful of
       midwives-in-training was sheer joy!

Ashburnham Amanda & Steve Billington's Adult Christmas
          Party (01)
       Usually when I do a private adult party, there's 25-100 people. This time, there were
       just 5 older couples in the Billington's living room. We all had a great time.

Bernardston Bernardston Elementary School Field Day (89)
       This was my very first ever stage show! The person who booked me said they were
       looking for an activity for the entire school, about 200 kids, all sitting in chairs in the
       cafeteria three days from then. I said, "Sure, I can do that," (like I'm supposed to)
       and then spent the next 3 days figuring out what I could possibly do with 200 kids
       sitting in chairs. It went over really well and I've now done that show thousands and       thousands of times! 

Boston Channel 5 "Chronicle News Magazine" tv show (05)
       I was on Chronicle News!
   Sapient Co. Holiday Party (01)
       This was the most extravagant event I've ever done. 500+
       adults in the Grand Ballroom at the Seaport Hotel. The decor
       alone was probably well over $50,000. There were at least 2
       dozen entertainers including acrobats, contortionists, trapeze artists, human
       statues, jugglers, mimes, stiltwalkers (plural, I was
not the only one!), caricaturists,
       fortune tellers, and on and on. It was a stunning event. 

Brookfield Merrick Public Library (03)
       This was a block booking — the third of four nearby libraries. But when I got to this
       one, they didn't have any sort of performance space, community room, or even just
       a good-sized space for a show anywhere. So I put on my stilts sitting on a *very*
       steep set of metal stairs up to the 2nd floor stacks, and performed for a small cluster
       of kids literally sitting at my feet in a very narrow aisle between the bookshelves. I
       couldn't take more than a single step in any direction! One of the tightest shows I've
       ever done. 

Chesterfield Therese's Trek (15)
       This was the first year of an annual bike
       ride fundraiser hosted by my nephew,
       Ken and his wife, for Davenport Child
       Care (director: Therese Brigley) and the
       1st Congregational Church of
       Chesterfield where Ken and his family
       attend.

Chicopee Tarnow Nursery (91)
       Okay, this was just mildly amusing:
       Earlier that day, I'd done a show at a day care center and just assumed that this was
       one too, but when I arrived it turned out it was a garden center type of "nursery"
       and the audience was significantly older than I  had expected. 

Colrain  Katywill Farm Community Co-Housing Open House (12)
       An unusual event with unusual people. I liked it!

Dalton Dalton Community Access TV "The Jason Belland Show" tv show (94)
       A high school student's weekly tv show: a spoof of late night talk shows. He brought
       a live audience in for me so there would be someone besides him for me to play
       games with on tv.

   Hard Hat Bar (98)
       I did a Christmas show in a bar! And it wasn't a private party either.
It was for the
       regular bar patrons.

Deerfield Valley Trade Connection (96)
       One of those rare event where I was not called to entertain or educate but to do
       childcare "since you're so good with kids".

Dracut Trevor Sheehan's 8th birthday party (00)
       My second Trevor² event: there were two(2!) Trevors there!
Easthampton Danny Ravish's 44th and 45th birthday parties (96, 97)
       Biker party, including lots of leather, beer, and machismo. Guys and gals sitting in
 
      lawn chairs around a bonfire, trading off-color
       joke
s. FUN! 
   Mill 180 Park (17[8x]) ---------------------------->
       That winter, I held my weekly homeschoolers
       gym class in this unusual indoor urban park!

   Williston-Northampton High School drama
       department (00)
       I taught the Costume Dept to make a pair of  
       stilts and then trained a high school actress to
       walk on them for "The Lion, the Witch, & the
       Wardrobe".
 
Erving Mary Sherman's 90th birthday party (95)
       The oldest person I've done a birthday party for so far.

Fitchburg Greater Arlington St. Neighborhood Association (96, 98)
       Basically, this woman decided to book me, not for an event, but just to entertain the
       local children in this very run down neighborhood in a severely run down park. Twice.
       I'm glad to report that it went very well: the children were very well-behaved, had a
       great time, and were extremely curious about me both times.

Gardner WGAW  "The Jim Gale Show" radio program (06)
       A daytime show that the primary audience is the elderly.
Gill Dale Burke's funeral (15)
       My former housemate, Michelle, booked me for her father's funeral because she
       knew he would want it to be a FUN occasion! This funeral was a first for me.

Goshen Goshen Elementary School (86[7x])
       I ran a weekly after school program for about half a dozen kids starting in March.  
Greenfield Franklin Community Coop annual meeting
          childcare program (00, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08
          09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
       I ran a family day care in my home for 8 years and still
       have a room full of stuff from it. Each year, I pack a
       whole bunch of it up and set it up and supervise it at
       this event so the kids have something to do during the business meeting.

   Greenfield Kindergarten (92)
       This one is particularly memorable because I did 12+ hours spread out over 7 days
       in January and February. The first two days were Cooperative Play Staff Development
       Trainings for the K-teachers. The next four days were working with the
       kindergardeners in their various classrooms. And the final day was a Family Night
      
with the teachers and the kids and their families. What a whole lot of FUN!
   Greenfield Middle School 6th Grade (91)
       What was cool about this gig is that the kids raised the money for my fee themselves
       and chose me as the one they wanted to spend it on!

   Heather Horvach's Housewarming (96)
       A friend's party where they asked me to
       entertain "because I was there." Afterwards,
       she gave me a wonderful pair of decorative
       eyeglasses made out of spoons by an
       artist friend of hers. They sit in a place of
       honor over my desk in my office.

   LaVae Stone's 50th birthday stiltwalking delivery
          (00)
       Sure wish her husband had told me ahead of
       time that it would only be the two of them!
 
   St Paul's Lutheran Church (03, 08)
       This son of a preacher performed in the chancel of this church! Twice!

   WRSI "Kelsey Flynn's Show" radio program (unknown date)
       My friend, comedian Kelsey Flynn, interviewed me by phone on her radio show!
 
Hadley Donald Little's 50th birthday stiltwalking delivery (97)
       Donald was NOT a happy camper about this. He clearly didn't want to be singled out
       at work, didn't want attention drawn to him, and sure didn't want the balloons I was
       told to bring for him. It didn't help that they'd stuck him in a staff room with just a
       few co-workers while a whole bunch of others clustered in the hallway staring
        through the window in the door to watch his reactions. I did my usual adult
       Stiltwalking Delivery schtick but, although he was a pretty good sport, he didn't want
       anything to do with that either. I'm pretty sure his favorite part was when I finally left
       so he could get back to work.

   Hadley Puplic Library Pirate, Pizza, and Parachute Party (22)
        A lot of kids and adults in various levels of pirate attire playing Parachute Games and
       then having pizza, smoothies, and pirate themed cupcakes to kick off the library's
       Summer Reading Program. There was also a Walk the Plank surrounded by a blue    
       tarp ocean filled with shark fins, a pirate ship, pirate name stickers, facepainting
       (mostly hearts, flowers, and eye patches), and balloon swords, with pirate songs
       playing over the sound system the entire time. AAAARG, Matey!

   Hartsbrook School 4-Square Club (92[5x], 93[4x], 94[2x])
       The school was having trouble with the older kids not playing fairly with the younger
       kids, so they called me in three years running for weekly 4-Square clinics each Spring
       until what I taught them became the "normal" way of playing 4-Square at the school.

   Norwottuck Rail Trail Grand Opening (93)
       This event is significant to me because many years later I became an avid bicyclist
       and use this trail at least once a week in my daily, year-round rides.

Hatfield Hatfield Luminaria
          (11)
       The town of Hatfield has
       a Luminaria each
       December in which
       townspeople line their
       sidewalks with paper bag
       & sand candle lanterns.
       There's speeches and a
       group Christmas Carol
       Sing outside of Town Hall
       with the high school band playing the music. This year, the Hatfield Public Library
       held a public reading, too, and I got to read books about winter to a group of about
       50 people. It was simply delightful!

   Smith Academy High School Peer Educator program (91)
        The school psychologist called me in to entertain the 10 teens in this innovative
       program in which the participating students are trained to be student leaders. We
       had a BLAST on the front lawn of the school!

Holyoke Cerebral Palsy Telethon at the Holyoke Mall (92, 93)
       I did my stiltwalking show in the Food Court on the lowest level of this huge 3-level          shopping mall. Both times, by about halfway through my show, there were literally
       hundreds
of people watching from every level of the mall! 
   Child Care Focus School-Age Conference keynote address (91)
       One of only a few keynotes I've done. This one was for (and I quote the person who
       booked me) "young day care providers." And they were, indeed, all very young
       adults in their early 20's. And they sure liked playing the games that are a major part
       of my keynotes!

   Holyoke Day Nursery (89)
       This was the first of 8 times (so far) that I've entertained here. I got the gig through
       a housemate who worked there. This gig is on this list solely because she took my
       absolute favoritest photo ever of my work doing Parachute Games there
(below).
   Isabel Garcia's 5th birthday party (05)
       This event was held at the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round! So the whole time I was
       entertaining the birthday crew, the merry-go-round was going behind me, calliope
       and all!

   Holyoke Heritage State
          Park Red Sox Family Fun
          Fair (08) -------------------->
       I was on stilts entertaining
       hundreds of fans lined up to
       see the Red Sox's 2007 World
       Series trophies and meet some
       of the players. Got my picture
       taken with the trophy, too!
       (But I don't have that photo.)

   Magnet Middle School First Day of
          School... ever! (90[2x])
       This was a brand new magnet
       school and this was it's very first day. I had about 200 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in
       the gym for two hours. They were all very excited! Then I came back a week later
       and did it again!

   Our Lady of Perpetual Help School (01)
       They told me the party was to celebrate the last day of school. They weren't kidding.
       Turns out, it was the last day of school there forever... they were closing the school!

   WHMP/WAQY/WLZX ad reps sales conference (00)
       The sales rep leader wanted
someone to get his crew all jazzed up at the beginning
       of their sales conference. He told me later that week that I was a
HUGE success! 
Lenox Berkshire Scenic Railway benefit for Pittsfield YMCA (07)
       I performed on a moving train!

Leverett Live Foods Potluck
          (13[2x]), 14[3x], 16)
       My friend, Amar ---------->
       routinely asked me to lead
       some games for the inter-
       generational group at her
       wonderfully delicious
       potlucks.
Longmeadow Divina Acker's
          Conversion Party (04)
       This was a rather unusual
       event that you don't see
       very often: the celebrant
       was converting from
       Catholicism to Judaism.

   Farra Ungar's 6th birthday
          party (90)
       This is the birthday party
       that totally changed the
       way I do business. At the
       time, I was charging $95
       for a 1-hour show no
       matter what I did or who I
       did it for. I thought it was
       pretty good money, since
       the alternative was about
       $4/hour at some day job.
       But afterwards, the
       father, fiddle player Jay Ungar (of Jay Ungar & Molly Mason fame), took me aside
       and basically told me that I was really good and I don't charge enough and handed
       me a tape (yes, a cassette tape --- it was 1990) titled "Negotiating Higher
       Performance Fees". I listened to that tape over and over and over again in my car to
       and from gigs for well over a year until I'd thoroughly learned what it had to teach.
       In the meantime, I added $5 to my fee every time someone booked a show until
       someone complained about it. Then I held it steady for three calls, and then went
       back to raising it $5 every time until someone complained about it again. I was
       stunned at how much people would pay and am forever grateful to Jay Ungar for
       pointing the way to become a full-time entertainer, which I achieved just 5 years
       later in 1995. 

Lunenburg Burn Family Reunion/Retirement/Birthday Party (95)
        I just thought it was FUN that they combined so many events into one.
Northampton BethAnn Freed hospital visits (84)
       My first Hospital & Sick Bed Visit was a real doozy! Her parents called me because
       their daughter was going to be in the hospital for a month and they wanted someone
       else to be seeing her regularly, too. So several times a week for the entire month, I
       went to her bedside at the hospital and entertained her, read books to her, and did
       everything I could to make her smile. Afterwards her mother wrote me and said,

       "How can we ever thank you enough for visiting our little girl when she was in the
       hospital! Your regular visits at her bedside really helped her get through a very
       tough time in her life. She still talks about you whenever her illness comes up."  

   Cartoonists Across America (92)
       Professional cartoonists drew cartoons on a garbage truck!
   Catherine Shaw's 6th birthday party (09)
       This is a story of Tough Love. When her father, Terry Shaw, called me for her party
       again this year, I reminded him that he hadn't paid me yet for the last time I did her
       party two years earlier, despite my sending him bill after bill after bill. He begged and
       pleaded and said Catherine had specifically asked for me. So I made a deal with him:
       I'd do his daughter's party this year, but when I showed up, before I even got out of
       my car, I'd beep my horn and he had to come out and pay me cash for last time and
       this time. So I got there and he came bounding out of the house... with not enough
       money! I almost drove off, but — true to style — he begged and pleaded and said his
       ex had the rest of the money but she wouldn't give it to him to give to me and she
       wasn't about to leave her daughter and friends inside to do anything for him, etc.,
       etc., etc. To make a long story short, I decided to believe him, did the party, and got
       paid in full. Tough Love.

   Cheryl Gumpas's Halloween Party & Potluck (98)
       I'm just sitting there at my friend's party chatting with people when someone says,
       "Hey! Let's play some games! [Looking at me] Trevor???" So I lead an impromptu
       adult games session. Nobody offered to pay me afterwards, though.
   Children's House fundraiser (95)
       This was held at Pearl Street Night Club. I thought it was a bit unusual to have a
       fundraiser for a day care center at a night club. That's all.

   Daily Hampshire Gazette (14)
       Newspaper journalist Cris Carl interviewed me by phone for an article about local
       birthday party options.
  Jeanne Reed's 50th birthday party (04)
       Nothing unusual about that, right? Except that she'd booked me a dozen or so years
       earlier for her two daughters' birthday parties and decided she wanted me to
       entertain at *her* party, too! The following year, one of her daughters also booked
       me for her own adult birthday party!

   Jackson St School "Read-A-Book" (94)
       I got to go to the school 4 times in a week
       and read books to 2nd graders!

   Jackson St School Community Playground
          Building (90) ---------------------------->
       When they were building one of those
       fabulous huge wooden play structures at
       the Jackson St School, I got called in
to
       entertain the children while the parent
       volunteers did the actual building
for an
       hour
before supper time each afternoon of
       this 3-day project
.
   Ginger Ninjas (09)  -------------------------------------------->
       This was a bike-powered concert: The band not only

       tours cross-country by
bike, but their sound system is
       powered by audience members pedaling stationary
       bikes!

   Hubbard House cocktail party (92)
       The Smith College Social Chair booked me to come to
       her dorm and entertain her fellow students at an
       "adult soiree".

   Kim Eastman's 50th birthday party (91)
       I was booked by Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles
       co-creator Kevin Eastman's Uncle Quentin to do a
       stlitwalking delivery at Kevin's father's 50th at the
       Hotel Northampton. This was 7 years into the Turtles'
       fame, so this was a HUGE shindig, and it was a lot of
       FUN for this comics fan to be even a brief part of it.

 Leslie Reed's 24th birthday party (05)
       What's unusual about this party was that I had also
       done her 10th birthday party! Her mom also booked
       me for her own adult birthday party.

   Marta MacCrostie's 8th birthday party (91)
       Marta was in my family day care in the 80's, and I bartered with her mom: I did her
       daughter's birthday party and she made me a pair of vertical banners with my name
       on them to go on my stilt pants. They were terrific! Unfortunately, I lost them within
       a year, leaving them behind at a school gig where they never showed up in the Lost
       & Found.

   Molly Hale's 40th birthday party (98)
       Molly was a personal friend through our food co-op, so I was delighted when she
       chose to have me entertain at her 40th. So I was part way through what I usually
       do with adults, The Party Game Show (a low-energy program of party games for
       adults), when I noticed she was getting a bit antsy. "When are we going to get up
       and get active???" she asked in an almost pleading way. So I abandoned what we
       were doing and we played running and active strategy games the whole rest of the
       time. It was exactly what she'd wanted all along.

   Northampton High School theatre group cast party for "Sandbag Stage Left" (03)
       I was told it would be "upstairs" at a local restaurant in Northampton. Turns out,
       when I got there, that "upstairs" was a 
       narrow balcony along two sides of the
       restaurant, so my audience was all
       stretched out in an "L" shaped li
ne of
       single tables with barely enough room 
       for anyone (me) to squeeze by. We made
       it work, but it was tough. 

   River Valley Co-op Annual Meeting & Member Talent Show (02)
       I got to M.C. a delightful talent show by a variety of talented co-op members. 
   River Valley Co-op Bingo Night (02, 03)
       I got to be the M.C. again, this time calling the Bingo games!
   River Valley Co-op "Apple Day" (08) ----->
       I got to read the Johnny Appleseed Story
       to a very small crowd.
   River Valley Co-op "Dr. Seuss Day" (09)
       My job was to read Dr. Seuss books out loud. Wearing my signature red & yellow
       Cat in the Hat hat, and with
Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue
       Fish, Fox in Socks, Hop on Pop, The Foot Book, and The King's Stilts in hand, I just
       walked up to individual shoppers
with
       one of those books open
and started
       reading out loud to them, being sure to
       hold the book so they could see the
       pictures. About 90% of the people I
       read to were adults, and every single
       one of them (except for one way too
       cool teen who completely ignored me)
       broke out into a big old sappy grin, and
       most of them stayed for several pages.
       A few of those grown-ups even wanted
       to hear the entire book! 

   River Valley Co-op Annual Meeting (19)
       I did sound effects for a puppet show!!!
       ------------------------------------------->

   Roger Caouette's "Famous Pairs"
   Halloween costume party (93)
       A friend of on old flame called and invited me to his annual Halloween Costume party

       which we had attended together in the past. Evidently, he didn't know we had broken
       up nearly a year earlier and was surprised

       when I showed up alone. The theme that
       year was "Famous Pairs" and since I always
       dress as an Indian chief for Halloween
       since it's the only time I get to wear the Indian
       headdress my little big sister made
       for me back in high school, I dressed a
       push broom up as a cowboy using the big
       bristles as a moustache ------------------------>
       and came as Cowboys & Indians. While we
       were all dancing, Roger asked if I wanted to
       lead a game. I chose "Who's the Leader?" in
       which one person tries to guess who everyone
       else is imitating, and since there was music
       playing and they had all been dancing
       anyways, it became a wonderful dancing
       variation I've used since that I call "Who's the
       Dance Leader!"

   Smith College Theatre Dept (95[2x])
       I taught the Costume Shop to make stilts for "Alice in Wonderland"
.
   Stepping Out Multicultural Day Camp (90[15x], 91[17x])
       That wonderful woman with a terrific name,
       Nisa Zalta, ------------------------------------------------->
      
was the creator and director of this
       camp that met at the Jackson St. School for two
       summers. She had a very wide variety of cultural
       activities at that very culturally-mixed
       school/neighborhood. I got to come in 3 times a week
       for 2 hours each time. Nisa said of my work:
"All the
       kids love TREVOR. When he arrives, they all come
       running with their eyes all lit up!"

   "Toms & Tunes" (91)
       I got to stiltwalk outside John M. Greene Hall at Smith College as concert-goers
       arrived, and then in the aisles as the took their seats. Then I took off my stilts,
       hopped up on the stage, and opened
for Tom Paxton and Tom Chapin! 
   United Way Fundraiser at Smith College (91)
       A big United Way donor paid me personally to stiltwalk the Smith College campus for
       an hour a week for the 8-weeks campaign wearing one of those This Much Has Been
       Donated So Far thermometer sign boards that he updated me on by phone and I
       filled in a further portion in red before heading over to the campus each week.

   Vera Beauvais Sick Bed Visit (97)
        Although I was never really told, I'm fairly sure that her illness was at least partly
       psychosomatic. Although she was only a child, she was definitely depressed. Her
       parents called on me in desperation to help cheer her up. I'm glad to report that my
       Sick Bed Visits worked beyond my and their biggest hopes!
   WHMP "Real Health" radio program (90)
       Okay, the way this one came about was a little weird. I was in the local health food
       store and this guy I sort of vaguely recognized walks up to me and says, "You're that
       guy who does cooperative games right? Would you like to be on the radio?" I replied,
       "Sure. When?" To which he answered, "Right now." We walked the 1 block over to
       the local radio station and he interviewed me on his program less than 10 minutes
       after he found me in the store. Evidently, he hadn't lined up a guest for that week
       and was trolling the health food store for someone appropriate to go on his health
       show.

   WXOJ-LP  "Hopi Visions" radio program (06)
       This was a little more normal than the one just above, but the dj was a little weirder.
   YMCA 101st annual meeting keynote address (92)
       This is one of only a few keynotes I've delivered but, like the others, it was very well
       received. This one was titled: "The FUN in Being a Volunteer!" I talked some, but
       mostly we played games that demonstrated each point that I made.

Northfield Hadsel Family Halloween Party (96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05)
       Fran Hadsel booked The Outdoor Special for her family Halloween party for 10 years
       in a row. It was a delightful event in a great location with lots of stuff for both kids
       and adults to do. A well-planned and well-run house party. When she booked me
       that 10th year, she asked "Do you do anything else?" I said, "Well, I can certainly do
       something else for you," and went through my entire kids repertoire one by one:
       "First of all, I could easily not wear my stilts." "Oh, no," she replied, "You have to
       wear your stilts!" "Okay, I could not do the Aerial Delights Show." "Well, they really
       like that part a lot." (You see where this is going?) "Okay, well we could not play the
       Parachute Games." "But they LOVE the parachute games!" "I could do indoor games
       instead of working outside." "Oh, no. I definitely want them to be outside if
       possible." "I could do my craft project. It's very popular with kids." "But we already
       have a craft project for them to do." "I could play some active running games that
       this age group really likes." "But they'll all be wearing costumes and I just *know*
       someone would trip over their own costume and fall down and get hurt." And so on
       through my entire kids repertoire with her reject everything except what I'd done for
       her for the past 9 years in a row! So that's what I did year 10. She didn't seem very
       happy about it at the time, but it was her choice... and the kids, of course, had a
       total blast! But she didn't book me the next year. Maybe they didn't have the party.
   Trinity Congregational Church (11)
       This son of a preacher performed during
this outdoor service overlooking the
       Connecticut River!
 
Petersham Trevor Burt's 7th birthday party (98)
       My first Trevor² event: there were two(2!) Trevors there!
Pittsfield Margot Rockefeller's 50th birthday (04)
       This was a Stiltwalking Delivery scheduled for just after lunch at the doctor's office
       she worked in. I had been told ahead of time that there would probably be 10-12
       adults there, but when I arrived, it was just her, the doctor, and me! A *very* small
       party indeed!

   Pittsfield Colonials at Wahconah Park (10)
      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
      
       I got to stiltwalk at a professional baseball
game! It was the Can-Am League and this
       was the opening game of the season for a brand new team at the park, too. What a
       thrill!
   Pittsfield YMCA's (93)
       Don't know what the (very young) director of the Pittsfield YMCA's summer camp
       was thinking, but he booked me to spend five(5!) hours teaching Cooperative Games
       to his camp staff and the Y's day care staff. We all had a good time, but it sure
       seemed like overkill to me.

Randolph Night Before the 4th Parade and Fireworks (18)
       Randolph has very simply solved the problem of conflicting with everyone else's 4th
       of July celebrations by holding theirs on July 3rd every year.

Sharon Highland Street kids (92)
       My mother ---------------------------------------->
       booked me to entertain the kids on her 2 block
       long street. She thought they needed it. 

Shelburne Falls Riverfest's Frog & Flower Parade &
          Festival (97)
       All the children dress as either frogs or flowers
       in this annual event!

Shutesbury Sirius Community "Interdependence
          Day" Celebration (89, 93)
       Nothing like a 4th of July celebration at an old hippy commune!
South Hadley South Hadley Health Fair (91)
       What's especially cool about this gig is that I had donated a 1-hour show to my
       children's school fundraiser auction, and ever since, the woman who won that year
       has booked me for at least one event per year every year since then. Now that's 
       return on my investment!

Springfield Alberta Perkins's 50th birthday party (92)
       Mrs. Alberta Perkins booked me for all three of her children's birthday parties, and
       when her own 50th rolled around, she booked me for that, too!
 
   Baystate Health I.V.F. Patients' 5th birthday party (96)
       This was definitely an unusual event. Baystate Health started an In Vitro Fertilization
       program in 1991. This event was a 5th birthday party for all the children they
       produced (pun intended) that first year!
 
   Channel 22 "First Look" tv show (90)
       A crack-of-dawn television news show. I am NOT a morning person, and was totally

       bleary-eyed for this one.
   "Dinosaur Party" (00)  ------------------------>
       6 women celebrating their 60th birthdays
       together inside the Springfield Science
       Museum where there is a life-size T-Rex
       in the Jurassic Room.

   Duggan Middle School "juvenile delinquent"
          program (93)
       The agent who booked me for this event didn't
       actually know what the program was called and
       described it as "some sort of weird welfare
       program for juvenile delinquents." The program
       had booked a lot of people in unusual
       professions (like mine) to come in a show a
       roomful of bored, teenage "juvies" that they
       could do anything they wanted for a living.
       Judging by the tepid response I got, I doubt if
       this idea succeeded.

   F.L. Roberts business meeting (01)
       This event was a fairly normal weekday business meeting at a restaurant, except that
       afterwards, the host not only paid me, but gave me several coupons for free gas and
       car washes at their facilities. Thank you Ziggy Granger!

   Forest Park Zoo (05)
       My first performance at a zoo!

   Kawaune Jackson's 6th birthday party (07)
       Showed up at the event and everyone was standing around outside the apartment
       complex's community center because the building was locked. We all waited around
       for 20-30 minutes while our host tried to find someone with a key. She returned with
       no luck, cancelled the party, gave me $20 for showing up, and we all went home
       disappointed.

   Lara Robinson's Bas Mitzvah (90)
       This gig, in and of itself, is not all that unusual, but 25 years later in 2015, I'm sitting
       on this hill where people congregate opposite Herrel's Ice Cream in Northampton and
       this woman sitting nearby overhearing my conversation says to me, "Are you Trevor?
       TREVOR "The Games Man"?!?" And I, of course, say, "Yes." She says, "Oh my
       goodness! You did my Bas Mitzvah." I reply, "Oh? Where was it?" She answered,
       "Georgetown Condominiums." To which I responded, "Well, then you must be Lara
       Robinson," and there was a moment of stunned silence while she caught her breath
       that I remembered both the event and her name. We had a nice chat for a few
       minutes at the end of which she remarked that now she should book me for her kid's
       parties.

   Mercy Adult Day Health program at Mercy Hospital (93)
       I was told ahead of time that the group was primarily disabled, age 60+ adults, most
       of them in wheelchairs, two of them nearly blind, all packed into a tiny meeting room
       with the furniture removed. I got to do some elder games I don't get to play very
       often, but they especially loved the Parachute Games!

   Park Edge Apartments Christmas party (95)
       This is an elder housing project. When they booked the event, they told me that
       some of the residents were blind and others were nearly deaf. Work with that
       audience! 

   South Church annual Christmas Dinner (93)
       Nothing unusual about that, right? ...except that it was in March!  
   Springfield Dragon Boat Festival (15, 16)
       Dragon Boats on the Connecticut River! 
   Springfield Public Libraries (93)
       Over a period of two weeks in August, I did a show at each of the nine(9!) branches 
       of the Springfield Public Libraries. What was most amazing to me was how different
       they all are, and not just the libraries themselves, but the patrons, too. It was just
       wonderful for me to see first-hand the diversity of the City of Springfield.

Sturbridge Construction Equipment Maintenance Association (93)
       This was the hardest show I ever did. A bunch of very macho mechanics, without
       their wives or girl friends, in a private room in a restaurant at night. They didn't want
       anything to do with me and basically refused to do anything I asked. All they wanted
       to do was drink, so
after about 20 minutes of valiant effort, I gave up, wished them a
       Good Evening, and left.
   Shriners Club Christmas Party (01)
       This was a totally normal gig (other than those goofy hats they
       wear!) except for two things: 1. It was all men — very rare in
       my business, I've only done two(2!) of them in my entire
       career.
(The other, maybe not coincidentally, is the one
       immediately above this one. Compare and contrast.) 2. When
       the show was over, everyone got up and filed out of the
room
       while I
stood at the door offering my flyer to anyone who
       wanted it. As they
went by me one-by-one, each of the men
       said a nice compliment to me as they left the room.
Once they'd all left, the three I
       still remembered (that I immediately wrote down on my gig sheet) were: "Very
       good." "Unusual entertainment." Thank you. It was terrific!. We all had a good time."

Sudbury First Friends day care (00)
       This was a day care center located inside an elder residential facility, so my audience
       was 3-5-year-olds and 70-90-year-olds!

Taunton Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant 101st Anniversary Open House (98)
       The previous year, when I did this event, I believe it was a first-time occurrence for
       them — I mean, it's a power plant... they don't DO events! But the lady who hired
       me the previous year for their 100th Anniversary very specifically loved having me
       there so much that she (all on her own) decided to do it again this time for their
       101st just so she could get me back there again. It was a much smaller event the
       second year, but it was still a big BLAST! 

Waltham Watch City Steampunk Festival (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22)
       No disrespect, but Steampunk festivals are just plain goofy!
Warren Torin Tebo's 6th birthday party (01)
       I've done plenty of birthday parties in restaurants, but this one
       at Tebo's Market and Deli
is the only birthday party I've ever
       done inside a grocery store! 

Westfield John & Jeanne Beltrandi's 25th wedding anniversary
          (03)
       A very normal gig except one thing: John Beltrandi is a
       contractor who built the 12-home housing development that
       they live on the corner of and the street that they live on is
       named for his wife: Jeanne Marie Drive.

   Whip City Speedway (96)
       My only performance at a race track! It was noisy. Smelly, too. But a lot of FUN!

West Springfield Catherine Bey's 50th birthday party (18)
       Just a normal family-style adult birthday party in a restaurant function room, except
       this time, Kate Lynch, the woman who booked me, was SO incredibly enthusiastic
       about my work that she raved about it before, during, and after. She wrote extensive
       raves on her Evaluation Sheet and has the distinct honor of being the person on my
       website with the longest Featured Quote on all of my Quotes pages.
Whately Elder Lumber Company Picnic (91)
       This was at the company presidents house. Afterwards, he said to me that it was
       "the most FUN I've had in years!" And he didn't even actually participate in anything
       — he just sat in a lawn chair and watched the entire time I was performing.
       Nonetheless, I'm glad he liked it.
Williamsburg Anne T. Dunphy Elementary School (85-86[34x])
       I ran a weekly after school program for about a dozen kids starting in November and
       running through the end of the school year.  
   Town of Williamsburg 225th anniversary Giant Kazoo & Noise Parade (96)
       Really! And I still have the imprinted commemorative kazoo to prove it!

Worcester Worcester Centrum / DCU Center (01) ------>
       Stiltwalking for bikers at the New England Regional
       Harley Motorcycle Rally
!
   Worcester Jewish Community Center pre-school picnic
          (05)
       This was just a normal gig that I'd done four times
       before, until I mentioned totally in jest as I was taking
       off my stilts at the end of the show that although my
       stilts were too big for the kids, that I'd be glad to let
       any adults try them out when I was all done
       entertaining the children. I've said this hundreds and hundreds of times before —
       maybe even thousands — but never with any takers. This time, however, 5 young
       mothers all approached me
en masse afterwards and begged me to let them try on
       my stilts. So I stayed an extra hour and gave them each a 10-minute stiltwalking
      lesson while their friends cheered them on!
Worthington R.H. Conwell Elementary School (18)
       My 5-year-old grandniece Maggie's kindergarten class was doing a unit on "Careers"
       and each of the children was invited to bring a relative in to talk to the class about
       theirs. She, of course, picked me. Originally, I'd arranged with the teacher to do a
       show for the class and then — as was standard for this Careers unit — answer their
       questions. But after thinking about it a bit, I realized that if I'm going to do a free
       show in a school, I might as well do it for the entire school! So we had the whole
       school in the gym that afternoon. I, of course, picked Maggie at the point in the
       show where I call a volunteer up from the audience. The little wiseacre nearly
       upstaged me, too!  

 
   Michigan
Rochester Oak Arbor Church School (93)
       A college friend booked me for a Cooperative Play training at her school, flew me out
       there for it, I spent the night at my ex-sister-in-law's, and flew back East the next
       morning. Yowza!
 
   Missouri
Webster Groves Larson Park (04) ---------------->
       This was a very informal reunion of people I
       went to junior high
with 32 years earlier. It was
       great fun to see them again, and play some
       parachute games with some of them and 
       their kids!
 
     New Hampshire
Chesterfield Chakalos Family Party (01, 06)
       This was a HUGE event for a very wealthy family that booked me for 4 hours of
       entertainment each time. The kids also enjoyed pony rides, popcorn machine, cotton
       candy machine, indoor heated swimming pool, tennis court, and all sorts of other
       stuff. The adults were equally entertained. This was a wonderful event. 

Richmond Tracy Field's 40th birthday party (15)
       A birthday party, even for an adult, is not all that unusual, but one in which all the
       relatives and many of the other guest all bring their campers to (in this case,
       Shir-Roy Camping Area) and spend the weekend together definitely is!

 
       New York
Mariaville Max Creek's "Camp Creek" music festival (00)
       6+ hours of entertainment — just a normal music festival gig, except that when it
       came time to get paid, the guy who hired me took me to the "box office" and
       counted out my entire $500 fee is $5 bills from the gate, wrapped them up in a
       rubber band, and handed them to me saying, "I hope you don't mind." It was such a
       big wad, no way it was fitting in my pocket. I had to stash it in my gig bag before
       heading to my vehicle
. At least I got paid in cash.
 
     Pennsylvaina
Harleysville Teen Connection (95)
       My sister booked me for this gig with her sons' homeschoolers social club while I was
       down in PA at her house for Thanksgiving that year.

Red Hill
Advanced Chiropractic picnic (86)
       It was my brother-in-law's business's company picnic. I lead games all day for
       whoever was interested!
 
     Rhode Island
Newport Newport Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade (17)
       I've done this parade yearly since 2012,
       but this year, it was so cold that day:
       20° with a wind chill factor of -8°(!!!)
       that I had to wear my yellow wool beret
       with a balaclava under it, a scarf, a
       down vest, two jackets, four shirts, 3
       pairs of gloves, three pairs of pants,
       knee pads, and four pairs of socks
       including my battery-operated electric
       socks. It was, indeed, extremely cold
       outside... but I was toasty! AND, when I
       got to the end of the route, a parade
       official met me and handed me a
       certificate and a plaque saying I was
       voted "Best Crowd Pleaser" in the parade! What an honor! What a cold, cold, yet
       very, very pleasing day!
 
     Vermont
Brattleboro KidsPLAYce Children's Museum (00)
       I did a woman's 40th birthday party in a children's museum!

Montpelier Montpelier State Park
          (00)  --------------------------->
       We were just checking out my
       brother-in-law's trail building,
       when he asked me spur-of-the-
       moment to lead some New
       Games with with him and the 8
       teens of his Vermont Youth
       Conservation Crew halfway up a
       mountain behind the Vermont
       Statehouse.
Newport Snyder family fundraiser (15)
       My sister-in-law had a house fire that basically gutted their kitchen and ruined pretty
       much everything in their house. Her friends put together this fundraiser for them,
       held at the Newport State Airport. It was my first performance at an airport. 
Wilmington Max Streim's 6th birthday party (02)
       I still get nostalgic for this one. The party theme was "Carnival" and I was the
       stiltwalker. There was also a bounce house, cotton candy machine, popcorn machine,
       bubble machine, and hot dog stand. I parked below a hill out of sight from the kids,
       put on my stilts, and came slowly striding up the hill to the party. The mom knew I
       was coming and pointed out my hat rising over the hill to the kids. She told me
       afterwards that there was sheer wonder in the eyes as I kept getting taller and taller
       and Taller and TALLER! It was a wonderful event, and the birthday boy was one of
       the sweetest and best behaved children it has even been my pleasure to entertain.

 
 
updated 1/10/24
 
 
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