BACKGROUND
The First Thirty by Jillip Naysinthe Paxson (and expanded version, The Silhouette Man) tell the story of a person's efforts to turn a never-ending series of obstacles, rejections and detours into positive opportunities in his life and the lives of others.
Greg is the real-life person upon whom the books are based. In July 2009, he traveled to New York for 3 days of events -- including a dream come true (a chance to 'try out' for a pro baseball team). This part of the site has photos, details and links regarding his trip. Italicized notes are Greg's personal comments.
|
GOALS
| |
In advance of the trip, Greg set some goals. They included: (1) to squeeze 3 months of activities into 3 days, (2) to use every single minute of the trip, (3) to still find time to respond, when needed, to every email and call received, without excuse, along the way, (4) to have a lot of fun and learn from the people met along the way, (5) to leave each community visited a little better than it was found, and (6) to try his best to make the team!
|
MONDAY MORNING
 |
Greg was a guest speaker at an event at Walden Place -- a beautiful, active assisted living community in Cortland, New York. Walden Place is a Senior Lifestyle Community.
|
 |
Walden Place has a staff that really enjoys what they do and where they do it -- and sincerely goes out of its way to make residents feel respected.
|
 |
In advance, Walden Place ordered copies of The First Thirty and The Silhouette Man for its residents.
|
MONDAY AFTERNOON
 |
Following the event, some young professionals from the Cortland area - representing a group called 40 Below - hosted a lunch with Greg at a fun local restaurant. They had previously used The First Thirty as part of a Book Club.
|
 |
From lunch in Cortland, Greg drove straight to an early dinner in Rochester a couple hours away.
(Okay, so it wasn't exactly a straight line -- I did take a couple detours to check out the very cool surroundings).
|
MONDAY NIGHT
 |
The dinner was hosted by NextGen Rochester - an initiative of the Rochester Area Community Foundation.
|
|
After dinner, he and a guest attended the closing night of the 2009 Rochester Jewish Film Festival. In front of a packed house, organizers screened Defiance – (a great film about one of the most inspiring families - ever).
|
|
 |
Following the film, there was a Q&A with some of the younger relatives of the actual people (i.e. one of their sons) upon whom the story is based.
|
 |
Following the event, there was an after-party for those in attendance - giving guests a chance to visit with each other, discuss the film and tour parts of the Eastman House.
|
TUESDAY MORNING
 |
Greg joined a group of local seniors for breakfast (at another beautiful Senior Lifestyle Community called Baywinde in Webster, NY).
According to its website, the expansive Baywinde campus "includes patio homes, apartment homes and assisted living apartments,
with a special, secure neighborhood for those with Alzheimer’s or related memory loss."
|
 |
After breakfast, he was a guest speaker at an event for staff, residents and guests at Baywinde.
|
 |
In advance, Baywinde ordered copies of The First Thirty and The Silhouette Man for residents. They also got a copy of the Legacy Poem poster to put up in their community.
|
 |
A recent graduate of nearby University of Rochester was handpicked by school representatives to serve as Greg’s assistant for the day – starting with the visit at Baywinde.
|
TUESDAY AFTERNOON - CAMP
 |
After the event, Greg headed to a very special place – Camp Smile.
|
 |
According to its website, the camp provides a remarkable 1:1 ratio of counselors to campers, to ensure every young person at camp has the best experience possible. The counselors work at the camp on a volunteer basis.
|
 |
In advance of the visit, an anonymous businessman in New York ordered copies of The First Thirty for all of the counselors at camp – so they could read them to their campers and then keep them, in recognition of their volunteer efforts at Camp Smile.
|
 |
As part of his visit, Greg spoke with the campers and counselors.
At the end of his talk, he surprised them with the news that he was about to go have a private 'try out' with the nearby Rochester Red Wings -- AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins -- and the camp's officials and the team's management had granted permission for the entire Camp to come to Frontier Field to be on hand for the 'tryout'.
|
BACKGROUND - PREPARING FOR BASEBALL
 |
During the four weeks leading up to the baseball 'tryout', Greg prepared in a number of ways. He started by rounding up some great partners to be part of his efforts to fulfill his deeply held Dream.
They included Louisville Slugger ...
|
 |
and CVS Pharmacy...
ML Marketing & Communications came on board, too -- to help out with communications and public relations, so Greg could focus on the task at hand -- baseball!
(And as always, my SUPER intern was a big help, too).
|
 |
To shake the rust off after not playing baseball for many years, Greg worked on his hitting by visiting BASH Sports Academy - a premier baseball/softball training facility based in Chicago. At BASH, he received a one-on-one session with master instructor (and current Kansas City scout) Hank Lott ...
|
 |
- and then returned to BASH on a regular basis to spend some time hitting off a tee and in the batting cages.
|
 |
To prepare for the fielding drills, Greg called on some friends who each took the time to meet him out in the park and play catch or hit him some ground balls.
|
TUESDAY AFTERNOON - BASEBALL
 |
When the big day in New York arrived...following the visit to Camp Smile...Greg headed to the ballpark and got ready for the 'tryout'.
(And yes, of course, I still wore my mismatched socks!)
|
 |
In the meantime, the kids and counselors from Camp Smile took their seats behind home plate, where they had the chance to meet some of the players and staff who are part of the Red Wings and learn more about their roles on and off the field.
|
 |
The kids were not the only ones getting some useful tips. It had been many years since Greg had hit live pitching...but before the 'tryout' started, different guys on the team took the time to give him words of encouragement and some last-minute advice.
|
 |
The Coach was especially supportive, too...
|
 |
The ‘tryout’ consisted of hitting...
|
 |
Shot of the Day: On the last pitch of the hitting drills, Greg and Coach watch to see if his hit would be a home run.
(It ended up *just* short - going 320 feet to the wall - but please forgive me if, as I get older and tell the story, I'm gonna say it went 323 and over the wall :)
|
 |
...and some standard fielding drills at first base and third base.
|
 |
As part of the visit, the Coach had him speak briefly to the team as a group - so Greg could thank them for making him feel so welcome and to share some thoughts on using their platform as pro athletes to impact the community.
|
 |
...and then all the guys on the Red Wings were given copies of The First Thirty, as a surprise gift from the first people they will see if (when!) they make it to Minnesota -- the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
|
TUESDAY NIGHT
 |
Greg was slated to throw out the first pitch at the Red Wings game against Pawtucket that night, but a thunderstorm intervened and the game was postponed. So, he spent the next couple hours hanging out with the guys - learning more about their paths and backgrounds, and watching other baseball games on TV in the locker room (and, of course, eating a cheese sandwich just like I used to do after I played as a kid)
|
 |
The fans who had arrived at Frontier Field to attend the game had a good time despite the weather, too. The Red Wings create a friendly environment for fans of all ages.
|
 |
Afterward, Greg stopped by Borders in Henrietta - where they carry The First Thirty. They also carry it at Borders in Victor.
The people who work at these Borders are extremely nice - so stop by and check out the many books and other products they have to offer!
|
WEDNESDAY MORNING/AFTERNOON
 |
After attending another breakfast with seniors at Baywinde, Greg drove for an hour or two to Cayuga County.
The Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce had a lunch to welcome him to the area. It was a very fun, social, informal environment involving some of the community's top business, education and civic leaders.
|
 |
They also arranged to bring Greg on a tour of the Harriet Tubman Home, which is located in that area (Auburn, NY). For him, this was a particularly meaningful moment – as Tubman has been his favorite historical figure since he was a boy. The first book he ever purchased with his own money (at a 1st grade book fair) was the children’s edition of Tubman’s biography. To this day, the book sits in his room.
|
THE FIRST THIRTY ELEVATOR PROJECT
 |
During the trip, another chapter of The First Thirty Elevator Project was implemented. To learn about this Project, how it started, what it has turned into, and how you could be part of it, go to www.TheFirstThirty.com and click Elevator Project.
|
SIGNS
 |
During his trips, Greg likes to look for signs (both literal and figurative) that are fun, funny, meaningful and/or connected to the themes of the trip itself. During these three days, the signs seemed to be everywhere. For instance, one of the people who inspired him to pursue his dreams was Rocky. And Rocky seemed to pop up in a bunch of places...
|
 |
The primary theme of the trip was Dreams...and that seemed to pop up in a number of places, too...
|
 |
And, of course, one major theme of this trip was baseball - and the belief that it's a dream worth pursuing at any age... and there was a sign or two about that as well.
|
CROSSING PATHS
 |
Greg's trip to New York provided him a chance to meet all kinds of interesting people - new friends and old. Here are pictures of some of the (many!) additional memorable people and places who crossed his path during the trip...
|
CONNECTING DOTS
 |
One of Greg's favorite things to do during these trips is 'connect dots' between people and places that cross his path. He likes to try and 'connect dots' after the trips as well. Some early examples include:
1) Connecting leaders of 40 Below (the young professional program in Cortland) and IGNITE (the young professional program in Cayuga County)
2) Connecting two women he met as a result of the trip - both of whom have an interest in creating a program where women mentor one another
3) Connecting a musician in Washington DC he met on one of the flights to a couple in DC that loves music
|
SAMPLE OF RIPPLE EFFECTS
| |
The Rochester chapter of The Dream Factory sent in word that they were granting a Dream for another child... and they decided to get a copy of The First Thirty to present to the child and her parent at the banquet. Greg wrote a personal note that was placed with the book and which organizers indicated they ended up reading out loud at the banquet as part of the surprise for the child and her parent
|
SAMPLE OF FEEDBACK
 |
Todd, a father of two in Missouri: "...upon hearing of [Greg's story], at the age of 36, my mind turned back to those days of Little League. As he goes out for his tryout, I feel I will be with him in spirit. He takes my dreams with him and I am so very pleased to have learned of this story. He may not make the team, in fact failure is almost certain. The message is that shooting for your dreams requires one to accept the fact that they might not come true.... and the real dream is to have no fear in their pursuance. Thank you for bringing my mind back to the days of glory that every child should be so lucky to experience. I shall share this story with my little boys when they are old enough to take the field."
|
BOOK & POSTER ORDERING INFORMATION
 |
To check out a copy of The First Thirty, visit the Cortland Public Library.
To check out a copy of The Silhouete Man, visit the Webster Public Library
To purchase signed copies of The First Thirty in person in the Rochester area, check out Borders in Henrietta and Victor
To order copies of the posters, visit www.GregForbes.com, click Enter Site, click Posters To order A Place To Sit or The Silhouette Man (or The First Thirty online), go to www.TheSilhouetteMan.com & click Cart
For bulk orders of any of the titles, email Books@IdeaListEnterprises.com
|
WEBSITE & CONTACT INFORMATION
SPECIAL THANKS
 |
It was a busy 3 days!
Thanks to everyone who played such special roles in the trip in general and some boyhood dreams in particular coming true. (And when I say boyhood - I mean jerseys going back to the day when the bat was bigger than I was) :)
|
|
|
|
