Crawl For Cancer Decadence Defines Generation

Generation One A.M. does not attend four figure fundraisers. Generation One A.M. does not host charitable tournaments or cocktail receptions. Generation One A.M. philanthropy is casual, expressive, and pleasurable.

Crawl for Cancer is eight years old. Generation One A.M. is twenty-eight evenings old. Yet, the former perfectly epitomizes the latter’s philanthropic philosophy. Forced conversation, formal attire, and fusty appetizers require invitations and protocol. Camaraderie colors and charitable intoxication translate via facebook, instant message, and text.

Now, I’ve twittered every second of celebrity appearances and sports spectacles and I will twitter every second of the Gossip Awards, Park Street Festival, and Red, White, and Boom… Without hesitation, no visual has equaled and no visual will equal Crawl for Cancer. The intermixed visual of squad personality and venue presence was phenomenal.

For several squads, merely matching colors was insufficient. Their coordination and individualism required extra. A pair of squads prepped for the Cleveland Cavaliers contest with matching headbands, one squad’s headbands reading “I Heart LBJ.” A pair of squads utilized Mardi Gras, one wearing beads and the other wearing masks. One squad was island themed. One squad wore shark necklaces. One squad lettered their jerseys, complete with a captain’s insignia. And one squad utilized “Super Troopers” as an inspiration with every member sporting a mustache.

The venues mirrored the participants. From coordinated servers (Garage Bar in black, Lodge Bar and Park Street Patio in red) to pink Coors Light banners which read “Welcome Crawlers,” the silent structures immersed themselves within the chaotic atmosphere. Their management and slingers serving simultaneously as enablers of the decadence and witnesses to it…

And every scene and squad witnessed was spectacular… Park Street Patio offered scrumptious slingers, an outdoor grill, and spray fans… Lodge Bar split their patio between a music menagerie and their rock stars on the back bar… Callahan’s second level was as swarmed as any summer evening… And every venue included cheers and screams, physical encouragement (also known as high fives) as members finished their pitchers… Vocal encouragement as they contemplated whether they could finish them…

Inevitably, several who finished embarrassed themselves and this superb event… One random puked, passed out, and was removed via stretcher… Another random was shoved onto the ground by his friends, which cracked his head open… You would assume, in an event such as this, responsibility would be inherent… Since it’s not, I will state the obvious… If you cannot converse, remain upright, or recognize your surroundings, you should exit the premises…

While the irresponsible were ridiculous (alright, they were also column material), they could not obscure the success. As the patios and sidewalks, which were previously massed with squads, silenced in the pre-evening air, my mind revisited what I had witnessed… “Debauchery for a good cause” was the phrase of earlier hours… Yet, this phrase was inadequate… Crawl for Cancer was the definition of a generation…