otw_news | May. 2nd, 2012

May. 2nd, 2012

Here's a roundup of fan wish-fulfillment and memorial stories that might be of interest to fans:

A post at Kotaku told the story of six-year old John Hoover, and his mother Carrie's plea to Everquest II players to help expand and decorate her cancer-stricken son's playing space. "Players working around the clock joined and power-leveled a new guild (reaching guild level 70 in, reportedly, approximately 65 hours) in order to have access to goods, housing, and amenities ready for the big day. And when it came, they turned out in force. When they were done, young John had a virtual wonderland to call his own, complete with carousel, playground, treehouse, hopscotch field, giant aquarium, menageries, gardens, pirate bed, winter wonderland, and even a rollercoaster — all donated and built, painstakingly, by a small army of decorators." In a note thanking everyone who helped in the effort, Carrie emphasized the major role that the Everquest II fan community has played in her family's life since her son's birth, and also shared YouTube videos of her son's reactions to his new playing space.

The U.S. baseball season opened this year with the unveiling of a statue dedicated to fans in front of the Texas Rangers' stadium. More specifically, the statue honors a father who died in 2011 while trying to catch a foul ball for his son. Thousands of fans contributed to a fund for his family through various fundraisers and direct donations.

Scottish football fans organized a memorial game on behalf of two young fans who died in the past few years. "Paul Daly is organising a four-team tournament at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell...The tournament will feature teams from Cadzow Accies, Cadzow Accies Legends, an Accies fans' team and an Accies Legends select." The games will honor "John Paterson (18), son of well-known Hamilton Accies Football Supporters' Welfare Organisation (HAFSWO) bus convener John Paterson, [who] passed away in November 2009 while battling leukaemia [and] Stuart Whitelaw [who] died in May 2010 following a period of illness which involved the 21-year-old going through a series of strokes." Said the organizer, "I just thought this year we could maybe get ex-players involved to show the boys' families that we're very interested in keeping their spirits up and remembering their boys."

Fanlore doesn’t just preserve memories of fandoms and fan activities, but also the fans who took part in them. If someone important to you doesn’t yet have a remembrance page there, why not start one? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW. Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog. Find related news by viewing our tag cloud.

otw-staff.livejournal.com

Here's a roundup of fan wish-fulfillment and memorial stories that might be of interest to fans:

A post at Kotaku told the story of six-year old John Hoover, and his mother Carrie's plea to Everquest II players to help expand and decorate her cancer-stricken son's playing space. "Players working around the clock joined and power-leveled a new guild (reaching guild level 70 in, reportedly, approximately 65 hours) in order to have access to goods, housing, and amenities ready for the big day. And when it came, they turned out in force. When they were done, young John had a virtual wonderland to call his own, complete with carousel, playground, treehouse, hopscotch field, giant aquarium, menageries, gardens, pirate bed, winter wonderland, and even a rollercoaster — all donated and built, painstakingly, by a small army of decorators." In a note thanking everyone who helped in the effort, Carrie emphasized the major role that the Everquest II fan community has played in her family's life since her son's birth, and also shared YouTube videos of her son's reactions to his new playing space.

The U.S. baseball season opened this year with the unveiling of a statue dedicated to fans in front of the Texas Rangers' stadium. More specifically, the statue honors a father who died in 2011 while trying to catch a foul ball for his son. Thousands of fans contributed to a fund for his family through various fundraisers and direct donations.

Scottish football fans organized a memorial game on behalf of two young fans who died in the past few years. "Paul Daly is organising a four-team tournament at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell...The tournament will feature teams from Cadzow Accies, Cadzow Accies Legends, an Accies fans' team and an Accies Legends select." The games will honor "John Paterson (18), son of well-known Hamilton Accies Football Supporters' Welfare Organisation (HAFSWO) bus convener John Paterson, [who] passed away in November 2009 while battling leukaemia [and] Stuart Whitelaw [who] died in May 2010 following a period of illness which involved the 21-year-old going through a series of strokes." Said the organizer, "I just thought this year we could maybe get ex-players involved to show the boys' families that we're very interested in keeping their spirits up and remembering their boys."

otw-staff.livejournal.com

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