—posted on behalf of Patch Perryman, and the rest of your Capos
It started many years back with Tim Birr and a Stuttgart jersey. See, Uncle Birr has this three-level, Pint Rule. If he sees something that he thinks someone would like, he has a simple formula on whether or not he should buy it. First, how much does it cost? If it’s the price of a pint, then it goes on to the next round. Second, would I buy this person a pint? If so, then the item could act as a gift. Third, would the person prefer the pint? Well, for Uncle Birr that’s easy; but we capos have a request that doesn’t involving buying alcohol.
Back in 2010, a couple capos named Hermes and Pong started talking about ways we could get people to say, “Thanks for yellin’ at me all season,” in a positive manner when the idea of voice came up. We help this extremely passive-aggressive city find its voice and collectively just be aggressive (even if all we do is sing-song melodies now instead of taunts).
We wish to create something new in how we acknowledge our respect for other people by realizing that no matter how bad things are with the season – whether or not we yelled at you – it could be a lot worse.
Who even thought about the fact that kids in wheelchairs can’t have a treehouse before Harper’s Playground? Or realized that there was an Oregon-based summer camp specifically for kids with speech, language or auditory disabilities?
This is where Tim Birr’s Pint Rules fit in nicely.
We: The 107ist, TA, Cascadia, Portland, humanity, and so on, seek to create a realizable philosophy, one that actualizes our beliefs into actions.
We, as capos, help people find their voice during match day. “Buy Your Capo A Pint” is a chance for the people in our sections to say, “Thank you” to the conductors of Portland’s largest, sustained performance art actions by sending a few kids with speech and hearing issues to Camp Meadowood Springs (URL: http://meadowoodsprings.org/) so they can find their voices for everyday.
In 2010 we passed a hat to a crowd during a Portland Punk Rock Collective gig and also donated their share of the door/bar to the Camp Meadowood Springs cause. It sent one kid to the camp. Next season we sent the hat around the Timbers Army for one match with only a week’s notice. It sent another kid to camp. And so for the past four seasons the capos have sought donations from among the TA during only one match.
On Friday the 27th of June, during the match against Sporting Kansas City, the Capos will have collection buckets at their nests and on the stage. And to donate online, you may use this Paypal link:
If at any point over the course of this season you might feel inclined to buy your capo a pint then please, instead of buying drinks and during Friday’s match, donate whatever you think a pint is worth to help us cover the tuition to send a few kids to a summer camp where they can develop the courage and skills to use their voices for a lifetime.
Thank you,
xoxo
Your friendly neighborhood capos
