We sat down with Cory MacDonald who represents the Choroideremia Research Foundation. Cory and True Blood fans recently went on a beer tasting adventure. What is that exactly? It’s 18 different beers, representing countries from around the world – good friends, new friends and lots of fun; all this to raise awareness and funds, for the CRF. What a great idea too; beer, food and funds this is Cory’s BFF.

It was a perfect way to kick off the festivities for the weekend! Okay, okay, the real kickoff (for me) started about 5 hours earlier when my fellow blindie Larry arrived from Baltimore and we proceeded to consume 4 pitchers of Sam Adams Oktoberfest via my Kegerator in my home… Hey, we had to warm up!! LOL My wife managed to corral us, do the wife leading the blind leading the blind drunk thing and get us into the car and to the hotel to meet up with the Bloodlusters.

A few people weren’t able to make it, but 12 of us dodged the raindrops on the short walk from the hotel to the restaurant (Note to Bloodlusters: When it’s dark & raining, NEVER trust a blindie when they say, “I know where I’m going”!). When we arrived, the staff led us to the back room (guess they had heard about us). On the way through the dining rooms, people were amazed at the artwork and steins displayed everywhere. The Student Prince/Fort Restaurant has one of the largest beer stein collections in the world. Very old world feel to the place… Really cool, to say the least.

The food was incredible, HUGE portions. The beer was just as good. While eating, we shared stories, lot of laughs, took pictures of each other taking pictures, etc. All in all, a great evening and my opportunity to, “decompress” a bit. Putting together one of these events is quite a bit of work, and the last week is the worst part, as you tie together all the details. It was worth the effort, though… :)

LOL Yeah, courtesy of my buddy Dave (Best Man at my wedding). The back room was packed with various groups. One group was celebrating a Birthday. When they brought out the cake, they turned out ALL the lights in the room… “Thanks” said the blind guys who were trying to put mouth to beer when it happened.. LOL

So the entire drunken room sings Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs, then the lights go back on. Dave says, “This moment of darkness brought to you courtesy of the Choroideremia Research Foundation.” LOL

Official attendance was 57 people, not bad for the first time doing this on this level. I’ve done some smaller beer tastings back in the early 2000′s. What got me was that we had 8 different states represented! Massachusetts (Duh!), New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and even someone from Tennessee who showed up later!

TB-N How much money was raised?

We netted $7,383!! Not too bad for a day of drinking all types of beers, eating good food, listening to kick ass live jazz and generally have a great time… :)

TB-N What was the item that raised the most funds?

By far, the signed picture of Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz, which went for a total of $2,000!! AND, the winner gave the picture back for a future event!

However, if one of my ideas had been implemented, I think I could have topped that bid. I *was* going to offer myself for sex as an auction item, but my wife told me I’d end up paying them, so I dropped that idea. I still think I could have made a lot of money… Even if it would have been out of pity… LOL

Other big items were the signed poster print from blind artist H. Eric Hartman ($450), the Anna Paquin Necklace donated by TrueBlood-New (Bill’s Wiki’d Women, we got $425 for it!!) and the Heineken Mini-Fridge which netted $350.

Personally, I like the Guinness 250th Anniversary brew and the Affligem Blond from Belgium. Yeah, I’m a beer snob, your point? LOL The overall hit of the day, though, had to have been the Dragon Stout, brewed in Jamaica, mon. Very sweet, kind of felt like I was drinking a not-too-carbonated cherry cola. Many people who don’t like beer at all loved that stuff.

Wow… Where do I begin? Both Jean & Cindy, wonderful and fun. Cindy’s son was really cool too. A couple for New Hampshire (CRF Members) who came were people I’d known for over ten years, talked to on the phone, emailed, etc…. Yet we’d never met face to face. Talk about a moment. Not sure if you could call it interesting, but for me, it was one of the highlights.

Yeah, that was fun. Of course, when this thing was first cranking up and you came on board, helping to promote it, getting the, “Road Trip for a Cure” thing going, my thought was, “Hmm, wonder if we can get EJ and/or Deborah Ann Woll to come?” Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass, as EJ had other commitments and Deborah was going to be in Canada, shooting a movie.

So then I thought, “Well. let me see if Deborah could at least call in to the event”. She was more than happy to do that, to thank everyone who had come from all over to support the beer tasting, this event that was raising money to get us to that cure that would save EJ’s sight. We all felt the True Blood fans would get a little kick out it.

Then EJ had a great idea: When Deborah called in, she would announce an additional Auction Item: A personalized, autographed head shot of Deborah would be mailed to the winner! By the way, the winner will receive their picture early November, as Deborah won’t be back home until the end of this month.

Although putting my cell phone on speaker and then holding it to the microphone wasn’t the most perfect way to transmit her voice, everyone there was able to hear her… It did the trick. My thanks to Deborah and EJ for helping out and arranging this!!

Wow, how much space do you have on this site? LOL From the people who donated raffle and auction items, from my mother’s hand crocheted afghan, to TrueBlood-News donating that spectacular necklace made by Nomi (exactly like the one worn by Anna Paguin), to the Heineken Mini-Fridge from a distribution company and the two tickets to the Celtics vs. Bulls game… To the people who came and supported us like Billsbabe Lisa and her hubby from the next town over, to people like Cindy who came in from another state and Jean who came in from yet another, routing through yet another state… Staying at hotel rooms, driving all that way on their own dime.. To my brothers in blindness Larry, John O., Mattie, Bob… To the parents who have kids with CHM.. Diane & Jeff, Randy… To friends like Dave, Tammy, Jane & Missy who stepped up at the last moment to help out with things.. To Nick, my accountant, my friend and brother… My other friends and relatives, too many to name..The staff of the Rock Cafe and their manager, Joe… To Karen, love of my life, my support, my driver, my idea bouncer, many times my eyes, she does it all (except the cooking, I do that)… I thank all of you. With this type of support, I KNOW we’re going to win this fight!!!