Just before making nice with our Table Neighbors, reps from Columbia College’s graphic design program. These gentlemen in the background gifted the Griot Booth with some awesome playing cards, by the way.

Strawberry smoothies make databasing so much sweeter. See?

That “shopping galore” I was talking about. This warrior wristband and amber ring (made from an antique fork, believe it or not) helped us lure in two walk-ups to record on Sunday. That jewelry is magic! Or maybe it’s the shiny CDs?

Muchas gracias to Jim and Ruth Geis, the lovely creators of our own Sarah Geis, for having the Griot Team over for some great convo and cajun cookin’! Sarah will be joining the Griot Tour during its southern stops in Memphis, Tennessee and Alabama (see the excitement on her face?!).

The Jesse Brown VA Medical Center consists of a 188-bed care facility and four community-based outpatient clinics. Jesse Brown provides care to approximately 62,000 veterans who reside in the City of Chicago and Cook County, IL and in six counties in northwestern Indiana. A budget of over $235 million supports about 1,800 staff, including 180 physicians and 590 nurses.

But during our visit there last week, it became apparent that the spirit of the facility is in its 500 volunteers who are mostly war vets and family members of vets.

Herbert H. Adams is one of the 500 who has been volunteering at Jesse Brown for years. A Vietnam War vet, Herbert gives back to the facility in a simple, but oh-so-important way: he collects wheelchairs from each floor of the facility’s parking garage and deposits them on their appropriate hospital floors, readying them for use throughout the day. And how do we know this? We kind of forgot where we left the van in the parking garage, and there Herbert was holding the elevator three-chairs deep with a smile (on a couple of floors, actually…).

Herbert does this all day, yet he still found time to record two interviews during our Door-to-Door at Jesse Brown. He’s pictured here with Toccarra Thomas, who facilitated both of his sessions.

The Pink Panthers Double Dutch Team graced our blog last week with the fabulous freeze frames of their opening day performance. Today, however, the group had as much to say as their recent pictures’ thousand words.

Rosalyn Jamison (left) is interviewed above by her daughter Mharion Sammons (right). Rosalyn is a co-founder of the Team, seeing a need for double dutch culture as close as her own home. Three years ago Mharion and her sister shied away from the second rope, but can now jump with the best of the team. Thanks to mom Rosalyn and Coach Joyce Dickerson, the sisters – along with dozens of other girls in the suburbs – now savor the flavor of old school Chicago.

Eugene Young only turned 10 two weeks ago and is already claiming what is rightfully his: a place at the StoryCorps Griot interview table.

Our first Door-to-Door was at ACORN-Chicago, and Eugene had the pleasure of interviewing his mom, Michelle, who adopted Eugene and his sister when he was only three-months old.

Today, with a little help from facilitator Becky Homann, Eugene questioned his mom about her first impressions of him as a baby, her own childhood in Chicago, and the trials (and joys!) of marriage and falling in love. Oh, the mah-velous mind of youth!

StoryCorps Griot Opening, Part II. June 21, 2007. Chicago