Too many tears…

November 11, 2011





ODC

Tim, Jenny & Michael

Too many tears…

At what point does grieving turn in to healing? I am sure that the answer varies based on the individual involved, and the healing process can be slow and painful with many obstacles and difficulties but the bond of love between family and friends seems to me to be the key for the process to move forward. I know that has proven to be the case for me in those situations where I have been faced with incredible sorrow. This past week was an incredible reminder of the power that friends can hold and the sense that life does indeed move on in spite of tremendous tragedy.

Amy & Abe



Amanda & Coco

Drew, Jen, Zan & Kelly

I think it began with the incredible outpouring of support that I saw displayed at my friend Matt’s moving memorial ceremony. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there, including many, many good friends- some who I had not seen in some twenty years or more. As horrible as the circumstances, it was in many ways good to see so many friends and to meet so many more people who I had not known, but who each had become a part of Matt’s life.

Michael & Abe

Mary Lee, Zan & Rusty

Angela & Shannon

Tim, Tim, Wes, Jen & Rusty

People had come from literally all over the country to pay their respects and it had been some time since such a large group of us had been together for any reason. It was great to see everyone and even better to have friends there to lean on. As difficult as the memorial was for us all, it was also a time to share happy memories and remember the many, many good times that we all shared.

Rusty & Jen

Jenny

Amanda, John Michael, Coco, Kevin & Scotty



After the memorial, friends and family gathered at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub for a reception where we were all able at long last to begin to move past the tears and start to make those small first steps to moving on. It was one of the first times of the week where moments of normalcy crept in and we were just able to enjoy being together.

Drew, Wes, Eli & Rick



There was a large crowd of mostly Matt’s closet friends at the Brew Pub and it was a tremendously positive experience being able to hang out, re-connect and even laugh a little. It was a long and unexpectedly enjoyable night. In fact it was so healing and wonderful that many of us found it difficult to actually leave. In spite of the fact that I had a four AM wake-up call in order to make a six AM flight to Orlando, I stayed with my ODC friends and closed the place down with them.

Tim,Jen, Jenny & Michael

Jen, Drew & Zan

I think none of us really wanted to say goodbye. As tough as it had been for us all, we had at least had each other for support and many of us were scheduled to depart, leaving our support system and going on with heavy hearts.

Drew, Zan & Kelly

John Michael, Lisa, Kevin & Sarah

Life

November 10, 2011

Life


“And when your hour
It is near
And your friends
They all are here
To share their love and to be kind
It's just life

Oh and when you're gone
You won't be back
I'll remember those
Special times we had
I'll sing this song and feel all right
'Cause that's just life
That's just life
That's just life
So darlin' don't cry”

-Josh Rouse





ODC

Sunday morning after the completion of Fantasy Fest, I was on a plane headed to Indianapolis. Unlike many past joyous returns to my childhood home, this trip was as difficult as any since the illness and passing of my father. As sad as that was for me, it was not unexpected and far less shocking than hearing the news that my good friend Matt Elliott was gone suddenly at the age of forty-three, apparently from a massive cerebral aneurism. I had hoped to get there sooner, but commitments prevented me from immediately joining my grieving friends upon hearing the news.



Tim & Kevin



We have always had an incredibly tight-knit group of friends, for over thirty years, a group of us who grew up in the Broad Ripple neighborhood on the Northside of Indianapolis have been known as the Old Dog Crew or ODC. While many of us have spread out across the country, our hearts have remained in our hometown. We have seen each other through numerous weddings, break-ups and divorces, children, business successes and travails and just about everything else that constitutes life and remained close in a way that is almost impossible to really explain.



Kevin & Joe



This is the first time we have had to deal with the passing of one of our own and it hit especially hard because it was so sudden, unexpected and because Matt seemingly was just hitting his stride and had so much more to offer. Technically I was in Indianapolis to attend Matt’s memorial service, but in reality I was there to offer and accept the solace of my friends.

Erik & Ted

Mike

Shannon & Michael



Pretty much from the moment of my arrival, I was in the company of my ODC friends during every waking moment. I joined a grieving process well under way when I arrived that had us visiting many of Matt’s favorite places, reminiscing over photos, alternately laughing at fond memories and breaking down. We spent time at Brugge Brasserie, Twenty Tap, the Red Key Tavern and even closed down the infamous Alley Cat lounge a couple of nights. It was heartbreaking and yet comforting to be in the company of such great friends. Tokens of Matt were everywhere we went, from the winning pumpkin in the Broad Ripple Brew Pubs’ carving contest that featured Matt’s visage, to the spontaneous memorial scrawling in the Red Key bathrooms to conversations overheard while perusing music at Luna Music.



Rick & Tim



The weather was spectacular, beautiful fall days that had me missing being in Indiana almost as much as being with friends did. In one of the few times I spent alone, I headed over to the botanical gardens at Butler University where I had spent so many happy times as a child to walk under the beautiful fall foliage and take a few minutes for myself.









Matt’s memorial service was held at one of his favorite places, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The huge tent at the Brickyard Crossing was packed with close to 500 mourners, a testament to the huge impact that Matt made across a wide spectrum of society. It was as moving and wonderful a tribute as I have ever seen. Hearing Vess Ruhtenberg’s haunting performance of the Josh Rouse song “Life” moved me to tears as did many of the amazing eulogies offered by family members and our close friends.



Rosie & Kelly

Matt Elliott Obituary

Invasion of the Lionfish

November 8, 2011



Michael

* Photo by Sheelman

Kathy

Invasion of the Lionfish

The main event of Fantasy Fest each year is the annual Saturday night parade and for the past fifteen years or so, Kathy & I have joined our friends Rick, Steve, Hutch (and for many years David) in building a series of floats to enter in the big parade. Each year we try to come up with ideas and creations that capture the spirit of the theme, while at the same time capturing the somewhat roguish and rebellious nature of the creators. They are always massive undertakings and this year Hutch and Rick led the way in the creation and building of the Invasion of the Lionfish float.



Rick & Steve

Hutch

There are still a few of us old timers who have been around since back in the beginning of the float building efforts, but each year there seem to be hundreds of new young and happy faces joining our group. This year may have been one of the largest crowds for our group ever as we had upwards of two hundred people joining our float dressed up as Lionfish and walking or riding on the float.





Richard



I was there with somewhat of a heavy heart, the passing of my friend Matt had me scheduled to fly to Indianapolis to attend his memorial early Sunday morning. We were also missing one of our long-time friends and float participants Melissa Jean who is recovering from brain surgery and was not able to participate. In honor of my friends I wore a RIP Matt insignia on the front of my costume and a small heart with the initials MJ on it on the back. It was just a small reminder that while I was participating in the Fantasy Fest madness, my heart was with my friends.







Bruce

One of my favorite parts of the entire process is the time prior to the start of the parade in the float marshalling area. Everyone is in buoyant spirits. There is also time to walk around and see friends on other floats which is important because we really don’t get to see the parade much at all. The setting sun makes everything glow in the sweet light and the sense of anticipation is high, everyone is mostly sober as well- something that can not be said as the parade gets underway.

Fantasy Fest Video Hi-lights

Our float looked awesome and once we actually got moving, it was an incredible sight to see this mass of Lionfish moving down the street. Our costumes are all created using the same basic template, with each individual allowed to show their own creativity with the upgrades and refinements as they see fit. This allows for us to readily be identified as being part of our group, yet creates a wide range of creative diversity as each person brings their own flair to their costume.

Kathy





Lionfish have become a major issue here in the Keys and throughout the Caribbean as they are an invasive exotic species that have very few natural predators and thus have become overpopulating our reefs, decimating some other local fish and even lobster populations with their voracious appetites. They make for a topical and tropical subject matter for the float and people responded with loud cheers as we began along the parade route.

Steve, Rick & Michael







It was probably the most enthusiastic crowd response that any of our floats have ever generated and we have had a number of fantastic floats – even capturing the Grand Prize a couple of times. People really seemed enamored of our float and costumes and we really were an impressive sight as we made our way down Whitehead Street.





Todd & Lisa

George & Carla

The parade was great, the crowds lining the street were as big as I had seen in years and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time. The raunch factor from the previous couple of years seemed a little toned down and Fantasy Fest was back to its creative and fun old self. It was great to see such excitement back.

Chris & Erin

Josh & Bonnie

Carol

We made it through most of the parade without major incident, then about three quarters of the way through we were hit by a massive downpour. It was the first time in all my years of participating in Fantasy Fest parades that the main parade was impacted by rain. It didn’t seem to affect our group’s spirits much, but many of the cardboard costumes did not make it to the end, and the girls relying on body paint as their costume had some issues as well. We were sort of a bedraggled mess when we hit the judging stand, though I am not sure if that was a factor in the fact that our float only scored second place honors and missed out on the grand prize. Congrats to the winning entry, our friends from Big Pine and their spectacular Sea Monkeys float captured the Grand Prize.



Suzy Jo & Andy

We still had a great time, though for me personally it was tempered by a fairly heavy heart and thus for the first time perhaps ever, we opted to head home at the conclusion of the parade and not go out on the town to celebrate. Kathy & I are happy and proud to have participated again. Thanks so much to Hutch, Rick, Steve, our driver Bruce and to all those who helped create, build and participate in this years’ excellent effort.