In celebration of #TechTuesday, we continue our tale from last week. You’ve heard about author Jerry Gidner’s artistic process; now learn what it’s like to receive one of his works! We’re excited to chat with Mr. Jack Ohlweiler, the father of our book prize raffle winners.
Encore: We’re so thrilled to have your family win the raffle! Can you share with us how the lobby raffle caught your interest to enter?
Ohlweiler: Truthfully we just entered to make a donation to Encore. We certainly never expected to win.
Encore: How excited where you when you found out you were the winner?
Ohlweiler: We were totally thrilled! It was such a unique and interesting prize that we immediately began to think about the kind of story we wanted Jerry to write.
Encore: What kind of guidance or feedback did you provide before the story was written?
Ohlweiler: Jerry was fantastic in how he sought our input for the story. He came to our house one afternoon and stayed for a couple of hours. We told him we wanted to story to be about our three children and we wanted it to be some sort of fantasy adventure that took place in our backyard (we have a big backyard with a creek and wooded area). Jerry took that “nugget” and started interviewing the oldest of our two kids (our youngest was taking a nap so we answered questions about him). Jerry asked the kids to describe themselves and what kind of things they liked. He also walked around the backyard and took a whole bunch of pictures. All this made us really excited about what kind of story he was going to produce.
Encore: Which part of Mr. Gidner’s book got you most excited?
Ohlweiler: When Jerry sent us the first draft of the book, we were blown away. He captured our kids’ personalities so remarkably and produced a story that allowed each of them to shine as individuals and as a family. Based on the story, our daughter drew a picture to be included in the book. And when we saw the final product with all the pictures we were absolutely amazed. Jerry even gave us extra copies of the books to give to all the grandparents . . . all of whom were so moved and touched by the story.
Encore: We hope to see you at our next show! Is there anything else you’d like to share about the process or the book?
Ohlweiler: Jerry was unbelievably generous with his time and talent in producing this book that is going to be a family heirloom forever. His process for doing this is remarkable and we feel so unbelievably lucky to have won this once in a lifetime prize. We encourage everyone to check out Jerry’s website and consider tapping into his artistry if you ever want to memorialize a special relationship or event.
Thank you, Mr. Ohlweiler; we couldn’t have put it better ourselves! If you’d like to get in on the chance to win unique experience, be sure to check out our raffle in the lobby at Pinocchio this weekend! Let your conscience be your guide and join us for this classic tale of learning and adventure. Guarantee your tickets today for your best seats, either online or by calling our Box Office at 703-548-1154.
Photos by Reiss Gidner and Aileen Pangan. Blog contribution by Shannon McCarthy.