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With a group that's been around as long as this one there are a ton of good stories to be told. You'll find everything from race reports to the history of some members nicknames in this section. |
How Stan Sosnowski became the Pink Ferry Boat Captain |
As told by the good Captain himself September 2006 Avast ye bilge rats,what's all this talk ye be spouting about some land lover's retched cruise that went to Davy Jones locker?If ye wants to here a true horrifying tale of a torturous trip in a scurvy boat,then listen up. Once upon a time in a Arizona dessert there lived a Wicked Sorceress named Julie.This wicked Sorceress cast an evil spell on the two Druckenmiller Princesses.The only way for Ellen and Eileen to break the curse was to trick some unsuspecting Pirate into taking a trip on the PINK FAIRY BOAT.I was first held hostage in a long line of little people that moved slower then ice melting.I was then shanghied onto this crowded little PINK FAIRY BOAT that traveled slower than my IRS refund check.Once under way I was given hope for freedom when the ship's captain said if I make a wish on Aladdin's lamp it would come true.But,alas, after wishing with all my might I was still sitting in that blasted PINK FAIRY BOAT.It journeyed endlessly through small villages that looked like a B science fiction movie with giant ducks stepping on houses and making threatening faces to the ship's crew. Finally after countless hours of confinement on the PINK FAIRY BOAT and total loss of all my dignity I managed to reach shore once again. Needless to say after such an unsettling experience I was mighty thirsty. Next time I'll tell you the story of how I got my revenge on the Wicked Sorceress. Stan the Pirate man |
As told by Eileen Druckenmiller, an innocent bystander January 2007 OK, I'll jump in here, as a first-hand witness to the legend! It really was a small thing, when it happened, and really quite uneventful. But as time wore on, and race reports were written, the legend grew. And grew. It happened way back in Sept '06, when a bunch of Deadlies decided to journey to Anaheim, CA for the Inaugural Half Marathon... It was a great trip. All of us Dead Pirates had a great time at the 5,000 Fun Run, and we all had good races on Half Marathon Day. But Sheila didn't like the course too much. I didn't think it was too bad, but ended up with an aversion to the warning track on baseball fields, and abrasions that needed to be de-brided in the medical tent. But I digress. See, it really is ALL Julie's fault, the way I figure it. :-) Julie was our unofficial expert on Disneyland. Being within driving distance to Anaheim, the Miwas are annual passholders at DL. She gave us LOTS of great advice, and didn't even seem to mind the endless dumb questions that we barraged her with. We all know that DL and WDW are similar, but that each park has some things the other doesn't. So, Julie's words of wisdom were, "Make sure you do all the attractions in DL that WDW doesn't have. Some of them are really cute." We, the D's thought this was very sage advice, since most of us don't plan on returning to CA regularly--too far, too expensive a trip, etc, etc. Off we go, happily touring the parks, and we, the D's, run into the Sosnowskis. Hey, let's do the carousel, let's do the Peter Pan ride, let's do Pooh's Honeypots. And don't forget Autopia! All very cute. Oh, we HAVE TO do Storybook Land Canal Boats, because we don't have these in WDW, and JULIE says to make sure we ride them (see, it really IS her fault, 'cause this is exactly the way it happened, I swear!!) Storybook Land IS a cute ride. (Stan would protest, and call it "the Land of the Mutant Giant Ducks". ) After entering the mouth of Monstro, the Whale from Pinnochio, the boats go through canals, and along the way, you see miniature villages and castles of the Disney Princesses. All the boats are named differently, and we were on the Flora Boat. Now, I think a bit of jealousy comes into play here; see, I was the winner of a sticker, because I knew that Flora is one of the fairies from Sleeping Beauty. Yes, the PINK FAIRY!!!! Other passengers on the boat also won stickers, but I don't think Stan got one, he was too distraught. Sticker-envy!! The poor guy, being a full-grown person, even though he WAS in DL, where everyone can be a kid again, he barely made it through to the end of the ride. It was a torturous thing the D gang was making him endure!! We are horrible, aren't we??? As Sheila helped the poor, downtrodden, feeble guy off the boat, he kept muttering unintelligible phrases under his breath - "Pink Fairy my a**" "Killer Ducks!" "the Walrus-man don't DO cute" "Wait 'til I see that *$&%)#*%&%* Julie again, this is all her fault!" I think we all had to go for a beer afterwards, to snap him out of it!! :-) See, then we returned home, and as part of his therapy to overcome the bad memories of the Land of the Killer Ducks, oops, sorry, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Stan became, in his own words, the Captain of the Pink Fairy Boat!! I was left thinking that as the months wore on, Stan would entirely block these happy DL moments from his memory bank. So, as an eternal reminder of our joyous times in DL together, I printed a picture of Stan, riding the Pink Fairy Boat into Monstro's mouth, with Flora on his shoulder, and presented this to him at the Pop Century encounter. Not to be outdone, and totally on his own, on Monday prior to the start of WDWDW2, Alvaro generously presented Stan with a Panama Canal certificate, denoting him Honorary Captain of the Pink Fairy Boat! So now its official. (Bart was also recognized by Alvaro for his years of service as Captain of the Kali River Boats.) So you see, no matter how hard Stan tries to forget it, his Disney Dead friends will be more than happy to remind him of his time on the Pink Fairy Boat!!! And, Stan, you can deny it, but we all know you secretly loved Storybook land, and remember, the picture is DIGITAL, baby, and saved several places!!! Respectfully submitted, Eileen D. Emmaus, PA |