Celebrating John Gutierrez-Mier:
An Evening of Platica and Recuerdos, Saturday October 27, 2007, Fort Worth, Texas.
Even in the days before his death, John was optimistic. After his heart surgery in early August, he was still coordinating with the transplant folks at Medical City. He talked about what he would do after he got a new heart – maybe leave North Texas, definitely volunteer to teach English to immigrants.
He also wanted a big party to celebrate his new heart.
John knew even the August surgery carried risks. But he often said: "I’m too young to die. I want to live. And if I'm going to die, at least I want to die fighting.”
So before his surgery, he made funeral plans with family and friends. If he died, he wanted a life party, the kind of despedida where friends and family could come together to tell stories. (There are no shortages of John stories!)
So in honor of John Gutierrez-Mier, we invite you to join us October 27th, for an evening party to toast our dear Juanito. His family – including primos and tias – plan to attend.
Party with a Purpose: The D/FW Network of Hispanic Communicators has created the John Gutierrez-Mier scholarship. In case you’ve been wondering how to pay tribute to John, this would be a wonderful way to honor his commitment to mentoring.
If you plan to attend, we ask you to PLEASE RSVP ASAP to elaine_aradillas@yahoo.com. This will help the planning efforts muchisimo.
Those of you who want to share a short toast – as in a 3-5 minute eulogy, story, recuerdo – please email us at jgm.memorial@gmail.com, so we can add your name to the program.
THIS IS THE PLAN:
We will be hosting a silent auction, all proceeds going to the John Gutierrez-Mier scholarship, which will go to a deserving young journalist.
The after party will be held at a nearby hotel, details coming soon. We’re also inquiring about group rates so we can all stay in the same hotel and we can make it easier for those looking to share a room. For hotel information, email Marissa Alanis at malanis_77@hotmail.com.
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU: (And if you can’t make it to Ft. Worth, don’t feel left out. You can still help! See below.)
1. We need your donations to help pay for the venue and food. Please make checks payable to the
Network of Hispanic Communicators (memo line: JGM memorial), and mail them to P.O. Box 222313, Dallas, Texas 75222-23132. If you’d like for your contribution to go straight to the scholarship, please write JGM scholarship on the memo line.
3. We are also looking for auction items. We’re aiming for practical stuff (and really anything you want to donate): such as margarita blenders or margarita mix, Spurs T-shirts, jewelry, whatever you think can score us some cash for the JGM scholarship and memorial. For silent auction information, please email Cynthia Garza at cyndisan@gmail.com
And in honor of John, get ready to party!
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