Conference 7.286::maynard

353.0. "David Letterman Show" by USCTR2::ADEMARS () Wed Feb 12 1992 10:54

    This morning 8 students from the Fowler Middle School are boarding 
    a flight to New York to possibly be on the David Letterman show.
    They are accompanied by 3 adults, one being their teacher Nancy
    Justason. This is an outcome of the Invention Convention that the school
    held recently. We were told that each student's in-class invention
    presentation was video taped. The tapes were sent to the producers
    of the show to decide who they wanted.  
    
    I'm happy to say that my son is one of the students. His invention 
    is an automatic rabbit feeder. Although his rabbits were not part 
    of his presentation, the producers asked that he bring one with him.
    Therefore, his rabbit, Patches, is also being flown to New York.
    The Letterman show is paying for all of the transportation which
    includes the van from the Fowler School to Logan Airport, the
    Delta Shuttle and the Limo Service from the NY Airport to the studio.
    
    Nancy told us that they have rehearsals in the afternoon and then
    they tape the show around 5:30pm. They will try to contact the
    parents after the taping via a phone chain regarding who got on 
    the show. The show is supposed to be televised tonight at 12:35pm. 
    There is no guarantee that any of them will be on the show. 
    They may put on 2, 4, all 8, or none on. It depends on the amount 
    of time they have available. The only guarantee is that they will 
    all get to see the studio and meet David Letterman. We have told 
    the children that whether they get on the show or not is not important. 
    The fact that they have the opportunity to fly to New York, see the 
    "behind the scenes" activity of a studio and meet Letterman is 
    important and exciting enough. This is a once in a life time opportunity. 
    They will all fly back tonight. It is estimated they will arrive in Maynard
    around 10:30pm.
    
    Nancy Justason deserves an immense amount of credit and thanks for
    organizing this. It was originally scheduled to happen on Thursday.
    They called Nancy last night to say they wanted them today. The
    logistics of preparing and moving 11 individuals and one rabbit
    in itself can be a nightmare. She has worked extremely hard to
    make this happen for the students and is truly dedicated to the
    children. Nancy has organized this trip in the past with the
    Tonight Show. Unfortunately, they have not been interested in
    having the students on for the past couple of years. So, this year
    she decided to try the Letterman producers who were interested.
    
    The 8 students were Andrew DeMars, Michael Geldart, Matthew Loomer,
    Seamus Mehigan, Carolyn Monihan, Thomas Palola, Matthew Pomfret and
    Michael Reilly (sp?).
    
    The children were also interviewed yesterday by 4 reporters from the
    Beacon and the South Middlesex News. This has certainly been an
    exciting experience full of learning about inventions and
    communications to mention only a few.
    
    
    Toni (A tired mother who intends on staying up late tonight) 
    
    

 Since I didn't read this until today, and I don't normally watch Letterman,
 I missed the show.

 What happened?  Did any/all of them make it on TV?  What were some of their
 experiences, like did anyone pull any real neat gaffs?  Letterman's got a 
 keen sense of humor (better than Johnny's, IMHO) and I suspect he really likes
 kids.

 Thanks,

 Cliff

 ps - How does your son's automatic rabbit feeder work, or is that proprietary
      information? ;^)

    Unfortunately, only 5 of the 8 students got on the show due to limited
    air time. My son was not one of them. I thought he would be very 
    disappointed as kids can be sometimes. Turns out, he was happier not
    being on the show. He enjoyed standing backstage watching how it was 
    being done. Some of the kids felt a little insulted by David's comments,
    but I think that may have been nerves and not knowing how to take his
    sense of humor. I don't think he was being cruel. I thought it turned
    out pretty good. 
    
    The kids were met at the NY Airport by 2 stretch limos. They ate lunch 
    in the cafeteria. The 5 boys who were on the show got to meet Sara
    Jessica Parker who is currently starring in "LA Story" with Steve
    Martin. My son said he got to meet the drummer in the band. They all
    met David Letterman and were given "Late Night with David Letterman"
    hats. David gave them pictures which he autographed for them. Andy,
    my son, said they got to sit at David's desk. He was quite impressed.
    He said, "Mom, do you know what David has under his desk?" Having seen
    Letterman's occasional warped sense of humor, I was afraid to ask. 
    Andy said he has a television monitor under it so he can see what is
    being put up on the screen.
    
    Andy saw how skits can get edited out. After viewing the show the next
    day, he mentioned a skit they taped, but was not aired.
    
    I'm happy to say, the rabbit survived the trip. In fact, he got royal
    treatment. On the flight to NY, the stewardesses put the rabbit at the
    front of the plane. Andy said the pilots decided they wanted to see
    the rabbit, so they took him into the cockpit with them for the entire 
    flight. I asked him if he was wondered who was flying the plane? 
    The rabbit even got a seat in the stretch limo! When they arrived at 
    the studio, they had a nice cage all ready for him, the rabbit, not Andy.
    
    I'm sure the other kids have wonderful memories and stories to tell.
    
    This week's Beacon has a picture of 7 of the 8 students. Yesterday's
    South Middlesex News has a picture of Andrew with his invention along
    with a nice article about the students. I'm very pleased with the way
    the local papers have carried the story.
    
    As for how the feeder works, I don't think it's a secret. It is a 
    battery operated toy crane with a large Tuperware scoop attached at 
    the end. As simple as it sounds, getting it to work was not that easy 
    for an 11 yr old. Getting the scoop attached to the crane was difficult, 
    but he plugged away at it and using his brain he figured it out. 
    
    
    Toni