This Monday marks the one hundred and thirteenth birthday of folk singer Woody Guthrie. The composer of classic tunes like “This Land is Your Land” went onto to inspire younger musicians like Bob Dylan. Woody Guthrie also suffered from the neurodegenerative ailment known as Huntington’s Disease. APR student reporter Cooper Towsend attended a unique event that benefits patients with Huntington’s. And, don’t be surprised when Superman and Spider-man get mentioned.
“Heroclix is a tabletop game. It's kind of like chess with superheroes.” Said Scott Porter
To players of this board game, he is Heroclix. So much so that the manufacturers asked him to be the face people see on their YouTube channel.
“You could play Superman versus Spider Man, but instead of moving in the shape of an L, Spider Man can leap to the top of a building, or Superman can decide to freeze you in his tracks, with his freezing, with his frozen breath, or he can, you know, just straight punch you through a wall if he wants to.” Porter Explained
But it’s why Porter and fans of this game are in Huntsville is the point.
“We found out almost 10 years ago, that my wife is Gene positive for something called Huntington's Disease, which is a genetic neurodegenerative disease best described as having ALS and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's all rolled into one. Very quickly, I wanted to get involved in fundraising, trying to figure out some way to raise money to fight this thing.” Porter Recalled
Porter had helped run other events to raise money for Huntington’s. The list includes a fundraiser called Freeze HD in Los Angeles. But Porter wanted to stage his own event to help patients with Huntington’s instead and he wanted it in Huntsville…
“It's a game that I've been playing since 2001 and when Howard called, I said, this is the perfect way to access a community that already has known each other for two decades, that is just yearning to give to a cause and Heroclix for Huntington's was born.” He said
The Howard that Porter is talking about is Howard Brock. He’s the owner of a Local game store in Huntsville called Lucky Dice games that is primarily focused on Heroclix.
“His wife, Tracy, had gone through an illness of her own, a disease, and had battled a disease on her own, and on the other side of her getting better for a little while, she told Howard, I want to raise money for a good cause, but I don't want it to be for what I battled, because it's well known, and people are giving money constantly for it, and that was the impetus, I think.” He recalled
This is the 5th annual year of Heroclix for Huntington’s, and each year Scott is surprised by how big the event gets.
“This year, our fifth year, we broke records again with attendance, with the number of entries into all of our tournaments, and we run a number of them throughout the event weekend. We run five large tournaments, as well as smaller, four-person mini tournaments called Battle Royals, and there's enough space here, and we continue to grow the event, and we haven't outgrown Huntsville just yet.” He said
The slogan for the Huntington Disease Society of America is family is everything. Porter and the organizers of the Heroclix event push that message. That means even if you don’t know how to play Heroclix you can still join in. And there are free sessions for rookies to learn how its’ done…
“To get to know the community of Heroclix. I've only been playing for five months, and back home, it's a small community, but it's starting to grow. But I wanted to learn how to play.” Explained Tyler Grams.
He is an attendee who participated in multiple events over the weekend, he came all the way from Detroit Michigan to play.
“This foundation for Huntington's disease is phenomenal. They're doing a whole lot for it through this Heroclix. They don't have to come and know about it, because they will do events for new players, new people that want to learn, and they can still come and support through everything else that they do.” He explained.
But even with all this fun every part of the event helps raise money for Huntington’s not just the events but even an auction with exclusive items such as the ability to design your own map for the game.
“This year, we've raised over $45,000 in our auction alone, all of it going directly to HDSA, Huntington’s Disease Society of America. And we also had a record turnout for all of our tournaments, which means overall, we've raised over $60,000 which is another record in and of itself for us for a grand total of our event weekend.” Porter said
Porter still took time at the end of the event to thank everyone who game and show his appreciation for how much the participants were willing to give to HDSA
“I'm just so overjoyed. I'm so excited. We've already raised over $50,000 for the charity because of our tournaments, because of this auction. And I just, I just say, thank you guys so much.” Porter announced to the crowd
With another record-breaking year Porter is only looking forward to one thing…
“The thing that I'm looking forward to most is knowing that there is going to be a sixth annual. There's no way with the growth over the first five years that we could ever stop now.” He said
