The Birth of The Peter Pan Fan Club

Posted by RJ Licata | July 1, 2010

Although I didn’t know it at the time, the idea for The Peter Pan Fan Club was originally born during the spring semester of my final year of college. For those counting, that would be Spring 2004. One of the classes I took that term was Sports Writing 152. Our final assignment for the class was to write a 15 page paper using the techniques and styles we were taught in class. The professor wanted us each to choose a sport and spend the semester living that life and “immersing ourselves in that culture”.

Without much objection from my professor, I chose beer pong as my “sport” and proceeded to research exactly how beer pongers functioned in society and in their own community. I’m not sure what made me think this would be acceptable at the time, but I must have done a good job selling the idea because he gave me the ok and I was off, getting bombed in the name of research.

Interstingly, what I had originally thought of as the greatest academic scheme I’d ever pulled off (This destroyed my previous best of handing the exact same final paper in to the exact same professor, for two different classes, within six months of one another. By the way, it was a third of a letter grade better the second time he read it.) ultimately turned into one of my most personally satisfying written works.

In it’s entirety the paper was only 17 pages long but it contained my sentimental thoughts on the idea of leaving college and my fears concerning the need to grow up. Essentially it was my abridged memoirs for my time in college. It was sappy, but I didn’t care. I loved college and I was going to miss it and I didn’t care who knew. I titled it “Beer Pong With The Peter Pan Fan Club” and turned it in.

It earned me a disappointing B-minus, for reasons I was never given, but as some time passed I cooled off and realized the value of that paper was much higher than a B-minus, or any grade for that matter. It was a reflection on where I stood at that point in my life and it cemented a thought in my head that no matter how mature or responsibility-laden I became, I needed to stay young at heart. That’s a cliche, and an annoying one at that, but it’s really the only way to enjoy life. Sometimes it requires a conscious decision, and other times you find yourself not even realizing it, but when you do kick up your feet and relax, you realize that Ferris Bueller was right.

When I moved home from school the sad feelings faded some and the daunting task of finding a “real” job consumed me. My paper sat on a hard drive on my computer, and was nothing more than an afterthought. Recently, though, the idea wheel started turning and I kept finding myself going back to the idea of The Peter Pan Fan Club. How could I develop this “never grow up” philosophy into something that would appeal to others?

At the same time that I was busy thinking, my buddy Chris (he insists that he be called Bo) pitched me an idea that was strikingly similar to my own. A few brainstorming sessions later, and this website is what we’ve come up with.

The Peter Pan Fan Club is the brainchild of two childhood friends who grew up on the same street in a small community on the outskirts of Syracuse, NY. We’ve both got jobs, we’ve both got bills and we’re all grown up. However, we want to show you (while also convincing ourselves) that just because all those things happen to you (and if they haven’t yet, they will) you don’t necessarily have to like it. You can find balance between doing all the things required of you as an adult and still find time for goofing off a little bit.

If you don’t believe me, stick around. Our tagline is “Staying Young While Growing Old” and we’re here to help you do just that.

Enjoy,

RJ Licata