The Tiger Woods Learning Center

Our friend, Joe Hsu, works at the Tiger Woods Learning Center, an after-school center for kids to pursue the careers of their dreams, whether it be golf, forensic science, creative writing, or avionics. Today was the opening of the Center, and Joe invited us as his guests to attend.

We waited patiently for the speakers to arrive, catching up with Joe's wife, Kris, and craning our necks scoping out celebrities. Jase saw some football coach, Bill Walsh, sitting behind us, but Kris and I of course had no clue who he was. Charlie sat on my lap like the good 13-month-old he is, chowing down on Goldfish crackers and Nilla Wafers, watching all the people in the crowd and generally being charming and cute.

Around noon, the celebrities started pouring in. Stedman Graham walked to the back of the tent, all cool-like. For those of you living under rocks, Stedman is the long-time gentleman friend of one Ms. Oprah Winfrey. Then Peter Gallagher of the O.C. entered the tent and took his place up front. You know him - Mr. Eyebrows of Sex, Lies and Videotape and While You Were Sleeping? Right behind him was Chris Tucker, the guy who's in the Rush Hour movies with Jackie Chan. Also in the clump of celebrities up front is one of my favorite guys from the shows Felicity and Alias: Greg Grunberg. He played Sean on Felicity and Eric on Alias.

Then the big guns were announced. First, Maria Shriver, First Lady of California. Then, the 42 President of the United States, President Bill Clinton! We all stood and cheered. And finally, the man whose name is on the building, Mr. Tiger Woods.

Maria Shriver gave a funny and unscripted speech about the conversation she had with Tiger's mother prior to entering the tent area. Maria said that she basically discovered that she was a terrible mother - and she probably should have done what Tiger's mom did with Tiger if she wanted to raise her kids up right. Tiger had to finish his homework before he played golf. If he was late getting home from somewhere, even just a minute, he was "going down", no matter what the excuse. She was strict, firm, and frightening. Which is why Tiger never messed up. Except once, when he was in junior high. His friend took him out of school without her knowledge. Tiger's mom got that kid's number, address, his parents names - she hunted them both down and took Tiger home, after giving that kid a talking to - and, of course, Tiger could never associate with that kid again. She don't play around.

Then, President Clinton spoke. After some jokes of being humbled beyond comprehension after playing a round of golf with Tiger yesterday, he spoke seriously of the generosity of Tiger Woods - the fact that he created this center when he was 30 rather than waiting until he was 60 speaks to his integrity and maturity. He spoke of public service by private citizens - and it really made me think about volunteering, and teaching Charlie from an early age that it's important to help people while expecting nothing in return, to give of your time and energy rather than just your cash. It was a wonderful speech.

Then Tiger spoke. He thanked his mom and dad, and it was evident that he loves and respects them both so much. He was so genuine. His father couldn't be there today because he's sick, which made Tiger choke up. But he spoke to his dad the night before who wanted to say one thing to everyone: thank you. Tiger said the center wasn't about him. It was about the kids. Again, it was a great, honest speech. None of the speakers spoke off of notes. They just talked to the crowd. I really felt I got to see an honest part of each of them.

Then - food time. But first, I snuck in a picture of Stedman under the guise of taking a picture of Kris. So we stood in line for the buffet and all of the food was kid-friendly: mac and cheese, chicken fingers and ranch dressing, grilled cheese, chinese chicken salad. It was great. Kris, Charlie and I sat down and just started eating when Jason and Joe spotted Bill Clinton. Charlie was right in the middle of lunch and covered with mac and cheese so I thought it was best to send Jason off to try to take a picture of his idol. Well, turns out that he actually met him. The President was shaking hands with guests and was moving into the VIP room, when he stopped, came back to the crowd, made eye contact with Jason, and shook his hand. Jason said, "Mr. President" just like they do on West Wing. And just like that, he was gone.

Jase says his handshake was weaker than he expected. It was more of a touch than a shake. I knew I would be able to tell if he got to meet him by the way he would approach us. He came to the table all smiling and walking proud. I knew it without hearing a word.

Okay, so then Joe took us for a tour of the center. Joe is in charge of all the information technology of the center - the computers, the audio and video - he runs it all. He was very proud of the center and everyone was talking to him. It was cool to see.

Then, Carolyn Kepcher from The Apprentice walks by! Dude, she's tiny. Like a size 0. She was very pretty and gracious to people who spoke with her. I tried to sneak in a picture but couldn't do so inconspicuously.

We then saw Chris Tucker playing on the flight simulator with one of the students. He was very cool with the kids. Joe said that earlier, during President Clinton's private tour of the center with Tiger, one of the kids wanted to show Tiger the flight simulator software. Tiger thought they were on a tight schedule, and began to walk on. But the President stopped him, saying, "Now that's something I want to see." They sat with the kid while he showed them how it worked. It probably made that kid's life. President Clinton even mentioned the kid in his speech, commenting on how his hair was the most aero-dynamic style he's seen, so he would probably succeed in the field of avionics. There were no cameras during that tour. No reporters. Just Bill Clinton being Bill Clinton, and giving that kid a story that would be told again and again.

Well, it was time for us to leave. I'm sorry we didn't bring Charlie with Jason when he met President Clinton. It would have been great to get a picture of the two of them. I'm sorry we didn't get closer to Tiger. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of Carolyn from The Apprentice. But other than that, it was a perfect day, seeing our good friend succeed. Joe is so proud of that place. And he obviously did a great job setting it up. Everything worked! There were no fires to put out. He's found his niche. And Jason and I couldn't be happier for him.

Congratulations, Joe - and thanks for sharing your wonderful day with us. We won't forget it.

If you want to learn more about the Tiger Woods Learning Center, click here.

And check out The Gallery to see pictures!