Update: Closer to Finding Super Bowl Super Kid Mystery Artist!

Super Bowl Super Kid Breanna

If you recognize the girl in the picture above, I still want to hear from you.  But otherwise, there's some very good news to report in the search for Super Bowl Super Kid Artist, 11-year-old Breanna.  There's been a huge surge in the number of connected people looking for the girl who colored a welcome card that was left in my Indianapolis hotel room.  With the help of three key sources, we have good reason to believe the list of 18,000 children who colored cards as part of the Super Bowl Host Committee's Hoosier Hospitality Program has been whittled down to three.

In some ways the three week search has been narrowed, and in other ways expanded.  If you look closely at the card above, you can see our artist friend listed her home city as Indianapolis.  It might very well be, but I've learned it might also be Carmel, just outside of Indy, still a part of the greater metropolitan area. The goal remains to give her a signed copy of my book, Follow the Dog Home, which coincidentally was released Super Bowl week.

Back of Breanna's welcoming card

The first place I started searching for Breanna was with the Indianapolis Public Schools.  I've called every one of its 38 elementary schools, and some more than once.  I've sent out dozens of emails with Breanna's artwork attached.   Important clues have been provided with the help of PR experts, secretaries, principals, teachers and volunteers.

The Indianapolis Marion County Public Library System is helping too.  It hosted some coloring parties.  Considering libraries first and foremost specialize in housing and sharing books, I can't really think of a better body to help me share a book with my Super Kid.

The biggest break in the search so far has come from the Indianapolis Zoo.  It  had a massive party for Super Kid artists just before Christmas.  The zoo also has a network of thousands of friends, many of whom are thrilled to know about, and have joined in the search for Breanna.  As you can see from the words on the front of her card, and the pictures on the back, Breanna loves the Indianapolis Zoo.  So do I!

Twitter is making a difference.  There's even a hashtag now for the effort: #FindBreanna.  It's been tweeted and retweeted abundantly.  #FindBreanna is also on the radar of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, TV, newspaper and radio folks.  Karyn Sullyvan and WFMS 95.5 FM, have been godsends.  I am so thankful to the people at Thee Country Station.  By posting my blog on its website, listeners have contacted me directly.

 

Kevin Walsh with Comcast SportsNet New England Crew at Super Bowl 46.  Kevin is in the middle wearing a red tie.

So we're in a good place right now, even though there's still work to be done.  I feel super blessed to have been lucky enough to cover the Patriots run at the Super Bowl, and even luckier to have had that welcoming card land in my room.  With a little more luck it won't be long before little Breanna has a copy of Follow the Dog Home in her hands.  And there's more, I think with the help of my fellow authors: 10-year-old daughter, Samantha, and my 72-year-old father, Bob, we'll sweeten the pot.  We're going to put together a gift basket for Breanna's family.  It will include clam chowder, other New England treats, and maybe, just maybe a pink New England Patriots hat!

I don't know if we can convert a Colts fan into a Patriots fan, but that's really not the point either.   We just want to say thank you to Breanna, the Super Bowl Host Committee, and the thousands of good people around Indianapolis for sharing the gift of Hoosier Hospitality.

Kevin, Samantha & Bob Walsh, authors of Follow the Dog Home, with Beverly (German Shepherd) and Annie (Corgi)