Life is very busy for most people and Kris Richardson is a great example of a person that is trying hard to squeeze as much out of life as anyone I know which made it a challenge to find the perfect opportunity to show are gratitude to his efforts on our Carroll County Girls 👧 Basketball 🏀 Book 📖 !

From the very first time that I showed Kris the Strasburg High School Volleyball 🏐 Book we had created a few years back he was on board with helping us create our attempt to capture the Amazing story.

His attention to detail led to a finished product that I believe will stand the test of time. We were hoping to create something that the Young Ladies could pull of their mantle when they’re 75 and show their Great Grandchildren of their accomplishments way back in the day. Close your eyes 👀 and envision your favorite Lady 👩 Cavalier player glowing with pride and showing the photos 📷 and stories of yesteryear.

Simply put, the Book 📖 doesn’t exist without the 500 – 600 hours that Richardson sank into the effort across a year that at times felt like a decade.

Many other people had their hands in the project along the way but the majority of them were professionals that were compensated for their time.

Yesterday finally presented Lin and I a window to show our gratitude 🙏 for all of his hard work and dedication ! We set out to frame a day that would show a very personal touch of a Thank You and I think we came close!

The day included Lunch and both time on the campus of Wake Forest University and Duke University. Kris tries to hide the fact that he’s what we like to call a closet Duke fan. Unlike Lin and I who have openly spent a lifetime supporting a fine academic University, Kris has a harder time expressing his Love 💘 for the Blue Devils.

Sadly the We Appreciate Kris tribute came to an end before the Noon kick-off today at Wallace Wade Stadium 🏟 when Duke hosts the Pittsburgh Panthers but they had to return to our village of Laurel Fork for adult responsibilities across Saturday.

For anyone that received one of the Gifted copies of our Book 📖 know this for sure – it doesn’t happen without the Man that shares our little Hamlet on the East side of the County, our Love for all things Carroll County and finally our Love for Duke University ❤💙!

Thank You Sir,

Sincerely,

OneofUs.Care ❤

The next scheduled event for the Carroll County High School 🏫 Gymnasium is on Wednesday night as our new Wrestling Coach West Long and his squad welcome Pulaski County to the Hill.

Coach Long rolled out his very unique 18 year plan for success at CCHS and now he gets his first opportunity to have his hard working troops compete in front of the home fans.

So what does Cavalier wrestling have in common with Wake Forrest Men’s Basketball ? It’s all about the marketing – Wake Forrest plays hoops in the Atlantic Coast Conference and today they host Charleston Southern (back in the day the school was Charleston Baptist).

The students are out on Thanksgiving break and a large number of folks see this thing called Black Friday as a sacred day so Wake’s marketing department 🏬 is tasked with getting people into the Arena for the non-conference match up.

Step #1 – lower the price of admission down to just $10.00 per person if you purchase a minimum of four tickets 🎟. That’s going to get a few people down to the Colliseum on its own.

Step #2 – Offer a $10.00 parking pass to the Pepsi Lot. Now a person and his or her friends can also park one car 🚗 for free !

Step #3 – Offer a $20.00 gift 🎁 card to an area Bo Jangels to sweeten the deal. Now each person gets $5.00 of their $10.00 ticket back.

Then you turn your marketing graphic department loose and before you know it you have a theme! Of course the ultimate goal is to get folks in the building one time in hopes of them finding the product rather enjoyable. It’s Marketing 101 and no money is lost in the equation. Some people, including us, will be in the Gymnasium / Arena this afternoon.

Wednesday night 🌙 our new Wrestling Coach and his squad will debut in our building and all we need to do is attract some fans in hopes of people seeing more of our Cavaliers in action 🎬.

Three or four clever ideas 💡 come to mind for Wednesday night – first one being creating a plan where if you purchase a Wrestling ticket 🎟 on Wednesday you receive a free popcorn 🍿 on Thursday night when you purchase a ticket 🎟 for the Boys 👦 Basketball 🏀 games.

But hey, I am a marketing person at heart ❤ and just want to figure out how to get people to see our Wrestling team !

Have a Blessed Holiday !

Welcome 🙏 to our first look inside our Wrestling program with Head Coach West Long now at the helm. Long is a former CCHS Wrestler and is excited about the future.

Fourteen is the number of graplers on the mat tonight. That number being as high as it is promises a great deal of Hope for the 2023-2024 season.

While all High School 🏫 athletics require a certain level of commitment most fall short of what it takes to be a High School Wrestler. I myself might have chuckled at that very statement prior to the end of last season.

It was during the Regional and then State Championship that I fully learned to appreciate just how much effort goes into making and maintaining ones Weight Class.

A nice turnout of Family 👪 and Friends have joined the team tonight after Coach Long extended the invite.

The team is set to wrestle at Home 🏡 next week – Wednesday at 6pm.

Coach has offered his opening remarks and folks continue to flow in to the building.

We will do our best to shine as bright of a spotlight on these young men as possible from start to finish this Winter.

Coach Long addressing the gathering.