Good Monday Morning to All of our Teachers getting ready to head to School πŸ«

Without a doubt, the thing that makes working with the Sports Marketing team down at App State so meaningful to me is its as close as I will get to being a teacher / instructor.

Each fall I commit to 10 trips to and from Boone, North Carolina to take part in the production of a Field Hockey πŸ‘ game. This past Saturday was the first of the ten which meant meeting up with this years group of folks that will be part of the process.

I imagine that the average College student would be skeptical about working directly with someone old enough to be their Grandfather. But once again, this years group were a treat to work with.

The first thing that would be a surprise to hear is that we have somewhere in the area of 20 people that all have a role to play in the production of a College GameDay. Yes, even for Field Hockey πŸ‘, App State is producing a product worthy of the Sun Belt Conference.

Ironically, the Mountaineers compete in the MAC for our sport as the Sun Belt doesn’t have enough teams playing the sport yet. My responsibility is to lend my voice to the day and at the same time lead by example. As I said, its as close as I will get to being a teacher and the thought of having an opportunity to work with younger people in that manner is enlightening.

This morning, here in Carroll County alone, we have Teachers heading out to Elementary schools, Middle School, High Schools 🏫 and a few others that cannot be labeled quite as easily.

Teachers come in all shapes, ages and sizes, each with their own style. We are fortunate that we have the quality of instructors that are in place in our Community.

So while I have zero Authority to name anything, outside of my own Brain 🧠, let’s call today – We have wonderful Teachers that we are fortunate to have Day !

Not sure if its going to read well on a T-Shirt but it feels good to say it.

Teachers, Have Yourself a Great Week !

It’s time for Sunday afternoon Therapy for the Soul !

Vickey Ritchie knows that if we are in town and she needs our assistance that we will be there to assist her with her our Special Olympics Basketball πŸ€ practices.

We have reached the point where I believe that it benefits me as much as it does the young Men & Women that are part of One Team !

As you can tell from the decisions that Vickey Ritchie LOVES Halloween πŸŽƒ

This week the sign says Summer Ween…

Vickey will have a slew of Photos πŸ“· in her posts πŸ“« later today but for now we will just work on making some folks feel Loved & Appreciated !

Thanks to Dakota Walls we made a new friend today over in Galax !

Robert is the shop keeper with all of the answers, including some that we didn’t know to ask. Very, very impressive young Man πŸ‘¨ and we found him thanks to Dakota Walls.

Looking to get something done for Little Ricky’s Pick-up truck 🚚, I reached out to Dakota Walls about who was the one that put the decals on his Race 🏁 Car πŸš—.

The same Race Car 🏎 that was the centerpiece to our recent Volleyball 🏐 Poster.

The fact that the customer service was so over the Top that it left me feeling down right giddy is the icing to the ultimate Cake πŸŽ‚.

The goal all along was to try and establish a team of people that were interested in being part of a quest to chase the Greater Good.

Getting involved with Dakota and Eddie Walls was an absolute reach for us. But the thought of encouraging a teenager to pursue his dream was too good to pass up. Having our Logo on the hood of the stock car πŸš— was cool but the end result is now for the second time the Walls have helped us in return !

Allen Worrell and Ron Cochran have created similar partnerships over the years. Finding someone Ike Robert is the next step πŸšΆβ€β™‚οΈ in the pursuit and meeting him and his team today was a blessing πŸ™.

Happy Birthday πŸŽ‚ to our Resident Angel πŸ˜‡, Vickey Ritchie !

Over the years I have lent my voice to somewhere in the area of just under 10,000 events across our great Country and I can say with great certainty that none of them mean more to me than Sunday afternoons spent with Vickey Ritchie.

Β Β  Vickey runs our Special Olympics Basketball πŸ€ program amongst other things and does it with an amount of Grace that is nothing short of Amazing !

Β  Not sure when the Birthday Girl will need my help again but I’m hoping that she is having a Day fit for the Queen that she is

Let’s call this one – Greg Talley, Treasure Hunter !

Allen Worrell is holding up the latest “find” from our version of Indiana Jones, Mr. Greg Talley.

Greg Talley stumbled across a rare piece of Golfing History in regards to the Southern Conference and Duke University. Greg, knowing my affection for the School 🏫 that 100 years ago went from Trinity College to Duke University, picked it up and gifted it to the OneofUs.Care Museum.

It turns out that shortly after the name change the Blue Devils had quite a golf β›³ team, led by Mr. Cliff Perry.

Perry was just recently named to the Greatest 100 Athletes in the history of the Southern Conference !

This trophy πŸ† is from the 1935 Southern Conference Golf β›³ Championship ( 89 years ago). No idea at all as to how it made its way into a Virginia antique store but I am incredibly grateful πŸ™ for Mr.T for bringing it to me and for the fun five minutes that Alan and I got to spend learning about the history of the Trophy πŸ†.

Bayard Storm, Walter Justin and Joe Powell rounded out the obviously talented foresome !