Sunday afternoon on The Hill can only mean one thing – it’s time to hang out with Coach Vickey Ritchie and our Special Olympics Basketball πŸ€ program…

Sweet summertime is the theme this week, and Coach has added sounding like a Southern Bell πŸ”” to her bag πŸŽ’ of tricks.

2 to 4 is a special place because of how hard Coach works on equality

Later on today, when the dust settles, Vickey and her numerous helpers will share the practice on various types of social media.

Very therapeutic to use one’s voice, without judgment for the enjoyment of others !

We lost a great leader and protector yesterday. While I never had the privilege of knowing our Deputy, I do know our Sherriff and what his department stands for.

Thoughts and prayers πŸ™ go out to everyone who is feeling like they lost someone who was near and dear to them. God Bless πŸ™Œ everyone who is currently involved with the Man Hunt and the family of the other Deputy who was wounded.

Travis Osborne is busy today celebrating the Birth of his first born today ( Happy Birthday πŸŽ‚ Kiddo) but still took the time to share his Bible Verse of the Day…

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

Later today, it will be time to head over to Hillsville Elementary School to see how I can be of assistance to Coach Vickey and our Special Olympics Basketball program. This is how I came to know Sherriff Kemp years ago, and I’m better for knowing him.

  Rest in Peace, Brother Utt and know that you touched many, many lives along your journey.

Not your typical Morning Brew, but yesterday was not your typical day.

There have been plenty of songs 🎡 about trains πŸš† and tonight is the overnight ride from Little Rock to St. Louis ! Choo Choo, with some notes πŸ“ from Vickey Ritchie, Jan Brady, and Brother Osborne to keep me busy.

We had a slightly different groupβ€”-as usual, lolβ€”-but everyone stepped up to help, and we got-r- done.  Lots of smiles for CCSO Red White and Blue Basketball Practice!

Thank you, Coach Vickey !

The world 🌎 is a better place with Buc-ees in it, so yes, a great big smile takes place whenever I receive a photo, which includes the little fella !

Recent college graduate πŸŽ“, Jan is heading up the coast and it looks like the middle daughter is in great company x 2!

Travis Osborne is a fellow softball junkie and today, he found himself rooting for the Red Raiders. Wow, did they have themselves a day down in the Swamp !

Big Thank You to Kevin DeHaven for sharing his Regional tournament schedule with us !

My favorite train πŸš† song 🎡 is Kenny Rogers and ” The Gambler”……

There’s a fine line between Karma and Faith, so let’s call πŸ“ž this one : Vickey Ritchie, Stephen Puckett, and their effects on Softball!

Every morning πŸŒ„, when I wake ⏰️ up, the first thing I ask myself is, what are my choices today ?

  Door πŸšͺ#1 today was head over to Durham, where Duke University Softball needed to beat the University of Arizona, not once but twice to earn a trip to the Super Regional next week in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Door πŸšͺ # 2 – Dennis  ” Preacherman ” Zimmerman was going to be in the pulpit this morning at his church β›ͺ️ up in Shenandoah, Virginia. The service was set for 9:30 am, and being that Dennis is the backup Pastor, there was no telling when the next sermon would take place.

Up and back in the same day would be quite the long day, and staying overnight wouldn’t work because our Junior Varsity Softball team are set to play their final stand-alone game at Cavalier Park on Monday evening.

Door πŸšͺ # 3 – stay home in Laurel Fork, attend the Church β›ͺ️ service of Pastor Stephen Puckett, then change clothes and drive πŸš— over to Hillsville Elementary School in support of Coach Vickey Ritchie and our Special Olympics Basketball program..

When one is having a conversation with another about what guides the decision-making process, if the second person is one of Faith, there’s no need to mence words. Otherwise, you can swap Faith for Karma.

Stephen Puckett and I have a rather unique relationship, to say the least, due to the fact that we deal with the same people but from different angles. His Church β›ͺ️ sits on the corner of US-58 and Stone Mountain Road out here in uptown Laurel Fork. If I am in town on a Sunday morning, you can find me in his sanctuary listening to his message.

  The other half of the Carroll County Sunday 1-2 punch πŸ‘Š is Vickey Ritchie. Anyone who reads my work on even a semi – regular basis knows that I have a soft spot for the efforts of our local Angel πŸ˜‡ on Earth 🌎. Anything that I can do to make her life easier is worth doing, blindly !

Spend an hour with your Pastor, then two βž•οΈ hours with an Angel πŸ˜‡ and how could you go wrong ?

There was never a doubt about the fact that our friend Dennis would be able to deliver the Lord’s message once again. The answered prayer came in the young ladies’ standing next to Dennis and Big Daddy are members of the Page County Lady Panthers Softball program !

One down, one to go ! Duke was losing to Arizona in game one, but we were busy having too much fun at basketball practice to worry about that much.

Duke found away to rally back against the Wildcats and force a winner to take all Regional finale !

During the drive back to Laurel Fork, I was listening to the game on ESPN+. Then there is the right turn at the Church and finally back at our place.

Duke held off Arizona to once again win their Regional tournament.

To recap , three softball teams were involved, and each had themselves a good day !

Carroll County High School JV Softball will have themselves a day on Monday.

Page County High School Softball team made their way to Church β›ͺ️ in support of one of their own.

Duke University Softball team is now going to pack up and fly out to Arkansas in hopes of getting another trip out to Oklahoma City for the College World Series.

Stephen Puckett is a good friend and a pastor, while Vickey Ritchie is an Angel πŸ˜‡. Call it Karma or call it Faith, but results are hard to argue with !

P.S – bonus to cross paths with Principal Amy Nester at the practice. Just another hard working Administrator here on The Hill. The Shark 🦈 was just the latest prop  in the endless toolbox 🧰…

Fayetteville next weekend sounds fun until other options present themselves.

The theme for the week captured in the photo…it is Sunday afternoon at 2pm, so the place to be in Special Olympics Basketball πŸ€ practice @ Hillsville Elementary School…

It’s Shark 🦈 Day of Shark 🦈 Week, and we have 17 folks participating today ! When you factor in that, it’s the third event of the weekend, that’s a strong number of participants.

Here’s one of the friendly sharks 🦈, who knew that there was such a thing ????

We could rename this ” Imagination Station πŸš‰”

Duke Softball entered the day needing to best Arizona twice. They are now halfway home !
It’s tough to win twice on Regional Sunday, but the Lady Blue Devils are trying hard to do just that !

Practice has concluded, and fun was had by everyone who was in the Gymnasium!