By the time my next Flight ✈️ lands in Dallas – Fort Worth, Monday will have turned into Tuesday and the youngest of my five Children will have reached the age of 35.

Besides the fact that having five children 35 or older = being really old, it worth mentioning that so many things that I have accomplished over the decades simply wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of Rebecca Carter McDowell.

The Panther Palooza, Around the Valley in 60 Days, the naming rights ceremony at Alan Knight Field and the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame ceremony in Charlottesville are just a few of the big ticket 🎟 items that we were able to team up on.

That’s just the list that involves Baseball ⚾️ and Softball.

Rebecca is back out on Orcas Island 🏝 now, with her Husband Calen, and their Son, Ronnie.

Here’s hoping that Tuesday 🙏 will be nothing short of glorious for the McDowell family 👪 !

Painted Buffaloes are spread across St George as a celebration of the Trail Blazers. They are fun to view, very similar to the Bears 🐻 down in Cherokee, North Carolina.

Crazy kinda week has begun now with stops ✋in Phoenix, Arizona ➕ Austin, Texas ( Final AAA Baseball ⚾️ park), Duke University on Wednesday, Cavalier Park on Thursday (All Day), Roanoke Airport on Friday night 🌙 to reunite with my Beautiful Bride 👰 and Saturday its Page County for an event near and dear to us, then hopefully back through on Sunday afternoon to find Vickey Ritchie.

Monday morning 🌄 starts our week long stay at the Duke University Medical Center 🚑. Hoping to fill that time with a decent amount of writing ✍.

Justin Quesenberry will be in the number two slot on Thursday morning, following Mr Darrin Mathews. Coach Nester tells us that Justin is the man behind much of the beauty at Cavalier Park and I am looking forward to meeting him !

Will need to squeeze in the time to write ✍ a check to Mr. DeHaven for the balance due on the Long Jump area as well.

Still hoping 🙏 to add a few more folks to the list for Thursday so if you have a story about 2015 and wish to share it, please let me know.

Pitching Coach from 2015, David Quesenberry is taking the 1pm slot !

  One of the reasons why I am a huge fan of High School and small College Athletic Directors is that they are tasked with the needs of every single program at their school. Hence, they are easy to pull for because they have to like everyone. Don’t underestimate how hard that is until you have tried to accomplish this.

Keith Cubbage was the AD at Page County High School in 2015 and Darrin Mathews held the identical position at Carroll County High School. The goal is to present an opportunity to both men to share what that day meant to them.

Neither AD is still active at these schools as Kevin DeHaven replaced the retiring Mathews just over a year ago and there have been a few AD’s at Page since then.

This Thursday morning 🌄 at 9am I will be back on The Hill and the first guest of honor 🎖 will be Mr Mathews !

Anyone and everyone can appreciate 🙏 the efforts of Kevin DeHaven as his fresh outlook survived year 1 in the Big Chair 💺 and is eager to begin Year #2.

But first things first, we will search out the story through the eyes 👀 of Mr. Cubbage and Mr. Mathews…

Shortly after graduating from Francis Howell High School in the summer of 1981, I found myself with an opportunity to make the switch from covering Sports for the weekly newspaper 📰 to doing so for one of the largest daily newspapers in the country.

The St. Charles Journal had given me an opportunity to cover sports while still in high school and this included some of my own golf ⛳ matches. After the accident, golf was the only option that was available in regards to serious competition and the writing ✍ was nothing short of a blast.

The St. Charles Post was the local section of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the chance to test my chops at a higher level was incredibly exciting ! A few stories into the stay, my Editor pulled me aside and explained to me that if I wanted to ever be taken seriously, I would have to learn how to write ” mean “.

The editor was on the fast track and would go on to a tremendous career in the Gateway City. But for me, even as a teenager, I wanted to use my voice for good. Most of what I write is considered fluff but I’m at peace with that and have been for quite some time.

The ability to tell a story with my words has never been how I made a living but it has always been my passion. I believe that at last count, there has been a couple dozen newspapers where my writing has appeared over the past forty plus years and the message has remained the same, use your words for Good and let the Glory go to God.

  Some of the stops ✋ along the way were brief ones while others lasted for an extended period of time. The Northern Virginia Daily in Shenandoah County is at the top of the list in regards to longevity with The Carroll News being up there as well.

The ability to hold a microphone 🎤 also started as a teenager. Starting out as a DJ for someone who hosted all types of private events ( and I do mean ALL kinds) led to numerous opportunities down the road.

  The term, OneofUs stims from the search for others that have a similar take on life. Chuck McGill at the NVD was a terrific example and Bill ” Pappy ” Meade at the Page News and Courier falls into the same category.

We live in a time where its easy to attack others and I truly believe 🙏 that its the number one problem that we face today as a society. My crusade to bring joy to as many people as possible might be a Fools Errand but its my Mission for as long as I can do it.

 

The day not only included two State Championship games separated by just 91 miles, it included private airplanes ✈ getting folks to two weddings 💒 and four High School graduates 🎓 performing their ” Walk 🚶‍♂️” minutes before the game at Radford University.

The search for more folks wanting to join the conversation will be ongoing for another month but everyone on board up to this point has been an absolute delight to converse with !