MEETING: Friday March 18, 2011 EDITOR: Tom Hymer
WELCOME GUESTS: Mary Ellen Leicht – Director of the NJCAA.
FUN & FUND RAISING SERGEANTS: After a brief discussion on local basketball news Jerry announced that he has two more weeks to complete his tour of duty. Then he looked at his big black three ring note book and reminded everyone to follow through on getting their membership information updated for our web-site. WARNING your negligence will be perfect fine material. Jay Pitzers wife embarrassed innocent Ambucs with graphic porno speak. Being fined will probably not change such behavior. Preston Clark tried to blame his alarm clock for being late. Dean Brigman paid twice because he didnt know the price of a barrel of oil and he had a birthday this month. Happy dancer Eric Steinle paid the penalty for excessive celebration when he won the 50/50 pot last week. The climax to the program was an auction of a genuine Raleigh basketball with the authentic signature Roy Williams who left KU in 2003 for the head coaching job in South Carolina. The prized basketball is offered on e-bay for $99. As the auction commenced the usual boisterous KU fans seemed oddly quiet. In the end Sherriff Randy Henderson won the ball with a bid of $70. Note to sergeant, now that is a creative way to raise some money.
TUIT: Brad Thompson gave his report citing his own nephew Ryan, Larry Sloan, Randy Henderson several times, Darren Wicks, Dan Power at the Chamber meeting, Paul Brown for driving recklessly in a city truck, and got $10 from Tony Powers for used T-shirts. Upon getting the Tuit Paul Brown exclaimed, You better out live me. Lets wait for the exciting and dramatic conclusion to this epic story.
ANNOUNCEMENT 1: Jerry Regier with another hat on reminded everyone of the membership drive and the tools of Ambucs business cards and the little Tuits to invite guests to our meetings.
ANNOUNCEMENT 2: Buy-a-fine Doug Foss almost committed the sin of excessive celebration over the Shockers victory.
ANNOUNCEMENT 3: President Rick Mitchell presented a new banner suitable for special events to promote our main outreach mission of Amtrykes for kids.
ANNOUNCEMENT 4: Scott Potucek mentioned the possibilities of inviting former members to come back to Ambucs to help our membership drive.
PROGRAM: Dan Power introduced todays program Mary Ellen Leicht – Director of the NJCAA. The NJCAA conducts 40 championships in a variety of athletic sports. New promotional tools for the NJCAA include an updated web-site with Twitter and Face Book providing a communication media primarily for the fans. Two year junior colleges are enjoying a surge in enrollment due to economic conditions and more options for the students. Junior colleges also prepare students to successfully enter four year universities. The current issue in college sports is head injuries or concussions. This concern is receiving much study on the long term effects and damages that possibly may occur later in life. Extensive testing is conducted before players are allowed to resume playing. Recruiting is always a hot issue in sports and the NJCAA is no exception. Mississippi has the strictest out of state recruiting rules and the NJCAA mandates scholarships for only three international players. The excessive recruitment of international players can greatly impact college sports to the extent that local kids cannot compete, tennis is a primary example. Mary Ellen talked about the possibly of seeding the NJCAA basketball tournament to balance the match-up of competitive teams. She commented on both the drawbacks and advantages of seeding, especially because of the factors that are considered in seeding. Match-ups are now made on a blind draw. Thanks to Mary Ellen for her usual interesting annual presentation.
50/50 DRAWING: Tom Hymer won the pot of $24.
NEWSLETTER DRAWING: Dave Shuler could have won $10 but he left early.
NEWSLETTER QUESTION NEXT WEEK: You will win $15 if you know how many championships are conducted by the NJCAA.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS: To be announced.