Sunfield Area SPY's Report---3/25/10

SPY’s Salute Their Event Chairs

The Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth would like to extend our sincere thanks to a cadre` of fine individuals who have stepped forward to assume leadership roles in our various projects, programs, events, tournaments, or activities. Some of these great people have headed up these things for a number of years. Their unselfish dedication and hard work to help kids and make our community better is truly appreciated. Our sincere thanks go out to the following:
Pictured front row left to right
Craig Cappon (Euchre Tournament)
Rosie Best (Community Celebration Calendar)
Sheryl & Phil Smith (Summer Celebration BBQ & Food Service)
John Fisher (Scholarship Program / Poker Tournament / Column)
Pictured second row left to right
Jake Bosworth (Softball Tournament)
Sam Coan (Texas Hold ‘Em Events)
Buddy Collins (Wild Game Dinner)
Bob Bumgardner (Summer Celebration Car Show)
Chris Wegener (Summer Celebration 5-K Run)
Pictured back row left to right
Bill Weller (Golf Tournament)
Darin Weller (Basketball Tournament)
Not Pictured
Jamie Peabody (Dime Pitch Booth)
Scott McWhorter (Adopt-A-Highway Program)
Juaise Peabody (50’s / 60’s Dance)
Oren Best (Playground Project)
Thank you all for the unselfish sharing of your time, all of your hard work, and tremendous efforts to make our little corner of the world a better place to live!

News Briefs

+ The Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth wish to acknowledge some recent donations to the Scholarship Fund that came in from the following fine folks:

* The membership of the Sunfield Area SPY’s made a contribution in memory of Marie Wegner.

* Clarice Sayer gave in memory of Roy Hough.

* Durwood & Ardyth Dow made donations in memory of Shirley Joppie and Roy Hough.

* John & Sandra Fisher contributed in memory of Marie Wegener.

* Oren & Rosie Best gave in memory of Bill Feasal.

* Flo Sayer made donations in memory of Carolyn Pettit and Harold MacNamara.

* Buddy & Jari Collins made contributions in memory of Roy Hough; Bill Feasal; Marie Wegener; and Ruth Stambaugh.

* Ray & Ardath Wilcox gave in memory of Roy Hough and Stan Trumble.

Thank you all for choosing this means to help us help kids!

+ Andy Woodman’s Sports Trivia Question-Of-The-Week: What is the largest margin of victory in an NCAA Division I tournament championship basketball game? (Answer later in this column)

+ NOTICE #1: Please be advised that the date for this year’s SPY’s Summer Celebration combined car show / 5-K run / barbeque has been moved up a week from August 7th. to Saturday, July 31st. Please make a note of the change.

+ Thought #1: No one has ever drowned in sweat.

+ Honest Roy’s Quote-Of-The-Week: “Here’s some great advice taken from my vast years of experience---If you want to look young and thin, hang around old fat people.” “You’re welcome.”

+ Our Texas Hold ‘Em event chairman Sam Coan would like to send out a great big thank you to the great crew of volunteers that signed-up to do a shift at our last Texas Hold ‘Em. We salute-----
Cris & Susan Glazier
Bruce Kauffman
Brian & LouAnn Harag
Wendel Peabody
Katherine Ieremias
Kris Vezino
Craig Cappon
Darin Weller
Jake Bosworth
Craig & Jackie Mulholland
Bill & Patti Weller
Barry Vezino
Chris Stambaugh
Lewis Trowbridge
Thank you again for a job well-done!

+ The “Sports Trivia Question Just For ‘Smarty-Pants’ Mac Cready Question-Of-The-Week: What nickname did the 1937 Cleveland NFL franchise have that the team still bear’s today? (Answer later in this column)

+ Trivia Question-Of-The-Week: On the PBS children’s program Sesame Street, before he earned the name "Cookie Monster" by getting hooked on cookies, this monster was known by another name. What was it?

+ March Madness Facts and Insights Department:

* Didja know the NCAA basketball tournament has almost every sports fan in America filling out a bracket sheet to pick the winners. But what would it take to guarantee a win in your local pool by completing a sheet for every possible outcome? Incredibly, the sheets would reach the sun and back 6,115 times---Or, they would cover the earth 158,473 times at a depth of almost 50 feet. No wonder the odds of filling out the perfect bracket sheet are a staggering 9.2 quintillion to one.

* Didja know the term “March Madness” is owned by a joint holding company? The term has been traced to an article by Henry Porter published in the Illinois High School Association magazine describing their statewide tournament. Later, the term was used by CBS broadcaster Brent Musberger, an ex-Chicago Daily News sportswriter, in his network’s coverage of the NCAA tournament. The IHSA received a trademark for the term in 1989 and later sued the NCAA. The 7th Circuit Court sided with the NCAA, but instead of continuing the legal fight, the two formed a holding company with the IHSA holding rights to the high school use of the term and the NCAA received the collegiate rights.

* Didja know that across 36 sports monitored by the NCAA, men’s basketball has the lowest graduation rates, with fewer than two-thirds of players staying in school long enough to earn a degree?

+ Thought #2: No one ever went to their deathbed saying, “You know, I wish I’d eaten more rice cakes.”

+ Swede’s Groaner Corner: Charles Dickens walks into a bar and orders a martini. The bartender asks, “Olive or twist?”

+ NOTICE #2: We recently received the following announcement from the Disney Hands-On Network, who is in charge of the “Give A Day / Get A Day” program:

“Today we are announcing that an astounding one million people are making an impact on their local communities by committing to volunteering through the Give A Day. Get A Disney Day program. The goal of inspiring one million people to serve was reached quickly. Thank you for your tremendous spirit, dedication and passion for civic change, and for helping make this program such an overwhelming success.”

Since they reached their goal of getting one million people engaged in their communities through the program, “Give A Day / Get A Day” has been suspended. The SPY’s were one of the sanctioned “portals” for Give A Day / Get A Day. Through the various activities that we put in the system for local organizations, we had around 100 area people qualify for a free Disney Parks pass through their volunteer efforts. Commendable!

+ Trivia Question-Of-The-Week Answer: Cookie Monster’s real first name is Sid.

+ Andy Woodman’s Sports Trivia Question-Of-The-Week Answer: It was 30 points. In 1990, Nevada-Las Vegas defeated Duke 103 to 73 to win the NCAA title.

+ The “Sports Trivia Question Just For ‘Smarty-Pants’ Mac Cready Question-Of-The-Week Answer: No, it’s not the Browns! It’s the Rams. The Rams played in Cleveland for nine years before packing up and moving to Los Angeles. Then, after the 1994 season, the Rams moved to St. Louis.

+ To find out more about the SPY’s organization, download forms or applications, or catch-up on past issues of the “Dirt Sheet”, go to the SPY’s website at www.sunfieldspys.org.

Highlights From Our Last Meeting

The March meeting of the membership was brought to order by his highness, El Presidente Darin Weller. We had 3 guests join us. Brian Wellwood, Stephanie Smith and Brad Moorman attended the meeting to present the Sunfield Summer Athletic Association budget for 2010. They made a fine presentation of their actual expenditures for 2009 and anticipated needs for 2010. Discussion of the budget proposal followed and the membership approved spending up to $7,000 for this years summer ball programs.

A couple of notes here while we’re on the subject: (1) The way the summer ball programs work for boys and girls in the Sunfield area is we have the SSAA who handles all of the administrative “stuff” like scheduling; coaching assignments; team make-ups; etc. The SPY’s pay all of the bills. For most kids in other communities the fee charged to play ball in the summer can range from $50 to $100 per child. There are no fees charged here. (2) The SSAA has developed a really neat website where you can get all kinds of information pertaining to the summer ball programs. We
urge you to check it out by going to:

https://sites.google.com/site/sunfieldsummer/

+ Regular business reports were read and approved.

+ Correspondence reviewed consisted of thank you’s from the Harold Hanna family and from Project Graduation. Many thank you's were received and read from the students in Mrs. Jenks 5th grade class for the SPY’s recent purchases for the special robotics class.

+ Event Chairman Sam Coan reported that the Texas Hold 'em Tournament at Tripper's was a success. Many thanks to all of the fine SPY helpers who showed up to lend a hand. Sam also sent word that the next Hold 'Em Tournament is coming up in April and he's looking for volunteers, so give him a call.

+ We are pleased to announce that Brad Moorman joined the SPYs on the spot and then volunteered to deliver a soliloquy of the highest order!
Welcome aboard Brad!

+ On a somewhat troubling note, the membership did learn, much to their chagrin, that there is only one thing on Wendel Peabody’s mind when he's wearing a thong....and it's not the weather. The issue was not pursued further. And, on that note the meeting was adjourned.

+ MDLXXV