Thank You To All Of Our Volunteers
I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who made the MACS Fall Invitational Meet the success it was. I know that to many people it looked like organized chaos with the emphasis on CHAOS and not the organized part. Believe it or not with over 660 swimmers, over a thousand spectators and more than 50 coaches and officials it was organized! We were able to stay under the four hour rule for the morning sessions and this is the first time in over 4 years that not one injury was reported! I know I run the risk of leaving someone off my list but I am going to try anyway.
Thanks to Susan Bobka, Carolyn Lubbers and Mary Lou Waite for organizing the food for concessions and hospitality. Managing to feed all the coaches and officials 5 meals over the course of the weekend is no small feat. Thanks to the swimmers and moms who helped work the concession stand. Thanks to Dave Lubbers. Unfortunately he had to do all the heavy lifting at concessions. Thanks to the entire Waite family, Deb Saya and Lisa Bradford for helping make the Hospitality area the best in Colorado. (Believe me, the coaches and officials rate the teams by the quality of the Hospitality!) Many thanks to those that donated food and also took the time to bake and prepare the goodies. There are certain items that the workers, coaches and officials look forward to- Breakfast Burritos, Spring Rolls and of course the sweets offered. The one consistent high mark MACS receives from the coaches on their Meet Evaluation forms is our food.
Thanks to the incredible scoring staff up in the crow’s nest. Pam Malik was scorer and is the future Entry Chair. She spent the entire meet in front of the computer making sure the times posted for each swimmer were correct. Thanks to the Console operators- Greg Martens, Shawn Rowland and Todd Holmes. Thanks to Mike Arnold and Brian Stoeckle as announcers. Marc Barrocio was the go to man for running, posting and printing more programs. Thanks to our Safety Marshall Stuart Urban and the vest wearers David, Gina, Liz and Sarah for making sure that the facility and warm-ups were safe.
Thanks to Susan Arnold for preparing and printing the programs, Elizabeth Williams for selling the programs for two full days and to Laura Wood for organizing and running the Silent Auction. These are all money makers for MACS and a very integral part of helping make the meet the largest fundraiser MACS has during the year.
Thanks to the Senior and Sectional kids who came to the meet bright and early on the two days they could have actually slept in! Without these swimmers we wouldn’t have had relief timers and help with the 8 & unders on their 25 yard events on Saturday.
Thank to our alums. Two of our former swimmers took time from college studying to help time and be head timer. Thanks to Frank Rodriguez who came out of “official” retirement to help referee the meet and sing the anthem. A million thanks to Ken Morris, our Meet Referee. Neither Ken nor Frank have swimmers with MACS anymore. That’s true dedication.
Thanks to Dave Brandon, Jan van der Sanden and Wendi Pulse for handing out Heat Winner Chipotle cards. The swimmers love this meet and the Chipotle cards are a great incentive for them to swim FAST!
Thanks to those who loaded up at Pier Point and drove over to Arapahoe to help set up: Dagmar Korn, Elizabeth Williams, Kenny Haynes, Gina Napolitano, Todd Holmes and Lisa Bradford. Thanks to those who stuck around after the meet was over to cleanup and transport back to Pier Point: Greg Martens, John Martens, Renee Jensen, Cameron Navarrette, Ted, Yuko and Timmy Martin, Todd Holmes, Pam, Larry and Allyson Malik, Susan, Brian and Kristyn Bobka, Lisa Bradford, Bob Stromberg and Mahn Vu. Both Susan B. and I are a little fuzzy on who was there at that point….. Again, I am sorry if I missed anyone.
Last but not least- THANKS TO OUR TIMERS! We had several people step up to fill in when needed- including aunts, grandparents and swimmers. We truly couldn’t have a meet without you! Timing is tiring and LONG. We know this but at the same time- you are at the center of the action. As I picked up timer sheets I was pleased to see the interaction between timers and swimmers. Speaking as a scorer- the timers are incredibly important to the whole process. Thanks to Susan Arnold, Dave Brandon and Chelsie Barrocio for being Head Timers.
I know I most likely missed a few people. I apologize but I truly want everyone to know that the meet is a team effort and I appreciate all the time you gave to ensure that our meet was well run and well fed!
Teresa
Additionally, MACS owes a HUGE thank you to Teresa Brandon for her leadership and work organizing, planning, and running this event for the team. If you see Teresa, please take a moment and say 'thank you' for her role in providing a great meet for our kids to compete! Thank you Teresa!
