SPY’s Community Newsletter #192
(5/2/22)
Thank You Volunteers!!!
A HUGE Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth (the SPY’s) salute goes out to the fine group of volunteers that pitched in on a couple of events this past week
· Project Chairman Derek “Captain Highway” Desgranges would like to send out a BIG Sunfield Area SPY thanks to the following great people who still showed up after the first Adopt-A-Highway trash pick-up of the season was rained out a week ago. We had a super turn-out this past Saturday, as well as some of the folks that took advantage of the option of participating earlier in the week:
Buddy & Jari Collins
John & Sandy Fisher
Jeff & Betsy Gibbs
Christina Grosshans
Gracie Groaahans
Derek & Stacie Desgranges
Mark & Mary Hanna
Craig Mulholland
Lance Eldridge
Hunter Eldridge
Elizabeth Eldridge
Job well done pickers!
· The second group of volunteers we would like to acknowledge are those that stepped-up and worked a shift at last week’s four day Texas Hold “Em fund-raiser. These events are headed up by Jeff Gibbs, and he would like to send out a special thank-you to this fine crew:
Betsy Gibbs
Craig Cappon
John Fisher
Sandy Fisher
Shari Woodman
Rebeka Woodman
Rod Clark
DeAnna Clark
Buddy Collins
Jari Collins
Derek Desgranges
Stacey Desgranges
Lynne Marie Hatt
Mingo Salas
Thank you all for your willingness to volunteer, and by so doing helping us help kids and the community! We were especially heartened by the fact that we had four brand new people, who had never participated before, step-up and volunteer! That was super!
News Briefs
· The next meeting of the Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth (SPY’s) will be held this coming Tuesday, May 10th. starting at 6:30 PM, at the Best Tax Service building on M-43. Guests are always welcome!
We Have An Event Chairmanship Opening
We are searching for a special person or persons to step forward and take over the SPY’s Dime Pitch Booth activity. The SPY’s Dime Pitch Booth is one of the highlights, (especially for kids), at the Farmer’s Picnic held each August at the Sunfield Park. Not to mention it’s a nice little money-maker for the SPY’s.
Wayne Simmons had been heading up the Dime Pitch and has made a number of major improvements in the efficiency of the whole operation. Wayne has indicated that he is willing to tutor anyone that is interested in taking over. So, are you the person(s) we are looking for who would be interested in stepping-up and volunteering to take over heading-up the Dime Pitch Booth? (It only operates for two days at the Farmer’s Picnic, and there is lots of experienced help!).
If you would like to volunteer, please give our President Jeff Gibbs a call at 517-930-6989. Or, if you would like more information as to what’s involved, just give Wayne a call at 616-550-2876.
Parting Comments
• Deep Thought of the Week: Patience is not about how long you wait, it is about how well you behave while you are waiting.
• Notable Quote: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”-----Steve Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple
• That’s Puny Department: My friend’s bakery burned down last night. Now his business is toast.
• Did You Know Section: What if we had an Olympics and almost no one came? 1904 was a banner year for the Olympics in many respects. It was the first to feature gold medals (previously, silver went to first place, bronze to second, and third went home empty-handed). And it was the first held outside Europe, as the United States hosted the Games in St. Louis. Which sounds great until you remember that it was 1904, and the direct center of this vast country wasn’t the easiest place to get to. In fact, St. Louis was so remote that most countries didn’t bother to make the trip. Only 12 countries participated in the St. Louis Games, and of them, only Germany (22) and Canada (56) sent more than a couple of athletes. A single French competitor participated, and only two each from Switzerland and Austria. (There also may or may not have been one Italian athlete, two Norwegians, and one from Newfoundland, which was not yet part of Canada, but record-keeping was bad enough that this is in dispute.) Of the 651 athletes at the Games, 526 were American.
Just looking at one event---the marathon---here are some of the quirky highlights(?) that stood out:
· The first man to finish the 1904 Olympics marathon rode in a car most of the way.
· The actual winner was carried across the finish line after ingesting poison.
· Fourth place took a nap en route.
· One of the two first black Olympians came in ninth after being chased a mile off course by wild dogs.
· The marathon track was a dirt road, which runners slogged down in 92-degree heat, kicking up dust as they went. The Games’ chief organizer, James E. Sullivan, allowed only one water station because he had a theory that “purposeful dehydration” was helpful to runners. As a result, only 14 of the 32 entrants finished the race—one was found passed out by the side of the road after inhaling too much dust—and to this day, the winning time is the worst in Olympic history by a full half hour.
Notices
1. If there is any organization or business out there that has something they would like to advertise or promote, please feel free to submit it to this Newsletter and we will help publicize it. There is no charge. We are glad to provide this means as a public service to help keep the community informed.
2. If you are looking for further information about the SPY’s events---Corporate or Platinum Sponsorship information---
scholarship forms---youth sports reimbursement forms---past SPY newsletters---etc.---just go to the SPY website at
3. NOTE: If you know of anyone who would like to receive these SPY’s Newsletters, just send me an email at john.sandrafisher@gmail.com with their email address and we will add them to the distribution list.
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