2017 SAAC Events
January 2017: SAAC held our January Social event in Knoxville, Tennessee. For dinner, we gathered with a great group of Epsilon Xi Alumni, dear friends, and special guests for Asian/Latin fusion at Cocoa Moon downtown in Market Square. Next, we watched the Fayetteville FireAntz defeat the Knoxville Ice Bears. The hockey game was a first-time experience for several of us! The crowd had a fun energy, the players got a little rowdy, and even though we lost, it was well worth the trip.
February 2017: February's Scholarship Event also had a Service twist! Tina taught a small group how to make baby booties that would be included in care packages for infants undergoing surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital. She taught us how to use a template to cut out the correct patterns from fun, multi-colored fabrics. Then we got a crash-course on using the sewing machine to assemble the fabric and elastic for an adorable finished product.
March 2017: For March's service event, SAAC contacted the local Chapter of Disabled American Veterans to give a helping hand to a well deserving veteran in our community. Mr. Robert E. Myers, Jr. needed a few extra hands to clear away brush, overgrown limbs, and accumulated leaves in his yard. After several hours of hard work, our team generated monstrous piles of brush for the city to clear away. Because of his back and breathing problems, Mr. Myers said it would have taken him months to complete what we did in one short afternoon. He was elated with the results, and we felt accomplished seeing the difference we made for him.
April 2017: April's Social event was a potluck aptly planned for the month's fickle weather. We gathered in Kingsport in a cozy sitting room at Colonial Heights United Methodist Church for a Soup and Ice Cream Bar. Everyone's homemade hearty soups warmed us up after a full day of cold rain, and our ice cream with all the best toppings helped us celebrate the hot weather that will be just around the corner.
May 2017: May's Scholarship Event was a first for several of our Members; we went geocaching! Surprisingly, there are hundreds of caches in Johnson City, and we spent a couple hours hunting for several around ETSU's campus, hiking trails, nearby businesses, and downtown. We used a mobile app from [www.geocaching.com] to choose each cache, find the coordinates, and read hints and logs from the geocache community that had found each item before us. Some of the caches were large enough to leave behind a small trinket, so we included mini rubber ducks!
June 2017: Sometimes, the best laid plans go awry. Unfortunately, the rainy weather did not permit us to carry out our June Service event at Steele Creek Park in Bristol, TN, where we were set to do some cleanup and landscaping.
July 2017: July was a busy month with TWO events! On our regular rotation was a social event. We met at Founder's Park in Johnson City for field-day games. The Brothers had a blast playing Dizzy Izzy (where each contestant spins around with forehead on a baseball bat before completing tasks like hitting a ball off a tee or punting a football), shaving cream balloon toss, and others. We kept score for each event, and Ryan Alexander was our first place field-day champ! After a day full of laughter, we stopped by a local deli and then Fizz Soda Bar downtown for some creative floats.
This is the month we also celebrate our July 9th Founder's Day with an annual retreat. Since SAAC celebrated a mini-milestone of 5 years together, we wanted to celebrate BIG! We took a cruise to the Bahamas and got in some quality Brother-bonding time over days on the Serenity deck, fancy dinners, and nights in the Comedy club. We had one day off the ship in Nassau where we browsed the straw market and relaxed at Junkanoo beach.
August 2017: SAAC went Whitewater rafting with Smoky Mountain Outdoors on the Little Pigeon River for August's Scholarship event. We brought along a few guests, and the weather was perfect for being outdoors! Lucky for us beginners, no one fell out of the raft! We finished up the trip with lunch at a local Mexican restaurant in Newport, TN.
September 2017: Leadership and service were our themes for this month's event. Our newest member, Jessica, organized our service event that benefited Good Samaritan Ministries, a local organization that serves low-income families and people experiencing homelessness by providing food, showers, clean clothing, free legal advice, and so much more. Our group helped sort donated clothes to be sold in their Heaven Sent thrift store. All the proceeds from the thrift store go directly to their ministries. Volunteers are absolutely vital to GSM's operations, and we were happy to lend a hand!
October 2017: We sure do love to get spooky for Halloween, which is why we were so thrilled to attend this months social event planned by our wonderful Jillian! Members filled their bellies with delicious Mexican food at a local restaurant in Johnson City, TN. We then ventured over to East Tennessee State University to laugh until we cried at an interactive Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing. We spent the evening throwing rice, spraying miniature water guns, and rocking our party hats! Jessica also won the costume contest dressed as Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance! Talk about a throwback.
November 2017: Family is so important to all members of SAAC! As we all spent time with those we love most, an event was unable to be coordinated.
December 2017: The holiday festivities lent a hand to this month's service event organized by Tasha! Members had the opportunity to volunteer at Johnson City's Whoville Village that was set-up during the local Christmas parade. We participated in many aspects of the day including directing the train for its ride to Santa's village as well as encouraging kids to exercise their creativity while coloring! We had a blast bringing a smile to many people's faces during such a joyous time of year, and, as an added bonus, meeting Cindy Lou Who and the Grinch!
