Photos from the Fundraiser

Fundraiser Review

The fundraiser went off with great reviews from my friends and family. One person wrote this to me in an email and I thought it was a great reflection of how the event went:

"It is very obvious that you have such a close knit support network of friends, family, and teammates/ training partners. Having never been involved with or around fencing I was unsure of what to expect. What I saw was a lot of smiles, a lot of laughter, and people having fun- the tell tale signs of a successful event."

I do feel truly blessed to have so many wonderful friends and close teammates. If I were to guess, there were about 50 people there and altogether we raised almost $1,000. With all the drama that went on prior to the event and with last minute cancellations, I felt that the event was a success.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the following people:

Felicia Zimmermann, who flew in overnight and flew out the next day at 6am just to help her little sister out.

Gabe Sinkin and Doris Willette, for driving in from Penn State despite the weather to help fence in the demo and support me.

Chris Burleigh, Write Type Publishing who helped me promote the event and sell posters.

OlympiansCory Sertl (Sailing '88) and Theresa Contos (Handball '84)-once an Olympian, always an Olympian.

Adil Masood and his family, for always giving without question. Thank you for helping and encouraging me each step of the way.

Bob Silver, from GRAAF.

Al Parisi and his family.

Jenny Ertel, for always being an inspiration.

John Hoy, Slickers. Always a good friend.

Nat Goodhartz and Kathy Weber, always there to lend an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. I called Nat every hour on the day of the event to vent frustration and to get advice.

And last but not least, my parents Thomas and Christina. Forget it-I need a lifetime to thank them.

My father somehow got me on the popular morning radio show Brother Wease by pretending he was an avid listener and biker who is also a supporter of Iris Zimmermann. I wonder what they thought about my father's thick German accent?

I will walk away from this experience having learned a lot about fundraising, promotion, working with others, and being dissapointed. The worse part was finding out which of your friends actually support you unconditionally. Some people talk the talk and some people walk the walk.

All in all this was a fun event and I was so happy to be surrounded by friends and family. From what I heard everyone had a great time and enjoyed watching the demo.

I hope to post some photos of the event on the blog soon.

Thank you to everyone who came-I felt like a rockstar!

Under promise and over deliver

The one thing that I took away from my experience in California politics is "under promise and over deliver". So, this is the way I choose to look at the fundraiser tomorrow evening. I don't promise this will be a huge event and I am just content to have an event after the cancellation scare.

Being the type of athlete I am with high standards and expectations, I am learning how to put the expectations away and just go with it. I am thankful that my sister is flying in tomorrow morning from LA to help me out with this event. When all else fails, get your family to help you out.

I also just learned that one of the girls may not be able to make it to the demonstration because of weather issues. She is driving in from Ohio. Under promise...under promise...under promise...under pressure..unable to breathe.

Cross your fingers everyone!

Don't pull your hair out

So I get a call this morning from the midtown athletic club saying that only five people are pre-registered for the fundraiser on Wednesday and they are cancelling the event. (First of all, who knew that everyone had to pre-register?)

Well, good morning to you too! So I called my friend Chris (she's like my right hand woman) and let her unleash her fury on midtown. By the time I called the special events director she asked, "Is this Chris violent?" I swear I could hear the events director tremble on the phone as she asked me that. They ended up compromising by scaling down the event and moving the venue.

I spent half the morning and afternoon calling and confirming friends. I felt like, just because midtown didn't do the job of promoting my event, I shouldn't be punished. So in one afternoon, I have about 30 commitments, news media coming, and letters of complaint going to the athletic club. I would say my friends are pretty loyal.

Anyways, after all that I am still annoyed. My mother saw that I was still brooding about this situation at the dinner table and said one of the best pieces of advice I have ever heard, "Don't continue to pull your hair out after someone has already done the job." Meaning, you are only hurting yourself getting disappointed and angry about someone else's incompetence. It makes sense. Perhaps that is why it's better to forgive than harbor the anger I feel towards the club.

A refuge

I am not always impressed by sports stories because the lot of them seem to show athletes being hauled off to jail, fined for poor behavior, using anabolic steroids or other perfomance enhancing drugs, or just random misconduct. Anyone hear the latest on Michael Vick and the infamous water bottle with suspicious marijuana like contents? There is one example.

However, this Sunday's New York Times sports story was more human interest than sports. No athletes in this article are big stars with million dollar contracts by any means. Come to think of it this front page Sunday New York Times story didn't have any of the usual catch words, "bomb", "death", or "War in Iraq". It was a refuge from the norm.

Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on Soccer Field

If you haven't read this story yet, you should really click here.


It's an amazing tale of how a woman started a soccer team of refugee kids. The athletes are from from war torn areas like Liberia and Afghanistan. One child recounts being a child soldier and being forced to kill another child in his village.

Their story is all about ups and downs--and the downs aren't even their individual tales from their homes. It turns out that the mayor of their town in Clarkstown, Georgia has been one of the biggest roadblocks to their success. The mayor doesn't really like soccer (oh yeah, and refugees) played in the large grassy Clarkestown field.

But to many longtime residents, soccer is a sign of unwanted change, as unfamiliar and threatening as the hijabs worn by the Muslim women in town. It’s not football. It’s not baseball. The fields weren’t made for it. Mayor Swaney even has a name for the sort of folks who play the game: the soccer people.

Despite their struggles against the town and its mayor, I believe that they will succeed. Because even with everything these kids have been through they ultimately love soccer. Kicking around a ball as a team provides them with much needed refuge from their past and sometimes their present hardships. There is a point sometimes when sports crosses a line to become more than just physical exercise, but a way to find escape and freedom.