Ft. Jackson, SC – May 17, 2014
T3’s Ft. Jackson event was our fourth one in under a year. After each of the first three events, Staff sat down and did a “post-event wrap-up.” We asked the usual questions: how can we make the next one better, what worked, what didn’t work, what should we add, what should we change….? But the one question that always comes up is: “Can we possibly match the success of the last event?” I’m happy to answer that question with a resounding, “YES!”
Before you start to think that I’m arrogant and being boastful, let me just say this: although we at Blue Sky/T3 would love to take credit for the successes of these events, it has very little to do with what we bring to the table. The last four T3 events were big hits because of the military personnel behind them.
When Dickie and I pulled onto base late Friday afternoon, we made the scenic drive to the four courts tucked into the pine trees. What we saw blew us away. MWR (Moral, Welfare and Recreation) had cleaned the courts and the surrounding area and put up patriot bunting all over the fencing. What an amazing difference that made! We didn’t ask them to do that, they just did.
We arrived as the courts the next morning at 8:00: MWR was already there, completely set up…all we had to do was unload the truck.
Every time one of us turned around, someone was there asking, “Can we do anything to help, Sir?” Military families are notoriously helpful. After the event was over, Tricia Sheffield grabbed a ladder and clippers and single-handedly took down all the banners from the fencing. She then folded them up, put them away and turned her attention to packing up the T-shirts. Big deal, you might say…well, this is after she won the morning triathlon and participated in the adult clinics. It was a wonder that she was still standing! Thanks, Tricia!
Amy Beiger, Col. Mark Beiger’s wife, spent the day shuttling people around and later participated in the adult clinics. She and her beautiful yellow lab, Bella, were awesome.
One of the special touches at Ft. Jackson was the excitement of the local kids. Two little boys were riding by on their bikes and stopped to see what the activity was all about. They decided to stay and participate, later becoming ball boys for the pro-am. They took a 15 minute break to ride through their neighborhoods to collect more friends. Before we knew it, there were packs of kids on bikes signing up to hit with Coach Ira and Coach JoAnne. Sometimes, your participants sell the event for you!
Participant Joe Roche met Col. Jaime Houston at a tennis tournament earlier in the year. Joe was watching the Colonel and his son play doubles. Tennis makes the world a smaller place, and Col. Houston invited Joe to the Ft. Jackson T3 event. Joe did in fact participate in the event, and told us that he knew JoAnne Russell’s brother through the restaurant business. After the event, we all went to Joe’s restaurant, Villa Trunco and enjoyed some of the best fried calamari, crab cakes and
Italian food (south of New York, of course…..). We were treated to a great evening in one of the few buildings that General Sherman didn’t burn down to the ground during the Civil War. The restaurant survived the great fire, with smoke scars on the bricks to bear witness. At some point, the building then became a fire house. Walking through the funny little rooms to the back, we could still see the stables and stalls,the fire house logos and the loft above us where hay was stored. How cool!!
We are so grateful to Col. Houston for everything that he did to make this event possible. Not only is he a great athlete, tennis player, a phenomenal solider and all around great guy, he is a very good dentist. I’m so sorry that he caught me opening a bottle of water with my teeth, but I did promise to rinse with Listerine on a regular basis. I promise not to tell anyone that Col. Houston did give me an entire canister of red licorice for the ride home. It didn’t make it past Georgia….
Big shout-outs go to Coaches Ira Peskowitz, JoAnne Russell, Chuck Kriese, Bill Simpson, Mark Hancock, Kevin Epley and Ryan Young.
Thank you to everyone who helped that I failed to mention. You are so appreciated and we are honored to work with you.
Please look for social media on the next T3 Event at Ft. Bragg, the first base to be revisited by the T3 program!
Thank a soldier. Hug a Vet.
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