Message from the Captain (#7)

Well, Mateys, here we are, entering a really key stretch for the spring season. The next five weeks are so important to our ultimate success as a team on reaching our fundraising goals that I am not even going to try to dilute the message with any nautical wittiness. Here we are in a new year. The holidays, a time when people often have no choice but to slack off a bit, are now behind us. For the next five weeks, the time is here to put our backs into it and make the season pay dividends to LLS and the mission to defeat blood cancers. The next five weeks will lay the foundation for a successful outcome for the remainder of the spring season.

This is a good week to try to touch base with your mentees again, if you were not able to during the last couple of weeks. How are they doing? What help do they need? How close are they? Shamrock recommitment is coming right up, as is the Silent Auction.

Speaking of the latter, it is crucial this week to get an inventory from each mentee about what they have collected for the auction – each item, its value, the minimum bid, and the incremental bid. We will need this information to create bid sheets next week. This is a time consuming process and simply cannot be done at the last minute. As you hear from each mentee, let Cate and I know what they have collected. This is the single most important activity this week for each mentor. The early you can start getting these lists, the better.

I propose having another go at a team breakfast Saturday, obviously concentrating on the marathon teams, but including cycle and triathlon teams if they can make it. Coaches and mentors, what do you think?

I know that many of you know Ed S. He has been a teammate, mentor, patient honoree, and inspiration to so many of us over the years. I returned from a couple of days away to check email today, and learned as several of you have also learned over the weekend that Ed is now battling cancer again. This is his fourth bout with cancer and his second with multiple myloma. This news felt like being kicked in the gut. It is a reminder of how critical it is to defeat these awful diseases. Ed was actually on the spring St. Anthony’s triathlon team but obviously is going to have delay these plans to kick cancer’s ugly butt to the curb once more. Please keep Ed, his lovely wife Leslie, and his other family members in your thoughts and prayers this week, and for the rest of the spring season.

Please let me know if you wish to meet, give me a call if we need to talk.

GO TEAM!
Cap’n Art