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Uncorked and Unwined

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Ching under Community, Events.

I attended the best networking event last month hosted by BKD. It was at the New Market Square Cocoa Dolce, which I’d never been to before.

I’m so glad I was able to squeeze in the schedule because I bumped into my Leadership Wichita classmates Jennifer Wold (she organized the event), Dotty Harpool, and Jessica Dunbar. It was fun catching up.

I don’t frequently get to spend time with my Leadership Wichita classmates because we are all so busy. However, Dotty has been coming to my Aqua Zumba classes so I actually have seen her more frequently than the others the last few months. Another classmate that I bump into on a somewhat regular basis is Teresa Veazey. She couldn’t make event that night but Brian and I will sometimes run into her at events or at the nail spa.

Last week I ran into Jason Mock at the Walkway Cafe (the cafeteria in our building). I hadn’t seen him in forever. He stayed and we caught up over lunch. It was nice. I always love running into my Leadership Wichita classmates.

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Breakfast with Leadership Wichita Classmates

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Ching under Community, Food and Drink.

Met some of my Leadership Wichita classmates at Doo-Dah Diner on Tuesday for breakfast and a gift exchange. Michelle and I took this selfie while we were waiting for everyone else to arrive.

We did the gift exchange “white elephant” style where you can steal gifts but everyone was so polite no gift-stealing actually transpired. Oh, and, of course, I forgot to take pictures of people and just got pictures of their food. LOL.

Obviously, Michelle was there as you can see from the above photo. And, of course, Jessica was there because she organized the get together. Teresa, Dotty, Cynthia, Jaimie, and Bill also attended. Below are pictures of some of our food. You can try to figure out which is which.

Remind me to take pictures of the people next time!

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Fun Times with My Rotary Club

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Ching under Community, Events, Things to Do.

We spent the last couple of weekends hanging out with the Andover Rotary Club.

Last weekend was Greater Andover Days, an event that our club supports. We’re usually out there for the tailgate party on Friday night and to sell beer on Saturday night. The setup was a little different this year because we got to use the lodge patio. It’s beautiful and spacious, with great views of the amphitheater. It would have been perfect if we had a better turnout. Apparently, there were several things going on that same night. There was the 150th celebration in Augusta, Lynyrd Skynyrd at Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita Taste downtown, and a bunch of other events scattered around town and nearby. It was a beautiful night and the weather was perfect but we didn’t have quite the turnout we expected.

Do not believe it when someone tells you there is nothing to do in Wichita. There are always multiple options on any given night. Sometimes choosing which event to attend can even be overwhelming.

The weather wasn’t the best this past Saturday for our annual Haus of Brews event but that didn’t seem to negatively impact the turnout. Brian and I got there early to help set up. This year we had additional help from the lovely people at Meritrust, long time sponsors of the event.

Here’s a picture of Alison and her husband Chris setting up the German food buffet.

We relocated the check in desk this year and I kind of like it. I think it confused the regulars who have been coming year after year but I thought it made for better flow.

The wine station ended up being moved to the old check in spot.

River City Brewery was one of six local breweries to support our event.

We also had Areo Plains, Nortons, Third Place Brewing, Walnut River, and Wichita Brewing Company. Everyone brought plenty of great beer and smiles.

Here’s another picture of the brewery guys getting set up. Treescapes in Andover is a lovely place to have Haus of Brews. We are always grateful to them for letting us use their space for our event.

Here’s a picture of the food menu along with a bit of information about our club.

The breweries brought several beer selections along with their most popular brews. We also had a good wine selection for the ladies and non-beer drinkers and, as always, there was a margarita machine inside churning all-you-can-drink frozen margaritas. There’s something for everyone!

Our friends Jay, Becca, Cory, and April attended for the first time.

I also had some friends from work come out to support the event. It was fabulous! Overall, I thought it was a great way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Haus of Brews. I look forward to our next one.

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Member Appreciation Zumbathon®

Posted on February 24, 2018 by Ching under Community, Zumba.

Just a few pics from the Member Appreciation Zumbathon we had last weekend at the Andover YMCA. We decided to have an 80’s theme so everyone got to wear fun 80’s outfits and we also did a bunch of 80’s favorites.

Brian looked handsome dressed up in his Top Gun outfit. He helped us with the raffle and took pictures and videos.

Some people went all-out. I loved seeing all the colorful outfits.

There was a good mix of festive 80’s attire and regular workout clothes but, regardless of what people were wearing, everyone seemed to have a great time.

Here’s a quick selfie I took of me, Brandon, and Kariana during the break.

I didn’t get a lot of photos because Brian and I couldn’t stay for the entire event because we had to get ready for the Heart Ball. It’s the annual formal black-tie benefit for the American Heart Association that we’ve had the privilege of attending the last few years. More on that in the next post.

There were five instructors who hosted and led songs at the event: Charis, Mandy, Francie, Missy, and me. It was supposed to be all of the Andover YMCA Zumba instructors but Tiffany could not get the day off from her regular job and Angie fell ill that very day. We had to scramble and replace her. Thankfully, Missy planned to be at the event and knew some of Angie’s songs already so we just slid her right in. Charis, who was in charge of putting together the playlist, didn’t have to do much rearranging. She also helped me out by putting all of my songs at the beginning.

I did routines to covers of the following famous 80’s hits:
Fresh by Kool & the Gang (1984)
Take On Me by A-Ha (1985)
Karma Chameleon by Culture Club (1985)
Part-Time Lover by Stevie Wonder (1985)

Here’s a video of us dancing to Karma Chameleon.

I also did September by Earth Wind & Fire because I thought it was an 80’s song but it was actually released in 1971. Wow! Who would’ve have thought? Now I’m thinking, wouldn’t it be cool do a 70’s themed class? I bet I know a few 70’s hits and don’t even realize it!

Others did 80’s hits as well but we also did some regular Zumba songs and songs from other decades. The 90-minute playlist had great variety. Charis did an excellent job of putting it together.

Anyway, that’s pretty much all I got about the Zumbathon at Andover YMCA last weekend. The next post will have our pics from the Heart Ball.

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YMCA Annual Celebration

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Ching under Community, Events.

A few pics from the YMCA Annual Celebration a couple of weeks ago at Century II.

It was our first time being invited to the Triangle Society pre-celebration reception.

The YMCA Late Night program is only a year old but it’s one of my favorites. So glad they came up with it because it gives teenagers a safe place to go and constructive activities to do on a Saturday night.

Down below, they were getting set up for the main program and dinner.

My new friend Betty Schwahn. We met her for the first time at a Triangle Society event a couple of months ago. Super nice lady!

My name tag would not stay because of the texture of my dress so we decided to stick it to my arm instead.

I eventually gave up on the name tag altogether and just stuck it to the table next to my drink. LOL.

We also ran into Suzy at the celebration.

They recognized some very deserving people. It was a wonderful celebration altogether. We our so grateful for our local YMCA for making sure that we have the best facilities and great programs that everyone can enjoy regardless of their finances. We feel truly blessed that we can make a small contribution toward making all of it possible.