Community

Archive for "Community"

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.

No Comments

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.

1 Comment

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.

No Comments

2018 Black Light Zumba Party

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Ching under Community, Zumba.

We had a great time at the Black Light Zumba Party at South Y a couple of weeks ago. Joel sure knows how to throw an awesome party. I think this is the third year that they’ve done it. I missed the very first one but did have the opportunity to attend the one last year. This year was even bigger and better than ever.

Last year I was a little bit disappointed that I didn’t glow so I decided to go all out with my outfit. Here’s a sneak peak.

The funny thing about the tutu is that when the package arrived Brian was like, “Don’t you already have a tutu?” I have several but this one lights up!

Sarah is one of our amazing Zumba instructors at the YMCA. She taught a few songs that night but was also helping with the event. She helped decorate and she also manned the glow in the dark body paint table. The glow in the dark body paint is something new they did this year and worked out really well.

Here’s the scene at the body painting station.

Brynden bought glow in the dark body paint also and she painted her face even before she arrived at the event.

This is Brynden’s mom, Laurie. They’re an awesome mom/daughter duo.

Here’s another dynamic duo, Andrea and Sharlie. We got light up glasses!

Another improvement from last year is the specially designated t-shirt cutting area. I pretty much got stuck there helping people cut their shirts. Brian finally had to get me out of there so I would get a somewhat decent spot in the studio. He said people were already filing in and warned me that I would get stuck at the very back if I didn’t get up there, stat. Yikes!

Here’s the scene upstairs. They doubled the black lights so everyone glowed. I should be pretty easy to spot in this photo. You can’t miss me and my light up tutu.

Still can’t find me? Let me help you out.

They were turning the lights on and off so people could test their glowy-ness. Basically, if you didn’t feel like you were lit up enough, you could go back and apply more glow in the dark body paint. I skipped the body paint because I was decked out in LED accessories from head to toe. My white gloves light up also.

Here’s a picture of me with Hannah and Charis.

Here’s some of our Zumba family.

This is an awesome panoramic photo of the whole studio.

Here’s the studio with the lights out.

Here’s a picture of people dancing after things really got going.

It was quite a sight to behold.

Here’s me and Brynden. I ended up changing into my shirt from last year halfway through. It actually glowed a lot better.

Here’s another group photo.

With and without the flash.

These guys are so fun!

These are the awesome instructors who led songs at the event (from left): Jonie, Janefer, Charis, Sarah, Joel, Todd, and Missy.

This is our Wichita Area ZINs group photo.

Here we are with the lights on, in all our goofy glory.

I love how welcoming and supportive our ZIN community is in Wichita. I have heard horror stories in other areas where instructors do not support one another at all. Wichita is not like that at all. Instructors team up and work together all the time to host events and raise money for various causes.

We actually have another event coming up. This one is at Andover YMCA on Saturday, February 17, at two o’clock in the afternoon. It is a member appreciation event so it’s a FREE Zumbathon. I’m hosting the Zumbathon along with Mandy, Charis, Francie, and Angie. Tiffany would have hosted the event with us but she has to work that day. We’re doing an 80’s theme so it should be super fun.

I hope you can join us!

No Comments

Fun Times at Greater Andover Days

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Ching under Community, Events.

These are pictures from Greater Andover Days last weekend. I know. The blog is behind again. Sorry, grandma!

This first set of photos is from the VIP Tailgate Party on Friday night. I kind of volunteered us to help at two different tailgates so Brian and I had to split up. I left Brian with the Andover Rotary Club. Misty volunteered with them as well. I volunteered with the Westar Energy tailgate.

Alicia brought her handcrafted cornhole/beantoss game and it was a huge hit.

We had people at our section playing the game all night long.

The free hotdogs and hamburgers were also a huge hit. They were lovingly prepared by the Happy-Bowman grilling team consisting of Glen and Bridget.

You might recognize them from the Home for Doc Benefit Gala that we attended the previous weekend. No tux and ballgown this time.

Alicia and Ron also helped at the tailgate. As well as Roy, who is usually always with the trailer. I can’t believe I didn’t get a photo of him!

Anyway, this is Ron with the fancy tire marks on his face. They had face-painting at the event and, apparently, they were painting faces for everyone — children and adults alike. I didn’t go because I thought it was just for kids.

This is me with my coworker Stacy. She volunteered to helped with the Westar tailgate as well. It worked out great because her husband’s band Lucky People was the entertainment for the evening.

This is Brian, hanging out at the Andover Rotary Club tailgate.

This is Brian and Misty presumably “working” at the tailgate.

Lots of people came out to tailgate. Some people tailgated privately, while others shared their food.

Here’s a picture of the band performing on stage.

It was a pretty relaxing evening and didn’t feel like work at all. Here’s Misty visiting with Ron at the Westar tailgate toward the end of the evening.

In addition to giving away free burgers and hotdogs, Westar also had free popcorn, candy, and water as well as other fun goodies for the kiddos like baseball cards, fake tattoos, little stuffed animals, slap bracelets, and frisbees.

It was a successful tailgate party overall.

Brian and I were back at Greater Andover Days the next day to support Ron as he competed in the hotdog eating contest.

Though not as competitive as the hotdog eating competition held annually in Coney Island, it was just as gross. LOL.

The guy standing next to Ron is the reigning champion of this event. He has won it the last few years and he won again this year. Ron has competed a few times and has always come in second.

It’s kind of a local version of the the Stonie-Chestnut rivalry.

They also had a car show going on at Greater Andover Days that day which was a nice treat for Brian who wasn’t too thrilled about watching the hotdog eating contest. It’s definitely not for the squeamish.

Anyway, it was a beautiful day to be out and about and enjoying Greater Andover Days. It’s the first time that we’d actually spent a considerable amount of time at the event and we had a great time. I’m actually looking forward to attending the event again next year.