Saturday

Yesterday started bright & early. We left the house at 7:30 a.m. to be at the local Marriott at 8 for breakfast. We got there a little before 8 & were met by the CEO of the local Girls Inc. She saw us before we had stepped from the hallway into the room set up for the breakfast. "There's the Wagners", we heard. And she came out, hugged us & told us to sit at one of the 3 reserved tables at the front of the room.

Sitting with us were a board member, the bookkeeper (his son was in the band with me - in high school - and graduated a year before me), the "coach", and an office lady. Mr. O & I reminisced about high school days. He said he always looked forward to loading the flutes & piccolos on the bus. They (the band parents) would save those until the end b/c they were so light.

At the 2 tables facing the room were a Girls Inc. parent & her daughter, who opened the conference in prayer, our county mayor, the national Girls Inc. president, a podium, the local CEO, the keynote speaker, the local Girls Inc. board president & then the newest board member who had been an employee of Girls Inc. for the past 2-3 years.

After the prayer, about 6 girls sang a song. I had never heard the song before so cannot tell you the name. Then the mayor welcomed everyone to the state & more specifically our county. The Girls Inc. president was next. She made her welcoming remarks & stated how she really liked this region's meetings. This region is comprised of 7 states.

The local CEO stood up, gave her welcoming remarks & let everyone know the food was coming. We were then served a plate which had 4 quesadilla wedges. Each one had scrambled eggs & cheese plus a different item. One had zucchini & summer squash. One had mushroom. I ate a few bites of the 3 but could not finish it or the 4. I do not remember what the other 2 had. There were salsa & sour cream on the table so you could top your quesadilla. Also 2 slices of bacon were on each plate. Orange juice & coffee were served.

The keynote speaker spoke on the local weed & seed program. It is intended to clear out the drugs & replace with responsible adults. They have events geared for the community which police officers are invited to attend. This way children learn that police are their friends & the children can tell them anything. Before children in these communities thought police just came out to arrest people for drugs. The speaker has a MS in history & has taught at a college for years. She is now the leader of this weed & seed program. She is organizing a place where children can learn more about what they like, such as if a child likes computers they can come & find out all the different ways computers can be used other than for looking at things they shouldn't. She said, "I want these children to grow up to be tax-paying citizens." If they like something we should encourage them so they realize they can earn money (& pay taxes) following that dream. I had heard about this program & was encouraged to hear of the potential.

After her speech we were introduced along with the others at the first 3 tables. And then were dismissed. I am not sure what else was happening yesterday but know they were going to the local Girls Inc. for a tour that evening. They were to dress western for the evening & drinks would be served with a snack buffet I'm sure. Afterward the board members would be transporting, via the Girls Inc. vans, everyone back to the hotel. They did let the participants know the 3 local restaurants where music would be playing. The vans would also transport to those restaurants & back to the hotels. That was an alternative to going back & being stuck in the hotel.

We said our good-byes & came back to camp. I went back to the office & could not get the printer to print. John came up & worked on it until our staff lunch & meeting. When that was over, we went back to the office. I to finish my Friday ending of the week & John to try to get the printer working. We could not. It is hooked up wirelessly. The only way we could get it to work was to plug it directly into the computer. So right now it is behind me. We hope to get a man from church to come look at it. He did this sort of thing at Eastman.

We have Tuesday & Wednesday off this coming week. We hope to go to Pigeon Forge on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to that. I want to look in the Christmas store. I think that is my favorite part of going to Pigeon Forge...well other than getting away for a day. I also like looking at the antique stores. It's been forever (or so it seems) since we've been there so it'll be interesting to see how the area has changed.