After months of hype, the day finally arrived for STB's first organized social event. Walking into the Ballroom at Holiday Inn - Downtown Lincoln, the room was lovely, the staff energetic and diligently preparing the buffet of pasta, salad, rolls, fruit and cookies. Beverages were ready and so was the dance floor... Behind the scenes, things were less tranquil. Tickets had been sold out for 2 days and skaters and their families were being turned away. This was in complete contradiction to the 10 tickets that were prepaid before I landed in Lincoln. I wasn't worried about selling out, I was worried about filling chairs. Who knew most people would wait until the day of the event to buy their tickets? [Mental note for next year.]

The evening was planned around our special guests: thirty-one 1members of Team USA, Joey Cheek, Derek Downing, Julie Glass and Thomas McNeal (Director of Marketing for ice).

Bob Justice kept the music flowing while Ross Creveling was the evenings' master of ceremonies. He, along with Linda Wood, kept the evening moving and everyone in stitches with their anecdotes and tidbits. Of course, it could have been the cash bar that was open the entire evening!

The donation of raffle prizes made the evening even more exciting. We gave away two pair of Rollerblade Lightning's, two $25 gift checks from The Olive Garden, five Rollerblade t-shirts, and an Apple iPod video which was won by Ashley McLeod (2005 World Team member) who donated it back to STB. (A raffle on Friday raised an additional $2000 for the World team, which was distributed to them that day.)

Cashing in on a suggestion from the Frenchtown Speed team, we encouraged Dance with your Favorite Skater - a $1 donation was suggested but I understand that someone donated $50 for a long dance with their favorite! This activity raised almost $200 in about an hour's time.

Julie Glass, Nistevo, LLC, surprised us all with a pledge of $1000 to Send the Best for members of Team USA who did not receive full funding.

2006 Send The Best

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