Family Ice Cream Party

Last week, my St. Mary Knights of Columbus council (#4196) held a bingo event. Capitalizing on the Turkey Bingo phenomenon that draws huge crowds every November, my Brother Knights decided it would be smart to host a spring bingo opportunity, too. We put this thought into practice last year with Mardi Gras Bingo and then this year we staged Springo Bingo.

Our St. Mary Knights of Columbus Council (#4196) held a Springo Bingo event on April 21.

Making Springo Bingo unique from Turkey Bingo and Mardi Gras Bingo was the prize offering. Instead of turkeys and hams, my Brother Knights broke the mold by preparing themed prize packages. Carefully wrapped baskets filled with meats/wines, yard tools, candies, spa items, and much more were designated for specific games throughout the afternoon.

Fr. Jeff joined our table for some Bingo and snacks. (photo courtesy of Carl Lockwood).

At one point during the event, a “kids only” Bingo game was announced. Adults could play, but only children could win. The prize up for grabs? An ice cream sundae basket!

A look at the Springo Bingo event at St. Mary.

Sloan and Beau played this particular round hard but their cards just weren’t hot. Things were different for a nice lady at a neighboring table. She quickly made a Bingo and ran over to our table to hand off the card to Sloan. My daughter knew just what to do as she yelled the magic word. When we walked out of the St. Mary gym, we were hauling the ice cream sundae basket with us.

Sloan posing with her ice cream sundae basket.

That basket proved to be a great motivator. I told Sloan and Beau that if they each had a solid week of good behavior and kindness then we would have an ice cream party on Friday night. My ploy worked! I had two (mostly) perfect angels for five days straight.

The card that was placed inside the basket outlining its contents.

True to my promise, we busted out the ice cream sundae basket on Friday evening. We separated the contents of the package and Sid started to fill bowls with ice cream using the brand new scoop. While she did this, I oversaw an ice cream tic-tac-toe competition thanks to the board that was included in the basket.

Sloan and Beau play ice cream tic-tac-toe bingo.

We asked Sloan and Beau what they wanted on their vanilla ice cream and gave them what they requested. Both had a bowl of ice cream topped with gummy bears, caramel topping, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and cherries. It might seem a little excessive but it was a well-earned reward.

They waited a whole week for this!

After they were served, Sid and I made sundaes too. I had something similar to what the kids had but I held the gummy bears and cherries for lots of nuts. The four of us then had a really nice time eating our elaborate desserts and talking. It was one of those instances when I thought, It doesn’t really get much better than this. Hopefully simple memories like this will remain with the kids once they grow up and have their own children.

This was my ice cream sundae….yes, I did add sprinkles.

Kudos to my Brother Knights Keith Miner and Greg Hanson for putting on the Springo Bingo event. My family paid $20 for bingo cards, 50/50 raffle tickets, food, drinks, and two prize packages that each surpassed the $20 we paid. How is that for good, clean, affordable entertainment? And that doesn’t even take into account the priceless ice cream party my family got to enjoy together on Friday night.

How sweet it is! Don’t Blink.

Hoopfest 2023: More Than A T-Shirt

Going into Hoopfest 2023, I was just hoping for a win. When the dust settled on Sunday, I felt like our team scored many more victories than just quadrupling the on-court win total I was crossing my fingers for.

I felt like our team overachieved in a pretty competitive bracket. People in this photo include (from l-r) JJ Nazzaro, Amy Martin, Fr. Jeff Lewis, me, and Ryan Andrade.

How It Went Down On The Court

What an experience this past weekend was. The St. Mary Squad started off the tournament on Saturday morning with a tough 20-15 loss to the Rez Runnaz. We knew the team we played was pretty decent and didn’t let the small setback get us down. We would win our 12:30 p.m. game (20-14) and then return the next day ready for a big run.

A look at our finalized bracket. We came through the loser’s bracket to play in the championship game.

Our team notched two comfortable victories early Sunday morning and then held on for a victory at noon to successfully seal our loser’s bracket odyssey to the championship game. For the title we played our opening round opponent—the Rez Runnaz. After playing three games seemingly back-to-back-to-back we had little gas left in the tank for the team that was undefeated and had last played at 10 a.m. Although we fell short, we had secured second place and a coveted finalist t-shirt.

We brought home a t-shirt! Ryan, Amy, myself, and JJ sport our finalist t-shirts in front of the Hoopfest backdrop on Sunday afternoon (photo courtesy of Amy).

But just a little bit of context about all those victories: I didn’t have too much to do with them. My St. Mary Squad teammates and fellow Young Adult Catholic members were simply spectacular. Everything started with our lead scorer and athletic specimen JJ Nazzaro. Then we had our 2-point ace Ryan Andrade who would answer the 1-point baskets of our opponents with bombs from downtown. Last but definitely not least, we had our team’s heart and soul—Amy Martin. Because of Hoopfest co-ed rules, a member of the opposite sex must always be on the court so that meant Amy played every single minute of all six games we competed in. Not only did she have the guts to go the distance, but she was an incredible contributor on both sides of the ball and never stopped hustling.

Ryan’s flawless shooting form is captured as he drains a 2-point basket.

Me? I was the fourth man who would give JJ and Ryan breaks while trying to play some defense and pull down a rebound or two. It was an honor to share the court with my teammates.

Even though I contributed the least to our team, I am pretty sure my kids thought I was the MVP 😂

Playing For More Than Hoopfest Glory

But enough about our on-court exploits and team scouting report. Hoopfest 2023 was so special because our St. Mary team was playing for more than a t-shirt.

Our team came together because we wanted to give thanks to God, pay special devotion to our Blessed Mother, and promote the Catholic faith. Helping us with this mission was Fr. Jeff Lewis, our pastor at St. Mary in Spokane Valley. At coffee and donuts one Sunday as our team was starting to come together, Fr. Jeff said that St. Mary would sponsor us once our roster was finalized. However, our dedicated priest did so much more than just make sure that our registration and uniforms were paid for.

Fr. Jeff Lewis poses with our team after the first day of the tournament. What a blessing it was to have him as our team chaplain.

Fr. Jeff rode the shuttle downtown with us, cheered our team on from the sidelines, and hung out with us after the games. But most importantly, he was there as our dedicated team chaplain. He led us in prayer before/after each game, had the materials in his pocket to distribute the anointing of the sick if needed, and was on-hand to give blessings and answer questions to the numerous people who approached him. Regarding prayer, as Ryan said, it was such a peaceful way to begin and end competition while at the same time drawing other people in. In fact, before the tournament was over, we had everyone praying with us from an opponent to our kids to the court monitor.

Fr. Jeff Lewis rides the STA Hoop Loop shuttle with us after the Sunday games.

This mission to put God before Hoopfest glory motivated those associated with our team to make sacrifices. Fr. Jeff gave up his Sunday morning masses to accompany us. Ryan and JJ both left their close-knit Hoopfest teams to play for the St. Mary Squad. And Amy played through serious knee issues. What selfless commitments from some truly great people.

Amy, Sloan, Sid, and Fr. Jeff walk through Riverfront Park on Sunday. Fr. Jeff hung out with us throughout the tournament.

Team Bonding

Because we were all so invested in this opportunity, it came as no surprise that we had such a fulfilling experience that went beyond the streets of downtown Spokane. Prior to this weekend, we got together for a couple of practices. We also had a lively text thread that was full of planning, joking, and anticipating (sorry for all the countdown texts, guys).

Perhaps I was a little too excited to play in Hoopfest.

Between our first and second games on Saturday, Sidney provided us all refuge from the heat by taking us to the break room of her work which happens to be in the heart of the downtown area. The four of us, some of our families, Fr. Jeff, and Fr. David Gaines took time to just relax and chat. Some of this break was spent talking about faith matters and some of it was spent talking about other things. But it all equated to some really nice fellowship.

Thanks to my wife’s connections, we had access to an air conditioned “team room” where we could find relief from the baking hot streets of downtown Spokane. In this photo, Fr. David Gaines and Fr. Jeff Lewis join the four of us and some of our families for a nice break.

Later that night, Sidney and I hosted a cookout at our house. Once again, us players and our families came together for more fellowship on a beautiful evening. In fact, do you want to know how close this Hoopfest experience has brought us together? We were all comfortable enough to play the game Stir the Pot as a big group. Don’t know what that is? Look it up! 😂

We had a team cookout on Saturday night that was pretty dang relaxing.

Finally, the icing on the cake was that when the tournament was over, we gathered for mass that night. With Fr. Jeff’s permission, we wore our finalist t-shirts to the service and he even incorporated our team’s Hoopfest success into his homily.

Holding up the number “2” after earning second place in our bracket. What a great weekend it was.

Gratitude

Before I close out this post, just a few shout outs: First and foremost, thanks to our families. Whether they were supporting us at the games or watching children at home, I know the four of us really appreciated the opportunity to concentrate on our six games we played throughout the weekend. Thanks to our spectacular court monitor, Keith Miner, and his daughter/scorekeeper, Maddie, for taking such superb care of our bracket. These fellow St. Mary parishioners always kept everything under control and applied all the rules perfectly. And finally, thanks to St. Mary for the sponsorship of our team.

Special thanks to my wife for all she did to prepare/take care of our family during the Hoopfest weekend.

I am grateful for the special Hoopfest opportunity I had this year. Amy, JJ, and Ryan…thanks for making our team work and for putting up with my less than stellar basketball skills. Fr. Jeff…you went above and beyond for us, thank you. Now, with all that said, who is sore?!

Thanks be to God. Don’t Blink.