Tag Archives: University Relations at Eastern Washington University

Volcano Thursday Rundown

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Happy Independence Day Eve Eve! As you prepare to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, I hope you read the latest Don’t Blink entry from a blog that has been around for 6% of those years.

Outdoor Movie – We did something last night for the first time this summer: We went to an outdoor movie. I took the kids to the Pavilion in Riverfront Park to watch “Captain America.” Doing these things is quickly becoming a tradition for my family. After years of skepticism and lukewarmness toward outdoor movies, I took Sloan and Beau to a whole bunch of them last year and even wrote this blog post about my new attitude toward them. We ushered in the outdoor movie season by drinking Zip’s milkshakes while we (more like “me” as all the kids wanted to do was run around 😂) watched the film.

Beau sits under the Riverfront Park Pavilion drinking his Zip’s milkshake while “Captain America” plays.

Volcano of Fries – In my Hoopfest post, I mentioned that since my bracket only had 10 teams in it, we had some time to enjoy the event away from our court. One thing we did was get food in Riverfront Park. On Sunday, our entire family was fed by what was called a “Volcano of Fries.” The idea was that in the middle of the “volcano” you could fill it with lava (ketchup, nacho cheese, etc.)…but we stuck with just plain potatoes. Lava or no lava, it was so good!

Sidney holds the plate of volcano fries at Hoopfest before we dug in.

Can’t Take Him Home – On a recent evening walk around the neighborhood, we encountered three cats at different points during our stroll. By the time we stopped to pet the third one, Beau had a question: Can we take this kitty home to be our pet? The photo below is Sidney actually explaining to Beau that the car actually belongs to someone else and it wouldn’t be right for us to keep him at our home. Ah, the innocence.

The exact moment when Sidney had to educate Beau on why we couldn’t just take the cat home as our own.

One of My Favorites – This photo was taken in a grocery store parking lot of all places but it is one of my favorites. Even though it was snapped in a sea of asphalt, the gorgeous sunset accented by my beautiful wife and kids never fails to make me smile. It was taken on this date (July 2) four years ago.

This photo was taken in the Yoke’s parking lot on Argonne and Montgomery in Spokane Valley on July 2, 2022.

EWU University Relations Student-Workers – One of the early things I was allowed to do when I arrived at EWU was to build our University Relations student intern program. I oversaw the hiring of three student-workers in 2025 and five student-workers in 2026. These EWU students bring a lot to our department via their talent but what I appreciate most is the energy they radiate on a daily basis. At the end of the spring quarter we had a small “thank you” gathering for our awesome and motivated young people.

A handful of our EWU University Relations student-workers. In addition to the five students I hired, we also had an Alumni Relations student-worker and a graduate assistant communications write (photo courtesy of Linn Parish).

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Thank you for taking the time to read! I am officially on the Fourth of July holiday weekend and I can’t wait for what is in store. I hope you get tomorrow off as well. God bless America. Don’t Blink.

Rosa’s Thursday Rundown

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I hope the beginning of my latest Thursday Rundown finds you well. If you are new to Don’t Blink, each Thursday I write briefly (debatable) about five random topics. If this format sounds acceptable to you, please continue reading for your enjoyment and pleasure…

First Communion TBT – The night before Sloan’s First Communion, I went through my old photo album and showed my daughter some photos from my own First Communion. I also showed her the program from my First Communion mass. Instead of telling me I look “funky” as she seems to do every single day, she reacted to the photos by saying verbatim, “You were low-key kinda cute.”

This was me moments before we got in the car to attend my First Communion mass.

Fruity Pebbles Candy – I am always on the lookout for new and interesting treats so when I saw Fruity Pebbles Candy at Dollar Tree this past weekend, I couldn’t resist. The verdict? They tasted exactly like Fruity Pebbles (seriously)! However, the taste of nostalgia and fruitiness quickly dissipated and I was done with them after eating the contents of a quarter of the box. My kids couldn’t even eat much more than me.

This candy definitely tasted like Fruity Pebbles.

Bowling Fun – Each quarter, our University Relations team takes a break from the office to spend some quality time together doing something fun off-site. This past Friday we found ourselves at Rosa’s for pizza and bowling. Even though I have gone on record stating that I am not a huge fan of bowling, I had a great time with my colleagues. Perhaps part of it was that I actually bowled well. I don’t know how I managed it, but I posted scores in the 130s and 140s as I won all three games we played (to be fair, just three other University Relations staffers bowled with me 😂). Even though not everyone bowled, everyone had a great time. I am lucky to work with such awesome people!

I really enjoy my University Relations team at Eastern Washington University. This was some of us last week at Rosa’s Pizza in Cheney.

Bringing Hacky Back – There was a major article in the New York Times this week (along with other publications) about the comeback of hacky sack. Gen Z has become obsessed with the hobby and all of a sudden stores across the country that used to sell two hacky sacks a month are selling 30 in a day. Many of these media reports site that hacky sack was a fad and “The Thing” to do in the 1990s. I find that funny because I was a die-hard “hacky sacker” in the early 2000s when I was in middle school…no wonder why I wasn’t a cool kid 😂. But yes, I LOVED hacky sack for a certain period in my life and to this day I still maintain some of the coordination needed to play it. I even wrote about my obsession with the hobby in a blog post from three years ago. I am thrilled to see hacky sack make a comeback with a new generation.

That’s me, wearing my Gap t-shirt and jean shorts, playing some hack sack probably 25 years ago.

Carry That Banner – As part of my role as EWU’s marketing director, I oversee sponsorships. For the second year in a row, we were the title sponsor for the Jr. Lilac Parade. Because of our designation as the top sponsor, Eastern Washington University led off the parade. With President McMahan riding in the car as the grand marshal and the cheer squad/Swoop energizing the crowd, someone needed to carry the banner. I gladly stepped up to help but it was a two-person job so I enlisted some assistance 😉. What a joy it was to bring Sloan with me so she could get a small taste of what her daddy does. At the same time, she got to go behind the scenes of a parade and chat more with her new BFF…President McMahan.

Sloan and I carry the EWU title sponsor banner at the 2026 Jr. Lilac Parade. (Photo credit: Amy Bradberry)

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That will wrap things up for tonight. However, I am not done for the week. I will publish a blog post about an embarrassing moment tomorrow morning…so stay tuned. Don’t Blink.