March 24 2011
From Booster President Deb Bielek

Hi, Firebird Fans!

I know we ARE SO GRATEFUL TO OUR COACHES AND PLAYERS FOR PROVIDING US WITH A HIGH QUALITY BASEBALL EXPERIENCE! But, we also want to recognize all of you!!!!

FIREBIRD PARENTS ROCK! Many thanks to all of you for supporting all the little things that go on behind the scenes to make for an AWESOME BASEBALL EXPERIENCE!

TEAM DINNERS. Each week, Kelly Hein, Michelle Targun and Rhea Lenstrohm have been putting together a team dinner for our boys and coaches. Many of you have helped to identify local restaurant vendors to help support this effort and nearly every family has volunteered to provide drinks and dessert/fruit to compliment these dinners. Some of you have stayed to help set-up, serve and clean-up! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I know the boys are appreciating it greatly. I have attached the most recent volunteer schedule for team dinners for your convenience. If there are any changes to the schedule in the future, Michelle, Rhea and Kelly will notify you directly. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

SNACK BAR SUCCESS! In addition to the awesome support with the dinners, we have had outstanding support with volunteers at the snack bar! Some of you have worked it a few times. To date, we have made over $300 in profit and we still have lots of inventory and several more home games!!!! This money helps to support our End of Season Banquet. Thank you, again! We certainly couldn't do it without you. I have inserted the most up-to-date schedule of volunteers, as a reminder. We do have two dates, which remain available for volunteers. Please let me know, if you are available to help Tuesday, April 5 and/or Wednesday, April 13. THANK YOU ALL, AGAIN, FOR YOUR TREMENDOUS SUPPORT!

THE "BASEBALL DIAMONDS". Tom and Melissa Diamond are going on 7 years in the Chaparral Baseball Program and have continued to be in the forefront with volunteering their support as Diamondbackers. Melissa tirelessly volunteers for every behind the scenes job. This year, she's training a group of us on "how to be senior parents" :) The senior parents get to coordinate the banquet, the end-of-year festivities, the year book, the slide show, the team dinners, the snack bar, etc. THANK YOU MELISSA, because we really couldn't have done it without you! We decided our class will leave a "HOW TO BE A SENIOR PARENT" manual behind, as our legacy. Tom is our treasurer! Tom is keeping our books straight, encouraging our fund-raising efforts and ensuring we continue to provide support for various improvements to our facilities and program. THANK YOU, DIAMONDS!

TEAM PHOTOGRAPHER. By now you've probably seen the guy in the safari hat standing on a bucket, peering through the lense of his super cool sports camera....he's none other than our very own GIDEON ZEIDLER, FIREBIRD PHOTOGRAPHER! We are all so fortunate to enjoy the action shots captured on film to help us recall the great play or the cool moment during the game. Gideon, we are so fortunate to have you and it is awesome being able to have these pictures through the link! Thank you so much for your knack to create keepsakes! We are loving it.

THE FLASH! When we were looking for a volunteer to carry on the legacy of the Firebird Flash with Jim McDonald's departure, David Brossart meekly raised his hand. A few of us announced that we'd help him because we witnessed some hesitation. Then FLASH #1 came out and our jaws dropped. The guy is good and, man, does he take his job seriously!!! you will catch him all over the place during a game with his notepad and pencil in hand....very reporter-like! Seriously, David, you are doing a beautiful job and we are all forever grateful to be able to keep these recaps of the games as memories of something so special.

THE SCOREKEEPER AND ANNOUNCER. Thank you, Gary and Jenna, for keeping the books and keeping us informed! Jen is becoming a detailed score-keeping pro :) We also want to send a big shout-out to the SCOREKEEPER IN CENTER FIELD. We are having an electrical issue for which we've put in a work order, so the scoreboard is being run by the man on a ladder behind the centerfield fence. THANK YOU "Ladder-climbing Score Keeper Man"....we salute you!

SPIRITWEAR. Marni Hirshman has once again helped to organize our Spirit Wear for Firebird Baseball 2011! Thank you so much, Marni!

THE PARENTS. Each and everyone of you are contributing to another fabulous season....thank you. We've only just begun and it's already TONS OF FUN! See you at the field. GO BIRDS!!!!