Photos - Section 108 and Wild game

This week's Section 108 gift event and the program sales and Wild game attendance were a very big deal for my son Tim. (Ben opted out of this one.)

It would have been big even without the surprise seating in Suite 11, but that really took it over the top. A big thanks goes from us to Susie, our Special Hockey volunteers, and Section 108.

There was an official photographer at the event. I took some of my own photos as well. My photos are available in our Minnesota Special Hockey 2008-2009 album.

As in past years the album is password protected to discourage inappropriate use. The (obviously not top secret!) password is "mnhockey". All the photos can be downloaded or printed as desired, including downloading full sized images.

Stingers practice news: time change for 11/30

Our next Sunday practice has moved back 30 minutes. So instead of starting at 3:00 we'll start at 3:30pm.

We had a great practice tonight. We have a good set of veterans and new players too.

I hope new players will not feel intimidated; 3 years ago many Stingers were still learning to skate but now things start off at a much higher level. We'll have to be careful that newer players don't get discouraged.

For example, Ben Faughnan is showing greatly improved speed and skating this year!*

* Some players may like to get mentioned in the web site. Please email me at jfaughnan@spamcop.net with any comments you'd like passed on to your player and I'll do a shout-out.

Section 108 Gift Ceremony Time Change and Wild Program Sales Mon 11/24/08

We have some updates to the Section 108 Gift Ceremony and then Wild Game Program sales. For both events please have players wear team jerseys and others wear any Special Hockey gear that's available.

Gift Ceremony

Mike Hinton will present Minnesota Special Hockey with a check for $10,108 at the Eagle Street Grille on November 24th at 4:10 pm. This money is from the section 108 golf tournament this past summer.

Mike and the section 108 group have put a lot of work into this tournament, and all of the proceeds go to Minnesota Special Needs Hockey.

The photo and presentation time has been moved to 4:10 (it was 4:30). The Eagle Street Grille is right on the corner of 7th and Kellogg across from the Excel arena. There's no parking, you need to find a paid lot, so allow time for that.

Kurtis Foster of the Minnesota Wild will be there to take the picture with us, so please feel free to have the players bring something to be signed.

Program Sales

**next to people who have experience and who will handle the money box
See directions below.

MAIN CONCOURSE

Group #1
**Rick
Anna Bradsher and mom
Sam Kujawa
Brian Kujawa

Group #2
**Jane
Sam
Paul
Jim
Clair and Maggie Nelson

Group #3
**Toni
Andrew Altendorfer (player)
Tom Stevens (player)
Lillian Altendorfer-Morales
Bryan and dawn thorn

Group #4
**James family 4
John and Tim Faughnan

Group #5
**Allie Holden and sisters
Maddie Hovenec, Teri and Morgan

SKYWAY
Group #6
**Joe
Jack
Sherry, Remington, Sutton and Rodney

UPPER LEVEL
Group #7
**Susie
Nate Jockisch (Eagle Street)
Jodi Jockisch (Eagle Street)
Wesley and Paige

Directions

Thank you for volunteering to sell game programs on November 24 for our game against the Washington Capitals. Please arrive by 5pm and have 40 volunteers (26 players and at least 14 adults) ready to sell programs.

(We only have room for 40 program sellers - please do not bring additional staff.)

Please have all volunteers wear team jerseys or clothing that represents your organization. We will provide an event pass for each volunteer, which is good for standing room locations on the lower and upper levels only.

We will meet your group at the southeast entrance, Gate 1, near the ATM machine at 5pm. Gate 1 is located on Kellogg Boulevard, near the RiverCentre. Soon after we meet, we will go through a short training to cover the rules and guidelines. Most of this information is included in the attached document. Please read this and discuss the information with your group.

Programs are sold for a requested donation of $3. Groups will sell programs at least through the end of the first period, but sales can carry on longer. An agreed time to conclude sales will be made between the association and the Wild staff. The majority of sales occur from 15
minutes before the game begins through 10 minutes into the game.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, 651-602-5730.

Thanks again,

Joelle Nelson
Coordinator of Community Relations & Events
Minnesota Wild Hockey Club
317 Washington St.
St. Paul, MN 55102

Check presentation and then Wild Game Nov 24th

Coach Rick of the Stingers is asking for help with a gift ceremony and selling Wild programs:

Check presentation and then Wild Game

CHECK PRESENTATION

Mike Hinton would like present Minnesota Special Hockey with a check for $10,108 at Eagle Street Grille on November 24th at 4:30 pm. This money is from the section 108 golf tournament this past summer.

Mike and the section 108 group have put a lot of work into this tournament, and all of the proceeds go to Minnesota Special Needs Hockey.

It is extremely important that we the Stingers show our gratitude to Mike, and the 108 group at this presentation. Without this type of support we would not have a program. 4:30 on a school day is tough for some to make, but please try to be available to show our gratitude.

SELLING PROGRAMS

We also will be selling programs at the Wild game that night. If you are interested in helping please e-mail me as soon as possible for more information, and to sign up.

This not only helps financially, but helps with awareness of our program. One of our major sponsors (section 108) came from the visibility the program sales provided us. We need 40 bodies, and only have 25 as of today.

We only sell the programs during pre-game warm-ups, and half of the first period, the rest of the time you get to watch the game for FREE!!! Please RSVP ASAP.

If you have any questions about anything please call me.

MN Special Hockey schedules are available

Several teams have schedules up:

• The South Stingers: First practice is Nov 16.
• East Eagles
• North Polars

In addition to these official schedules there's an unofficial Google Calendar version. I've entered Stingers data to this calendar; if anyone would like to add Eagles or Polars data I can explain how to do it. I did the Stingers because my family uses Google Calendars so the data I enter here also shows up on our family calendar.

Stingers registration - a note from Cheryl

Cheryl sent out a note on Stingers registration:

MN Special Hockey - The South Stingers

Happy Saturday Stingers! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend so far!

Thanks to those of you who have already turned in your registration forms! For any of you who may have missed the “official” deadline for registering for this year’s hockey season which was yesterday, I wanted to assure you that we are still accepting registrations, so PLEASE continue to send them to me at the address listed below as we certainly don’t want any of you to miss out!

Cheryl Caffrey
c/o Stingers
209 Turners Crossroad N.
Golden Valley, MN 55422

If you are unable to send your forms and payment, please bring them with you to your first practice on 11/16. Coach Rick (or someone from the team) will be on hand to gather them from any of you who may be unable to send them in before then. (You can find the forms on our website, at www.mnspecialhockey.org/stingers)

Also this year, any volunteers who will be on the ice with our skaters will have to fill out the volunteer forms that can also be found on the Minnesota Special Hockey website. These can be sent to me or turned in at the first practice as well.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 763-545-5839 or send me an email at Cheryl.Caffrey@target.com.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Adaptive skiing opportunities

We're coming up on the hockey season of course. More on that soon.

With hockey though comes skiing too, and Anna's mother would like to remind everyone that there are some good opportunities in the metro area.

The four city ARLE collaborative offers skiing programs and the Hyland Stars has ...

A special program for skiers with developmental disabilities. Focus will be on skiing skill development and fun in a safe/controlled environment. Limited enrollment...

The Stars program runs Monday from 6-7:30 so it's best suited to those who live in the west metro.