A Call to Action: Boo Blast Volunteers Needed

Calling all Strike Team members:

Here is the call for volunteers for Boo Blast. Boo Blast is the annual Halloween Carnival/PTA Fundraiser open to the whole city - not just El Morro. Basically the needs are in two areas - Setup and Tear Down.

Setup begins around 8:30 am on Friday (thats right, this Friday!) and we could use a lot of help. Here are some of the Setup tasks:

• Work with the Electrician stringing lights on the booths*
• Place tables and chairs in booths
• Hanging sponsor banners
• Put games in booths
• Make a graveyard
• GENERAL MAN POWER

*The electrician won't be coming until 10:00 but we have plenty of things to do until then.

We people who can commit to 2-4 hours in the morning. The plan is to finish by noon. After all, many hands make light work! You will not need to bring anything.

The Tear Down responsibilities are minimal as the rides are taken down by the vendors and much of the cleanup is done by the janitorial crew. Tear Down, I believe, will begin around 7:00 or 8:00 pm and does not last too long.

This is the big fundraiser for the PTA so lets get out there and show them that the El Morro Dads Strike Team is serious about their support! There is a benefit to volunteering early this year...preferred parking! That is right, no bus!

Let me know ASAP.

Haunted House Construction Team

In addition to putting on Family Fun Events, the true purpose of the Strike Team is to support our school by matching willing volunteer dads with needed volunteer opportunities.

When I put out the request for Strike Team members to help with the assembly of the Haunted House we had a great response - a lot of you stepped up. Well the job has been completed and the word from the front line is:

"They were awesome!"

Special thanks go to:

• Joe Becker
• Dave Shipp
• David LaMontagne
• Steve Keeling
• Ian Cairns

Well done guys. Thanks for stepping up and doing a great job.

Movie Night - A Huge Success!

Movie Night, by all accounts, was a huge success. We had around 55 families totaling 200 people! This was a much bigger turnout than we ever conceived. We started with Looney Toons cartoons, gave away 25 door prizes and then watched the feature presentation which was awesome thanks to El Morro's new video system.

Major kudos to the Movie Night team led by Joe Becker along with Danny Carey and Mark Miller - the event went very smoothly and came in under budget. A big thanks to others that contributed including Jose Vergara, Warren Hutcherson, Mark Major & Neal Detweiler - not to forget Shelley Detweiler and Debra Miller who pitched in as well.

"This is one of the best ideas ever..."
Cheri David, 1st Grade Teacher

We are tasked with putting on 3 "Family Fun Events." With the success of Movie Night, we may want to do more. Think about other events that you would like to see. One idea is to have an overnight camp-out at the school. With Boo Blast, Colonial Days, Winter Break & Ski Week, we will not, likely, have our next event until March or April. Our planning meeting will likely be in January, maybe December.

"The STRIKE TEAM concept is brilliant..."
Dr. Robert Fraisse, Superintendant LBUSD

This Strike Team concept is working better than anyone imagined. Operation: Drop Off has made a huge difference. When I asked for electricians, we had 4 volunteers. When I asked for help building the Haunted House we had 8 responses. I cannot tell you how many positive responses we are getting from the District, the School and the Parents. Keep up the good work!

The STRIKE TEAM ROCKS!!!
Julie Torbensen, Drop Off Mom

Boo Blast is in two weeks, October 26th. We will be looking for volunteers. I will issue specific requests on this shortly. Initially, the big need is for setup and tear down. Mark your schedule.

Lastly, we now offer Strike Team Gear - T-Shirts, Hats, Mugs, Boxer Shorts - a lot of stuff. All profits from each sale goes directly to the PTA. You can access the store from the blog.

Again, great job everybody!

Movie Night

All - Movie Night is upon us. This is our first Family Fun Event and we want as many Strike Team members as possible. Bring the whole family! Friday night, be there!

Arrive before 6:30 - we will need some help throughout the evening so jump in.

Operation: Drop Off - Mission Accomplished!

We did it! We have accomplished our goal to fully staff Operation: Drop Off! Thanks to all for stepping up. For those who could not take on this task, no worries, there will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to contribute this year. This was an ambitious initiative and we exceeded our goals.

When notified that we had met our staffing goals, Principal Duddy responded:

"Having the Dad's Strike team out there in the morning gives me peace of mind that I can attend to other more important business in the morning that directly affects teaching and student learning. You don't know how much I appreciate the Dads Strike Team! Thank You!"

This is our group, gentlemen, and it is up to us to make it something great. Many dads stepped up and answered the call for an electrician. Now we have staffed the drop off. We are doing great and I have to tell you, the school is blown away.

Way to go guys! See the team lineup here.

Operation: Drop Off - Update

Operation: Drop Off is a HUGE success. There is no backup of cars on PCH, the parents are happy and the school is thrilled. This is a great program - simple as can be - that is yielding great results. Thanks to Mark Buckland for coming up with the idea.

Since my email this morning, we have filled all of the spots on Monday and are starting to build a list of alternates. This leaves us wide open on Wednesday - see the Volunteer Schedule here.

So check your schedules and let's get Wednesday taken care of and be done with it! Let me know.