First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for a great season. We had a good turnout at the banquet last night, and I hope those that attended enjoyed our last bit fellowship before heading off for the school year.
We still have a number of swimmers who haven't picked up their ribbons for the year. Please come by the pool and pick them up at your earliest convenience.
If you haven't taken a moment to fill out our end of season survey, please do so. I will leave the survey open for responses until the end of the month. We greatly appreciate your input into making VTST a great team and community.
Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing everyone next season!
Now, as many folks requested last night, here is Coach Andersen's Jambalaya Recipe!
1 (3.5-4lb) fryer chicken (or chicken quarters)
1 lb. smoked Andouille Sausage, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb. Mahatma long grain rice
2 Tablespoons Kitchen Bouquet
1 medium bell pepper (color doesn't matter), diced
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
6 cups of water
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
red pepper to taste
Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning to taste
Boil Chicken with Creole seasoning in large pot using the 6 cups of water until chicken is tender. Keep covered so as to minimize water loss. Once chicken is tender, remove from the pot and let cool. Keep the chicken stock. Debone the chicken, discarding all fat, bone, and skin. Cut or tear the chicken into bite size pieces. Add chicken, sausage, onion, pepper, Kitchen Bouquet, to the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Add rice, mix in well, reduce heat to low, and cook covered for 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked. Equal parts of wild game or shrimp can be substituted for chicken and sausage. Enjoy!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Pictures from Conference
Good evening Torpedo Family!
I wanted to remind everyone to please fill out our survey on SurveyMonkey. This will help us know what to continue to do in the future, as well as address any issues you may have found with our program. It is ten questions and shouldn't take too long to complete. Please check the previous post for the link.
Also, just another reminder that Thursday, August 16, will be our end of the year banquet. Please plan to bring a dish to share.
Finally, the point of this post: Pictures from Conference! SportPix, out of Shelby, and run by Valdese native Cam Bumgarner, was on hand with several photographers for the championship meet. There are literally thousands of pictures that he and his crew took, and any picture you see on the website is available for purchase. The folks at SportPix do a great job, which is why they have done our team pictures for the last three years.
Check out the site and see if there are any pictures of your children you would to purchase!
www.sportpixaction.photoreflect.com
I wanted to remind everyone to please fill out our survey on SurveyMonkey. This will help us know what to continue to do in the future, as well as address any issues you may have found with our program. It is ten questions and shouldn't take too long to complete. Please check the previous post for the link.
Also, just another reminder that Thursday, August 16, will be our end of the year banquet. Please plan to bring a dish to share.
Finally, the point of this post: Pictures from Conference! SportPix, out of Shelby, and run by Valdese native Cam Bumgarner, was on hand with several photographers for the championship meet. There are literally thousands of pictures that he and his crew took, and any picture you see on the website is available for purchase. The folks at SportPix do a great job, which is why they have done our team pictures for the last three years.
Check out the site and see if there are any pictures of your children you would to purchase!
www.sportpixaction.photoreflect.com
Monday, August 6, 2012
End of the Season Banquet
Good afternoon Torpedo!
I am happy to announce that we will be celebrating our season with an end of season banquet on THURSDAY, AUGUST 16. The banquet will be from 5-7pm at Rotary Park (where we had our Conference Chow Down). It will be a pot-luck style dinner, so everyone bring something to share (Coach Andersen is planning on bringing his famous jambalaya!).
Any remaining ribbons, pictures, or T-Shirts from the year can be picked up at the banquet, and High Point and Coaches awards will be given out for the different age groups.
In the meantime, please be sure to check the previous post for the link to the end of season survey. We really would appreciate you taking the time to answer the 10 question survey so we can see how we did this summer.
See everyone soon!
I am happy to announce that we will be celebrating our season with an end of season banquet on THURSDAY, AUGUST 16. The banquet will be from 5-7pm at Rotary Park (where we had our Conference Chow Down). It will be a pot-luck style dinner, so everyone bring something to share (Coach Andersen is planning on bringing his famous jambalaya!).
Any remaining ribbons, pictures, or T-Shirts from the year can be picked up at the banquet, and High Point and Coaches awards will be given out for the different age groups.
In the meantime, please be sure to check the previous post for the link to the end of season survey. We really would appreciate you taking the time to answer the 10 question survey so we can see how we did this summer.
See everyone soon!
End of Season Survey! Please Take!
Good afternoon Torpedo Family!
One new thing we are trying this year is an end of the season survey. If possible, we would like for you to click on the link below and take a few minutes to give VTST coaches and the Recreation Department some feedback about your experiences this summer. The survey will be anonymous, and no one can access the personal information of anyone who responds.
We are offering this as a way for you to tell us how we did! After all, we want to make sure you are happy with the experience you paid to be a part of! We will then use this to figure out what we did well and what needs tweaking for next summer.
Thanks again for a great season, and we hope to see you all at the banquet!
Click here to take survey
One new thing we are trying this year is an end of the season survey. If possible, we would like for you to click on the link below and take a few minutes to give VTST coaches and the Recreation Department some feedback about your experiences this summer. The survey will be anonymous, and no one can access the personal information of anyone who responds.
We are offering this as a way for you to tell us how we did! After all, we want to make sure you are happy with the experience you paid to be a part of! We will then use this to figure out what we did well and what needs tweaking for next summer.
Thanks again for a great season, and we hope to see you all at the banquet!
Click here to take survey
Sunday, August 5, 2012
SECOND PLACE AT CONFERENCE!
Valdese 2nd with 371.5 points, McDowell 3rd with 369 points!
About 320 swimmers competed yesterday, and the meet ran smoothly under mostly cloudy skies. The McDowell Mariners volunteers kept the meet moving and running smoothly all day long, all the way through the award presentations at the end of the meet. The meet began on time at 9:15 and continued until the last relay was run at about 5:30pm, making for a long day for the swimmers, coaches, and volunteers. About halfway through the meet, coaches and parents from the six different teams broke up the day with the annual "Fools in the Pool" relays, where coaches and parents get a chance to hop in and cool off, as well as show off their best strokes and, in some cases, belly flops.
There were a lot of great races throughout the day, and VTST was well represented by the 53 swimmers who ended up competing. Those who competed swam great races on the way to second place. McDowell was in second place for most of the meet. After event 66 (of 82), VTST was behind by only 24 points, and the McDowell Mariners head coach turned to me and said, "I don't know if we can hold you guys off through the [freestyle] relays." It was then Coach Lauren and I really got excited because we knew after looking at the upcoming events that we were in a great position to pull off an upset for second place.
The kids got really pumped up, fought hard, and swam their hearts out in those relays. It paid off, as VTST took second place by 2.5 points after the conclusion of the last race. It was a much better finish than any VTST member expected going in to the meet, but in the end, everyone swam incredibly well making second place a reality.
In the events, 8and Under Emma E. took first in the 100 Individual Medley and 50 Freestyle, Paige B. took first in the 200 Individual Medley, Zachary K. took first in the 200 Individual Medley, 100 Freestyle, and 100 Breaststroke, Jenna Claire B. took first in the 25 Backstroke. Many of our swimmers finished second and third in multiple events. Many of the medley relays took second, but it was the finishes in the freestyle relays which helped bring home second place honors. The VTST 9-10 Girls Free Relay edged out Morganton for first by .02 seconds in one of the biggest wins of the day. The 15-18 Boys Free Relay was neck and neck for first until Valdese's Alec B. closed out Morganton's Josh B. on the last leg for a win by just under 2.5 seconds.
Many VTST swimmers earned individual high-point honors for the meet. For the 8 and Under girls, Emma E. took first place. In the 9 and 10 girls, Samantha R. earned second place and Grace L. earned third place. MacKenzie B. took third place for the 11-12 girls, and Paige B. took third place for the 13-14 girls. The older boys from VTST made a big impact, as newcomer Keegan R. tied for third place honors in the 13-14 boys events. In the 15-18 boys, Zachary K. took 2nd place after winning all of his individual events, and Alec B. took third place.
I was incredibly impressed by the way everyone swam yesterday. They fought for every finish, for every point. It was a great way to wrap up the season, and I couldn't be any prouder of the team. Every single swimmer contributed, and with the points being as close as they were, every single swimmer mattered.
Keep watching the blog over the next few days to get details on our end of the year banquet, where we will give out some awards, ribbons, medals, and gather one last time to celebrate a great season and a great team!
About 320 swimmers competed yesterday, and the meet ran smoothly under mostly cloudy skies. The McDowell Mariners volunteers kept the meet moving and running smoothly all day long, all the way through the award presentations at the end of the meet. The meet began on time at 9:15 and continued until the last relay was run at about 5:30pm, making for a long day for the swimmers, coaches, and volunteers. About halfway through the meet, coaches and parents from the six different teams broke up the day with the annual "Fools in the Pool" relays, where coaches and parents get a chance to hop in and cool off, as well as show off their best strokes and, in some cases, belly flops.
There were a lot of great races throughout the day, and VTST was well represented by the 53 swimmers who ended up competing. Those who competed swam great races on the way to second place. McDowell was in second place for most of the meet. After event 66 (of 82), VTST was behind by only 24 points, and the McDowell Mariners head coach turned to me and said, "I don't know if we can hold you guys off through the [freestyle] relays." It was then Coach Lauren and I really got excited because we knew after looking at the upcoming events that we were in a great position to pull off an upset for second place.
The kids got really pumped up, fought hard, and swam their hearts out in those relays. It paid off, as VTST took second place by 2.5 points after the conclusion of the last race. It was a much better finish than any VTST member expected going in to the meet, but in the end, everyone swam incredibly well making second place a reality.
In the events, 8and Under Emma E. took first in the 100 Individual Medley and 50 Freestyle, Paige B. took first in the 200 Individual Medley, Zachary K. took first in the 200 Individual Medley, 100 Freestyle, and 100 Breaststroke, Jenna Claire B. took first in the 25 Backstroke. Many of our swimmers finished second and third in multiple events. Many of the medley relays took second, but it was the finishes in the freestyle relays which helped bring home second place honors. The VTST 9-10 Girls Free Relay edged out Morganton for first by .02 seconds in one of the biggest wins of the day. The 15-18 Boys Free Relay was neck and neck for first until Valdese's Alec B. closed out Morganton's Josh B. on the last leg for a win by just under 2.5 seconds.
Many VTST swimmers earned individual high-point honors for the meet. For the 8 and Under girls, Emma E. took first place. In the 9 and 10 girls, Samantha R. earned second place and Grace L. earned third place. MacKenzie B. took third place for the 11-12 girls, and Paige B. took third place for the 13-14 girls. The older boys from VTST made a big impact, as newcomer Keegan R. tied for third place honors in the 13-14 boys events. In the 15-18 boys, Zachary K. took 2nd place after winning all of his individual events, and Alec B. took third place.
I was incredibly impressed by the way everyone swam yesterday. They fought for every finish, for every point. It was a great way to wrap up the season, and I couldn't be any prouder of the team. Every single swimmer contributed, and with the points being as close as they were, every single swimmer mattered.
Keep watching the blog over the next few days to get details on our end of the year banquet, where we will give out some awards, ribbons, medals, and gather one last time to celebrate a great season and a great team!
THANKS FOR ANOTHER FANTASTIC SEASON TORPEDO FAMILY!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Conference is At Hand!
Good afternoon,Torpedo!
Tonight we will meet at Rotary Park (above the Tennis Courts) at 5pm for our Conference Chow Down. Anyone who did not sign up to bring a dish, please feel free to do so. We are still a little low on salad, and we may need some more noodles. Anyone bringing sauce may do so in a crockpot, as there will be power available.
Tomorrow morning we will be warming up at 8am. Please get to the pool as early as possible and get set up. We don't want to be rushed going in to warm up. Please see the bulletin board at the pool for information on parking and tent setup.
We still need volunteers for several spots tomorrow. Please step up and sign up to volunteer. The majority of the jobs do not require a lot of skill, and what needs to be learned can be pretty quickly. In order for the meet to run smoothly, we will need these positions filled.
I look forward to seeing everyone this evening!
Tonight we will meet at Rotary Park (above the Tennis Courts) at 5pm for our Conference Chow Down. Anyone who did not sign up to bring a dish, please feel free to do so. We are still a little low on salad, and we may need some more noodles. Anyone bringing sauce may do so in a crockpot, as there will be power available.
Tomorrow morning we will be warming up at 8am. Please get to the pool as early as possible and get set up. We don't want to be rushed going in to warm up. Please see the bulletin board at the pool for information on parking and tent setup.
We still need volunteers for several spots tomorrow. Please step up and sign up to volunteer. The majority of the jobs do not require a lot of skill, and what needs to be learned can be pretty quickly. In order for the meet to run smoothly, we will need these positions filled.
I look forward to seeing everyone this evening!
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