My name is Susan Zellner and I am the head volleyball coach at Clinton High School.
Every year at the end of September or beginning of October we have a night we like to call Pink Night. This is a night dedicated to survivors, fighters, and those taken by breast cancer.
We invite three other teams to come to Don W. Lockard Gymnasium for a Celebration of Life and a night of good volleyball. This past Oct. 1, Alcoa, Halls, and Sevier County high schools came to our gym to celebrate with us at our 11th annual Pink Night.
We also had live music and this year we had several members of the Choral Department at Clinton High School sing the National Anthem.
We also had a beautiful dedication song from one of our senior volleyball players, KimMiyah Woodard, and her granny, Carol Woodard. We also had a moment of silence for those taken and then we announced the names of survivors and fighters, and then members of the CHS volleyball team presented them with a pink flower and a gift from us for their courage in taking control of their lives.
We had door prizes, silent auctions, great food, a bake sale, and t-shirts for sale — and some of the proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and some stay in the East Tennessee Region.
This year we collected around $1,200, We as a volleyball team would like to thank everyone for their help in making this night great. We want to thank all the parents and friends who helped out by working in several different areas, bringing in gifts for the silent auction and for door prizes.
We would also like to express our thanks for area businesses that donated different items for the silent auction this year: Pizza Express, Domino’s Pizza, Perkadeli, NAPA Auto, McDonald’s, Magpies, and Papa John’s in Alcoa.
We couldn’t do this every year without the help of the parents and the community. Later on this month, a representative from Susan G. Komen in Knoxville will come out and the volleyball team will have a picture taken handing them a check for the $1,200.
This will be published on their social media account as well as their newsletter, and will be put on the Anderson County school website.
Again we want to thank all those who helped out with our Pink Night. If you would like to donate or become a part of this Celebration of Life next year, please get in touch with me at szellner@acs.ac and I will be happy to talk with you.
Please support your area sports programs. These students work hard in the classroom and on the courts, fields, and pools in Clinton.
The warm-ups; the waiting; the main event; and then in a wedding reverse order tradition thingy — the reception, which is like the undercard of a fight. It’s not THE main event, but it’s close.
See, a wedding is like a boxing match, which is kinda the way it should be because aren’t marriages like boxing matches?
Or at least games of water polo?
The warm-ups are the jumbles and challenges of picking colors, making guest lists, making sure groomsmen show up for tuxedo fittings, sorting the caterer, trying to figure out who is actually going to be at the rehearsal dinner, and soothing hurt feelings because some people think they should have a bigger part in the couple’s special day (therefore ensuring they get attention, too).
