Steve Outridge, SAR Board Member
Downtown Tucson has never seen a party like this! Just over 1250 of our closest friends and neighbors came out and walked or ran at the SAR Meet Me at Maynard’s one year anniversary Rock & Stroll event. A fantastic time was had by all! Participants were treated to a free event that included the history and charm of downtown, 14 bands, a full cheerleader team on the Rattlesnake bridge, nuts, pedometers, chewy granola bars, amazing restaurant discounts, a huge Vendor Fair at Maynard’s Market, and much, much more.
So many people were responsible for pulling this event off we’re likely to leave some out. Believe me, we greatly appreciate all of you and know that we absolutely could not have done it without you! We’ll start with the Maynard’s Management Team, led by our fantastic and passionate leader, Jannie Cox, then there’s Dave Syverson, Penee White, Jocie Riley, Julie Kluge, Jenna Oertle and yours truly.
Randy Accetta, our fearless former SAR President, a founder of MMM, and a vital person behind the scenes in making the MMM engine run, was the emcee for the evening and did his usual masterful job. Then there’s a long list of volunteers who ensured a successful registration process: Doug Kluge (who also took care of setup for bands and many other logistics prior to and during the race), Mariska Kinsey Lecava, Gerard Gilette, Chuck Schuiteman, Lori Shoulders, Bob Howard, Don Branaman, Sharon Pasoce, Linda Heisley, Sandy White, Dan Hofstadter, Karen Meriodas, Sarah Vular, John Brown, Ron Lumm, Dave Hill, Margie Norem, and Brad White. We also had two students from the U of A, the aforementioned Jenna Oertle (who also made all of our fantastic signs for registration) and Anna McClain recruit a whole bunch of U of A volunteers who were integral to our success and the safety of all participants. Then there’s Cara Rene from DowntownTucson.org was a tremendous help in getting a huge number of things accomplished. We thank them all.
A special thanks to our title sponsor, TMC Healthcare, 92.9 The Mountain, Maynard’s Market and Kitchen, The Running Shop and Worldly Soles and all of our many sponsors, as well as all of the bands, the Mountain View High School cheerleaders and the many participating restaurants.
Many thanks also to our current SAR President, Mary Lasser, who presented some impressive plaques to the 3 founders of MMM, Jannie Cox, Dave Syverson and Randy Accetta, and to Lucas Tyler who handled the design and acquisition of the plaques.
This event has taken SAR’s long-standing mission of health and fitness, and celebrating downtown and our community to a whole new level and we couldn’t be happier!
If you haven’t been down to Maynard’s yet on Monday nights, you’re missing something great – and it’s only going to get better. Visit http://www.meetmeatmaynards.com for all of the details.
See you on Monday night!
