Our March Marathon Was a Huge Success and a Community Effort
It blew into town last Tuesday; it was a whirlwind created by 99 Chamber Member Heroes. One and a half days later, we had 160 NEW MEMBERS. Bodda Bing, Bodda BOOM! Membership Madness was a huge success, only three Chambers of Commerce in the State have reached that height of achievement. Marina Narvarte, Membership Director was stoking the enthusiasm and poking the egos of 8 “Event Chairs”, who drafted their frontline “Capitan’s” who in turn created their teams? The competition was intense between the eight Chairs of the event, as they were creatively “paired” to inspire and heighten the competitive spirit. Chairs selected colors that often matched their business or favorite color.
In the battle of the Badges, the Lodi Fire Department SMOKED their “across the street” competition. The Insurance sector was represented by two young charging bulls, the Schumacher Team trailed in the first two sessions behind the Push-up King, a Rader from State Farm. But in the end, Patrick’s Team came from behind to edge out Jon, the Push-up King.
The Purple Team, known as the Grape CRUSHERS, did exactly that to Batman and the Black Team. Lisa Craig may appear small in stature, but she plays big and for keeps! Batman, not known locally as Bruce Wayne, but as Randy Elliot, could not match the petite purple powerhouse. The Pink Team, a feisty all-female team are the “Runners.” What’s a runner you ask?
With 160 new members being created… that’s about one every 87 seconds or so. That’s a lot of checks to run-out and pick-up, plus teams had a deadline. Every team member had a cowbell, when a team member got a new member, they rang the bell… loud and proud! It is a fun, but crazy, frenetic, environment which causes panic when your competition is ringing bells at a clip the Salvation Army strives for the day before Christmas! Marika, the Runner Chair said to herself, “I want to have more fun.” She bought pink boas, pink hats, got a couple of bells for her girls and signed up eight new members!
But the real lollapalooza, a Grand Finally that went down to the wire. As predicted, a knock-down drag out Prize-fight pitting two big tough men, a winemaker named Bob and a construction worker named Nick. Their competitor… a sweet, soft-spoken, shy, and retiring mother of two named Suzanne. She plays some tennis with lady friends and loves to cook. The boys had about 18-20 men over the three sessions. Suzanne had two girlfriends, a vineyard manager, and her husband over the three sessions. Doesn’t sound fair, does it?
Luckily “Cheating” is allowed, by something called “Sandbagging.” Suzanne was sandbagging from the opening bell; her stealth team was not always in the room… THEN they were, with BIG sandbags of their own. Suzanne was pounding sandbags down like serving aces on the court. And the boys were behind, and fearful of the outcome. It was getting late on the last round, just a few minutes left and Nick, pulled a few sandbags of his own, just a few. Was it a fair contest? Yes, because it is NOT about the size of the dog in the fight… its’ the size of the FIGHT in the dog... even if she is in a tennis skirt. Great competitors, out of respect often create a bond, perhaps treasured after such a close or any great contest. They will both will be recognized in Lodi now as… Godfather and Godmother.
It’s a Chamber thing. And that means Lodi will be the Biggest Winner in the end. Thank You ALL.
