Athletics Nation

Tonight is a bittersweet night indeed. Sweet because there is baseball, instead of the originally scheduled off-day. Bitter because tonight's game is only necessary because the scheduled game on April 9th was canceled following the death of Nick Adenhart and two others in a car accident.

Jon Wilhite Recovery Fund -- Final Totals
Speaking of that car accident and the remarkable ongoing recovery of the lone survivor in the car, Jon Wilhite, I never had a chance to give the final, final numbers from AN's charity drive. That's because after I thought the drive was over, another donation came in and then Optimist Prime generously auctioned off an autographed baseball, donating the proceeds to the Jon Wilhite Recovery Fund and matching the $150.00 with his own donation.

As a result, we wound up raising a grand total of $2,722.00 from 72 of the most generous people I've ever, or never, met.

Community Service -- No Peace For The Wicked
So as a community, AN has now helped clean and restore a home in Oakland through Rebuilding Together Oakland, prepared a meal at The Newman Center in Berkeley, and raised money for the Jon Wilhite Recovery Fund. What's ahead...?

AN's Next Community Service Event
If you like to plan ahead and wish to participate in the next scheduled AN event, mark your calendar for Saturday, September 19th, when we will have a morning meet-up time and place for the annual Shoreline Clean Up. The great thing about this particular event is that it doesn't require a maximum or minimum number of people to confirm, so we don't need to do careful sign-ups or logistics -- we'll just hoist a banner so you can find us, meet up and go. The A's are home at 1:05pm that day, so maybe we'll clean in the morning and then take in the game after. Hope you can make it.

And After That?
Look for an Alameda County Community Food Bank event in January, when the Food Bank tends to need volunteers and too many people reply, "But I volunteered during the holidays -- people are still hungry?" Turns out they are, so look for a Saturday in January to be announced in the not-too-distant future. However, going to an A's game in the afternoon that day is unlikely.

Chez Nico II
By popular demand (and not just Poochini), I will host a second Chez Nico on Tuesday, September 29th, when the A's are in Seattle for a 7:05pm game. We'll roast a few dead animals around 6:00pm, watch the game, and call it a gropefest. I'll post something official soon, but if you can attend and want to plan on it, mark your calendar!

Remember, tonight's game is a 7:25pm start. 67MARQUEZ will see you then...