"Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn will hit the road this spring and summer to meet with alumni and fans on the annual Tiger Trek sponsored by the Auburn Alumni Association. "
The dinner was at the famed Davidson Center at the Space and Rocket Center. What a place!
Ok. So that wasn't much info. It's a fundraiser that accomplishes several things. First and foremost, it was an opportunity to meet the two recipients of the Huntsville-Madison County Auburn Club Scholarship Recipients and to hear them speak. So, first off, congrats go out to Anna Bozeman from Hazel Green High School and Kyle Miller from Grissom High School.
While this is my first year as a part of the Alumni Association as well as the Auburn Club, I wasn't aware of how close these scholarships were to going away. It was very touching to hear about how the Club, while faced with dire circumstances, was able to band together to ensure that future students of Auburn University would have an avenue to go to school.
I am very excited to both be a part of the Club who helps students, but also to have kids that may benefit from it.
Of course, the big reason that everyone came was to hear first year head coach, Gus Malzahn, give a meet and greet summed up with a nice talk after dinner.
I didn't get a chance to go to a lot of special dinners and stuff as a child. We especially didn't get to contribute to Auburn or take part in a lot of special Auburn events. So, I wanted to make it a priority to get my kids involved at an early age. I didn't go to my first Auburn game until I was 9. Aubree went to her first Auburn game when she was a few weeks old! So, I bought tickets for myself and my wife and the two older kids.
I had bought two autographable balls from Academy earlier that day. I already have several autographs from Coach Malzahn, but none as a head coach. My best friend Kevin doesn't have any, so I wanted to make sure I got him one was well. We came in and immediately saw Coach giving his interview for the news. After a few comments, he sat down to sign autographs. The line was long, but moved quickly.
In the meantime, a guest whom I HOPED would show up did indeed show up!
We also ran in to our cousins, Leah and Michael!
It didn't take long before I was able to get my autograph for my new office!
There was a silent auction with all kinds of awesome Auburn memorabilia! Alas, I was too poor to participate! HAHA!
Anyway, dinner was good and the atmosphere was incredible. We were able to meet some new people and I look forward to my first football season as an Alumni! Here is a picture I borrowed from Huntsville Madison County Auburn Club.
Here is what Coach had to say about last night from WHNT.
Coach is very personable and very funny. He is...you guessed it...a fast talked. NO! You didn't see that coming! He went over the entire 2-deep of his roster in about 10 minutes. Were any secrets given out on the starting QB? Nope. But we knew not to expect anything from that department. What was interesting was to hear about how the question of punt returner still hasn't been solved. If you didn't know, Auburn has been near last or dead last on punt returning the last few years. It's been booty clenching to watch.
The atmosphere was terrific. The sun set in an Auburn sky that shown through the windows of the Davidson Center as coach talked up his expectations for a New Day at Auburn. The decorations were gorgeous. The speaches from the scholarship winners were touching. Coach was engaging and funny.
If you are an Auburn fan, put this on your chalender for next year. It's affordable at $50 a person for adults and $15 for kids. While you are at it, make sure you join the Auburn Alumni Association. That normally automatically signs you up for your local club!
Zach,
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a great experience at Tiger Trek. Hope to see you around more AU club events. A lot to love about Auburn. War Eagle! Cliff Mann -Club Pres.