Hot Times with Saint Louis FC and the Festival of Nations

It was quite busy the latter part of this past week at the rental branch, including on Saturday morning (25 August). After work and grabbing a bit of lunch at Quik Trip (https://www.quiktrip.com/), I shopped for work shoes at Walmart (https://www.walmart.com/).

I came home to rest a bit, then headed to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) for that night's Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) match against Tulsa Roughnecks FC. The St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate that night featured a barbecue dinner from Sugarfire Smoke House (https://sugarfiresmokehouse.com/) and beer from Kirkwood Station Brewing Co. (http://www.kirkwoodstationbrewing.com/). Funds raised by donations went to the St. Louis Area Foodbank (http://stlfoodbank.org/).

About 30 minutes from kickoff, the St. Louligans marched into Toyota Stadium for the match. A 1-0 loss away to Fresno FC a week before had snapped Saint Louis FC's four-match win streak. This night, the home side started a new streak as Saint Louis FC ran out 3-2 winners. The hosts scored twice early in the first half before Tulsa pulled one back. Saint Louis put the game out of reach in the second half before Tulsa got one in the waning seconds. This win was Saint Louis FC's 10th of the season--a new club record. They currently stand in 7th place in the Western Conference of the United Soccer League (https://www.uslsoccer.com/)--one place about the last playoff spot--with nine matches to go.

This morning, I went to Tower Grove Park (https://www.towergrovepark.org/) in south St. Louis for the Festival of Nations (http://festivalofnationsstl.org/), an annual multicultural fair. This is presented by the International Institute of St. Louis (https://www.iistl.org/), an organization that welcomes immigrants to St. Louis. I stopped by the Viva Brasil STL (https://www.vivabrasilstl.org/) booth and stayed there for about an hour, chatting with volunteers and guests. Then, I got some lunch from a Filipino food booth.

I then checked in at the volunteer booth and--after receiving my volunteer t-shirt--went to the festival merchandise booth. I worked there for about 2 1/4 hours, helping sell festival t-shirts, mugs, water cups, and cookbooks. It was very hot today, with heat indices topping 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Things went well and I got a bottle of water after my shift. I walked the grounds a bit--including a return to the Viva Brasil STL booth--before walking back to my car and going home.

Later.