Leap Day with MPC and St. Louligans

Yesterday morning (29 February) found me driving to the St. Louis Artists' Guild (https://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/) for the February meeting of Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) (https://www.facebook.com/MissouriProfessionalCommunicators/). Lawyer and community activist Denise Lieberman was the featured speaker. A long-time voting rights activist, she coordinates the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, a group of organizations, and is also director of the Power & Democracy Program for Advancement Project, a Washington, DC-based civil rights and racial justice organization.

Lieberman spoke on how the media can help or hinder voter equality, and on voter suppression efforts in recent years. She also talked about how she and other attorneys are working at for protect voting rights at this year's primary and general elections. It was quite a fascinating program, highly relative with the Missouri presidential preference primary coming up next week, the main primary election in August, and the general election in November.

After coming home to change clothes and eat lunch, I went early that afternoon to World Wide Technology Soccer Park for Saint Louis FC's (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) final 2020 preseason match. They were hosting Forward Madison FC (https://www.forwardmadisonfc.com/) of USL League 1 (https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-league-one), which is one level below USL Championship (https://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-championship).

Before the match, I joined others from the St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/) in a joint tailgate with The Flock (https://fwdflock.com/), a supporter group backing Forward Madison. We chatted with each other, drank beer, and participated in a raffle whose proceeds went to the Disabled Athlete Sports Association (https://www.dasasports.org/).

We then walked into West Community Stadium for the match. Forward Madison took an early lead with a 6th minute goal. Saint Louis had a penalty kick just before halftime; however, Madison's goalkeeper stopped the shot. Saint Louis scored twice late in the match--a penalty kick in the 80th minute and another tally at the death--to run out 2-1 winners.

After the match, the St. Louligans and The Flock returned to the parking lot to drink and socialize a bit more before leaving. I got some cans of beer that The Flock brought down with them--beers I have yet to try.

Saint Louis FC opens the regular season at home this Saturday night (7 March) with a 7:00 pm match against The Miami FC. Before that, the St. Louligans will be at 2nd Shift Brewing (http://www.2ndshiftbrewing.com/?age-verified=f79a9b4611) in south St. Louis for a season kickoff event. Should be fun!

Later.

Marching with the St. Louligans at Soulard Mardi Gras 2020

Yesterday morning (22 February), I drove to downtown St. Louis, parked in the garage just west of Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village, and walked to the staging area just south of the stadium. There, the floats and marchers of the Bud Light Grand Parade of the Soulard Mardi Gras (https://stlmardigras.org/) were assembled. I was there to march in the parade with others from the St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/). We were also promoting Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) in the parade.

We gathered for just over two hours before the parade began at 11:00 am. Our group socialized, drank, and prepared our two carts that will hold the beads we would fling to the crowds gathered along the parade route.

We were early in the parade--unit 25 of approximately 100--and we began going down the path from south of Busch Stadium to just north of the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Soulard. Early on, I helped carry our banner at the front of our group. I switched off with someone later in the parade and went towards the back, and helped throw beads to the spectators. It was a lot of fun to do, helped by the pleasant weather for a February in St. Louis. It was the first time I ever attended a Mardi Gras celebration, much less marched in a Mardi Gras parade.

After the parade, I caught a ride on one of the cards up towards the staging area. I then walked around Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village before getting back to the car and driving out of the garage.

I stopped by a Popeyes (https://www.popeyes.com/) restaurant in Affton for lunch before returning home.

Later.

IPMS Gateway Meeting: Contest and a Demo

Last Tuesday night (18 February), I arrived after work at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) for this month's IPMS/Gateway (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home) meeting. I brought in the two models I had just finished the night before--a 1:72 scale F6F-5 Hellcat and a 1:76 scale T-34/85 tank--to enter in the Out of the Box Contest. This was the first contest for Modeler of the Year, and all entries were out of the box.

Both models were up against some stiff competition and neither placed in its respective categories. However, I did earn two points for each model--one for entering in the category, and the other for being in the Special Category this month--Out of the Box.

At the meeting, it was announced that IPMS/Gateway will move their meetings from Calvary to Affton Elks Lodge 2635 (https://www.elks.org/lodges/home.cfm?LodgeNumber=2635), starting this April. This move was made necessary by Calvary's announcement last month that they will close this July, due to a declining congregation. I was told that this Elks lodge is a great fit for us--location, size, facilities, and cost.

Also at this meeting, yours truly gave a demo on painting and weathering aircraft landing gears. I used a 1:48 scale P-38J Lightning kit's landing gear parts to demonstrate how to paint then for authenticity. This included using chrome silver paint for the gear struts' oleos, using porter tack putty to mask off wheels while painting tires, and a paint wash for weathering landing gears and gear bays. I also asked the attendees for any thoughts on materials and techniques. This demo went off very well, considering I only firmed up the details the night before.

Later.

A Weekend of Soccer and a Wedding

I made my way to World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton last Saturday (8 February) for the first preseason match of Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/), against Memphis 901 FC. This match was for Season Ticket Members only, and played at West Community Stadium.

Before the match, I hung out in the parking lot with the St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/), who held a tailgate party. We then walked into the stadium for the match, which Saint Louis FC won 2-1.

After the match, the Season Ticket Members were invited to a Meet the Team event in the Soccer Park's conference room, where there were complementary refreshments. I took this in for about half an hour before having to leave to return home.

After getting home, I got dressed in a suit and got ready for the wedding of my friends Leah Dungan and Drake Maret. For the first time, I used Uber (https://www.uber.com/) to get a ride to the venue, Wild Carrot (https://www.wildcarrotstl.com/), in south St. Louis.

Waiting around for about 30 minutes, I found a place in the rear of the meeting hall for the wedding ceremony. My friends and Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) colleagues Justin and Hannah Bollinger were there. After Leah and Drake walked down the aisle for the first time as a married couple, we headed to the bar area. I got a beer after a considerable wait and waited until the meeting hall was reconfigured for the dinner. I made my way to the upstairs section, where I was assigned a table with the Bollingers and other guests. There was a buffet dinner and some nice conversation.

After the dinner, there was dancing with a DJ providing the music. I got on the dance floor to dance with some other guys, but no one-on-one dances with women.

After the reception ended, I chatted briefly with Leah and Drake before walking two blocks west to Sasha's on Shaw (https://www.sashaswinebar.com/) for the after party. I was rather tired at this time, so I didn't stay long before calling for a ride home from Uber.

The next day (9 February), I was back at the conference room of World Wide Technology Soccer Park. This time, it was for the St. Louligans Annual General Meeting, where the group discussed their plans for the coming Saint Louis FC season and sought volunteers for projects (such as with the tailgate dinners and painting tifos). There was free beer from the bar, courtesy of the club, and there was a photo booth that I and others went to for having our pictures taken.

We in the St. Louligans are looking forward to the new Saint Louis FC season. It should be fun.

Later.