BAD BLOGGER

I've been a bad blogger this week. I always try to check in at least three times a week. But this week has been crazy. I spent time in Lawrence on Monday. I wrote about the experience on Tuesday. Then came the Blue Jeans Ball Tuesday Night. I was hoping to write about that yesterday...but had to wait for some pictures. I finally got them from my good friend Jayne Sandman at Capitol File. So my thanks to her and Abby Greenawalt who captured these images for the magazine.

Pictured to the right is Washington's version of Mother Teresa. Lynn Brantley has the biggest heart of anyone in this area. She's the CEO at the Capital Area Food Bank. Next to her of course is my co-anchor Andrea Roane. For a second year she helped me with the live auction.
Political strategist and pundit Donna Brazile pictured on the left, agreed to be one of our guest chefs. I think she did it to stop my barrage of beseeching emails asking for her to come out. She's a an incredible talent in the kitchen. She too has a very big heart!

Speaking of talent in the kitchen, what makes the Blue Jeans Ball so special is the chefs. So many of the finest in the city come out each year and create these incredible delicacies that you can sample. Is there another plus? Yes, this isn't a stuffy black tie affair, the clothing of choice is obviously blue jeans.

My good buddy Mike Dunn talked his friend, political satirist Mark Russell into performing at our reception before the event. He was witty and charming as always. The Second Amendments, a band made up of members of the House of Representatives performed for the second year in a row. They were great. Kathleen Matthews who used to compete against us when she was at WJLA was the honorary chair of the event. She's pictured on the left with our Board Chairman Greg TenEyck. Bill Marriott was there too to accept the Apple of the Eye award. All in all it was a great night.

I care passionately about the Capital Area Food Bank, and the Blue Jeans Ball is my baby. I'm the event chair. You are probably wondering, how does one become an event chair? Well there's an old saying, "Be there or be Chair." I fell into the other category, "Shut your trap, or you'll be the one they tap!"

I opened my big mouth after one of the affairs! I had suggestions on how to improve the Ball. All of a sudden a good friend on the Board nominated me as the Chair, and before you could count to three...the vote was in and I wasn't just sitting in a chair, I was the chair.

I've always been a worker bee. So being the chair meant sort of being the boss. This is my second year as chair. So what's the key to being a good chair? I have some thoughts on that. Of course I'm not saying that I am one. I think the answer is to find the best people to sit on your committee. I started focusing on people that I think could help. People I have enormous respect for. I was surprised when I approached them, because almost all of them said they would be willing to help.

With a solid committee and a great staff at the Food Bank you can't go wrong. So my thanks to all the committee members, you are the greatest! Special thanks to the staff at the Food Bank, you are top notch! And very special thanks to Mark Russell, Donna Brazile, Kathleen Matthews, the Second Amendments, and the other guest chefs who helped us make this the best year ever!

Pretty soon we'll begin the work again on next year's event.