What A Weekend

First, we got dumped with at least 6" of snow!


While it looks pretty & all, I'm still ready for spring. It's supposed to reach the 70s by Thursday which will melt everything (then it will be ugly brown & gray again).

But the real highlight of the weekend was Aunt Marlene's induction to the KU Athletics Hall of Fame. I believe I wrote last year about how she had started the women's athletic program at KU in 1968. The official induction took place during a dinner Saturday night. Bryan & I (and Madison) were unable to attend the dinner, but Bryan's dad got it all of video.

We did, however, go to the women's basketball game later that evening, where Marlene was honored at halftime as well as her presentation of the Marlene Mawson Female Athlete of the Year Award. Here are some pictures from the half-time presentation:



Former coaches & athletes were invited to join her on the court. Aunt Marlene is being called the "Mother of KU Women's Athletics". So I guess that means that all these female athletes are her "children."

Marlene's picture was already hung on the wall, as well as a little blurb about her coaching the first women's basketball team in one of the display cases.





Here are some pictures (and a short video) of Madison enjoying the game. She had a GREAT time. She loved the music and all the action. She hardly took her eyes off the entire game. She clapped & cheered right along with everyone else. P.S. Don't you just love Maddie's pigtails?

On Sunday, the family watched the KU men trample on Mizzou. Too bad we couldn't get tickets to that game (there was a similar presentation during the game - but of course it wasn't shown on TV). After the game, we all went out for dinner, then back to Bryan's parents' house for cake & storytime. It was very elightening to hear Marlene talk about the early days of women's athletics at KU. She had a budget of $2000 for all 6 sports to cover uniforms, travel expenses, equipment, etc. Marlene told us that she had been invited to go into the locker room after the game and say a little something to the current team. When Marlene told them about her annual budget (for all sports), the coach mentioned how they spend that much on just one meal! They didn't have a team bus, so the team had to drive their own cars & pack a sack meal. When they went to the National Championship Invitational in North Carolina, they were able to "lease" a couple station wagons from a local car dealership. They put some air mattresses in the back and took turns sitting and sleeping.

Marlene talked about how she didn't start the program for fame or glory. She did it because she had a passion. She never imagined she would receive such honor & recognition, but she deserves it.