By Dean Groth, Tournament Director

     The annual 56er tournament is the major fundraiser of our club, and the success of our tournament lies with those individuals and families who volunteered their talents and time. From our field marshals, kitchen servers, T-shirt sales people, clean up crews, registration helpers, awards presenters, team managers and tournament helpers, set-up crews, and anyone else that pitched in to help, thank you for making everything work.

A special thanks first goes to the 56er Board and their involvement in making sure we stayed on task and were successful. A special thanks to Sean Kinsey, our board liaison, who was instrumental in getting logistical issues completed, and to MJ White, our 56er administrator, who sets the tone for all of us: "Well, just makes sure everything gets done and is done right."

Some of the individuals you may not have seen, but who were vital in making sure the tournament ran smoothly, include Malain and Paul Flahaven, my mentors for their guidance and assistance in preparation. Dave Steiner, who will be our tournament director next year, helped throughout every phase of getting the tournament started and finished. He'll continue to keep the 56er tournament one of the best-run anywhere.

The kick-off committee of Kay Kaderbek and Sue Ellen Dolan kept a tradition in place -- our Friday night club dinner. They had help from Bill Stewart, Cheri Madsen, Jim Lizter, Karen Rizza, and Bette Kinderman. Again, thanks Kay and Sue Ellen to your help.

Extraordinary thanks go to Brad Zaugg and Fran Zaugg for all their time and work on putting the tournament program together. This is a major task that these two individuals undertook and completed again this year. Brad and Fran are both true examples of the 56er character this organization has developed.

The registration committee was headed by Norm Arendt. He was spectacular, especially when we had several teams stuck in Badger football game traffic that needed to be rushed through the registration process. Norm helped at the tournament all weekend. A special thanks to Mae Knowles, Glenis Benson, Wendy Donkle, Dana Jacobs, Pat Sweeney, Jill Goeres, Erin Mackesey, Janet Pruitt, Ann Slater, and Rob Flanigan. They made sure that the first impression guest clubs got of the 56ers was a good one, and they guaranteed a well-organized process for all.

The weekend of the tournament is always busy in Madison, with a major triathlon and a Badger football game, so coordination of housing for our guests is critical. Darsi Foss and Kris Koval organized the website and coordinated the hotels to help accommodate all those teams that stayed in Madison. Thank you Dana and Kris for your help with our guest teams' lodging.

Our T-shirt committee was chaired again this year by Paul Kinite. Paul handled all pre-orders and sales at the tournament with the help of these individuals: Andrew Hitchcock, Karen Nakasone, Sarah Canon, Terri Bresenham, Jody Femrite, Barbara Blodi, Laura Lenzen, and Riccardo Bambi. A special thanks to Karen Weisbrod, who initiated the design.

The 56er tournament requires a lot of hard work and determination on the field -- and behind the scenes.

The concessions committee was chaired by Lucie Arendt, my lifesaver in the kitchen. Lucie's team coordinated all the food, including meals for the referees. Ann Moser, Ann Wilson, Beth Walsh, Brad Wolbert, Cara Bostad, Janet Pruett, Doug Peaslee, Joan Hanson, Annamaire Wingke, Augustin Ndahoyo, Deb Wendoff, Julie Rich, Karen Hodgkiss, Kate Young and Sandy Dennis all served on the committee. This group is special and we all thank you for your hard work.

Our official scorer, Mook Welch, led the scoring committee at the tournament. This was done electronically with the watchful eyes of Mook, Dana Jacobs, Jim Ledin, and Karen Prudent. My sincere thanks to all of you for helping behind-the-scenes and making our tournament move smoothly on Saturday and Sunday.

Our trophy committee again this year was led by Maria Palmer, with help from Rileuw Bernurdinello, and Tom Steidmann. The task of this committee was to award participants with a remembrance of the great experience they had at our tournament. Our U-18 boys team assisted in the presentation of awards, and Mr. Bill Reddan was the master of ceremonies and honored representative of the 56er club. Many praises came from our visiting teams on the awards ceremony, from U-10 to U-18.

Lastly, many thanks to John Reddan, our coaching director, who I relied on for direction and decisions at the tournament. He continually lead our club and tournament with integrity, and this is why the 56er organization is so outstanding.