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Cathy Parker
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Originally from Valdosta, GA, Cathy Parker, her husband Carl and their four children resided in Jacksonville, FL until recently moving to the Augusta, GA area. While in Jacksonville, she and her family were constantly involved in the community athletic programs, Carl coached and all 4 children actively participated in athletics. Her oldest son, Kyle, received an athletic scholarship from Clemson University where he plays both football and baseball.
Watching an ESPN special about a struggling football program in Barrow, Alaska, Cathy saw an opportunity for her family to "give back" in an area they had been so blessed. She founded Project Alaska Turf in February of 2007 to help raise money to replace Barrow's gravel football field with an artificial turf field.
Cathy saw her goal accomplished on August 17, 2007 when she watched the Barrow Whalers play their season opening game on their new blue and gold artificial turf field located beside the Arctic Ocean. Cathy received national media coverage for her efforts and has been featured on the NBC TODAY Show and ESPN's "Outside the Lines." Cathy has also been featured as the NBC Nightly News "Difference Maker of the Week" and ABC Nightline's "Person of the Week." She is in the process of writing an inspirational book about her accomplishments and has also signed a movie contract.
She is currently the Executive Director of Athletes to Champions, a non-profit organization which helps "at-risk" youth by giving them opportunities through athletics. The motto of Athletes to Champions is "Play It Forward" and this is exactly what Cathy enjoys doing.
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Professional Development Luncheon
Date: August 24, 2010
When: 12 pm- 1 pm
Where: Cafe' 209 by the river
Cost: $10 per person for a wonderful lunch
Questions: Email professionaldevelopment@ypaugusta.com
It is time for the next quarterly YPA Professional Development Lunch. This month's themes is "Television Interviewing Skills for the Young Professional" Guest presenters will be two of our own YPA members; Liz Hill (NBC26 morning news anchor) and Blayne Alexander (WRDW12 roaming reporter). Liz and Blayne will discuss what to wear (or more importantly what not to wear), when and how to look into the camera, how to promote yourself or business on camera. This lunch will be very interactive as we all get a chance to practice in front of a camera.
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YPA Charity Softball Recap
The YPA vs. Celebrities game is one that will be talked about for years to come. The game started off with the following bet:
YPA win-YPA event at Mayor Copenhaver's house YPA loss-YPA must take on the Soul City Sirens in an exhibition match.
Recap of a memorable night-
The game got started 30 minutes late due to the weather. Thank you to Zack Baker and the Augusta GreenJackets staff for preparing the field for this epic battle.
After 3 innings, the celebrities led 5-1. Down two in the Top of 7th (final inning) YPA put two on the board to force extra innings. YPA had an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the 8th but the celebrities came back with timely hitting to force another inning. The weather forced the battle to end in an 8-8 tie! It was a perfect ending on a night that saw everyone working together to make it a night to remember for a great cause.
Thank you to all the players, sponsors, and those that helped to make the event great!
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YPA Golf Tournament
9/13/2010
Jones Creek CC
5:30 pm Shotgun
$15/player
It's that time of year again. Time for YPA's annual 9 Hole Golf Tournament at Jones Creek. The shotgun begins at 5:30 pm. We will have prizes for outstanding play.
RSVP today.
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YPA Monthly Meeting
9/14/2010
Partridge Inn
5:30 Networking
6:15 Cathy Parker YPA is pleased to present Cathy Parker, founder of Project Alaska. Project Alaska Turf was inspired by an Emmy Award winning ESPN documentary by Wayne Drehs on a community in Barrow, Alaska. The program focused on a football program that was implemented in order to reverse high teen suicide rates, accelerated dropout rates and increased teen drug use. Project Alaska Turf, a 501c3 entity, began in February 2007 raising the money needed to provide this start up team with an artificial turf field to replace their gravel-covered field. With the help from many individuals and companies across the US, a beautiful blue and gold field was installed just in time for the Whalers opening game on August 17, 2007. In front of national media, the Whalers won their opening game and the hearts of people across the US. Check out their website to find out more. http://www.projectalaskaturf.com/index.html
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Note from General Perry Smith
I greatly enjoyed being with so many Young Professionals the evening of July 13th at the Pinnacle Club. You were a fine and attentive audience with good questions. I wanted to reemphasize a few points. 1. The Augusta Museum of History really needs help. I implore everyone to join the museum (membership is $30) and encourage your friends to do likewise. I check the new members every month-I hope to see the names of lots YPA members when next I check. 2. Those who might be interested in spending a splendid couple of days in the mountains of North Carolina in mid October, I recommend, once again, the Blue Ridge Leadership Conference. You can register on line at www.blueridgeleadership.com. The keynote speakers and workshop presenters are first rate and the costs are very reasonable. 3. My thanks to all who purchased copies of Medal of Honor by Peter Collier and my book, Rules and Tools for Leaders.
Perry M Smith
Secretary, Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation
3007 Cedar Hill Lane
Augusta, Ga. 30909 706 3999754
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Become more Active!
YPA is an organization that is made up and supported by its members. If you would like to become more involved, please send us an email at president@ypaugusta.com with your interests. |
Be Spotted!
Got photos from YPA events or with other YPs around town. Send your photos to secretary@ypaugusta.com and we will add them to our photo gallery.
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