I registered for this event online about 3 weeks prior. Our friend, Ben, whose son is James' classmate at St. Joe and also a Bell freshman, chaired this BBQ. He gave me the lowdown of what to expect, including what the menu was.
I had planned on getting to Bell early to avoid the crowd. With about 400 freshmen and their dads, I was expecting a 75% attendance. That's about 600 people. Yesterday morning, I got a call from Chris because he and his son needed a ride to the BBQ. The event was at 11am, and registration was to start at 10:30am. I wanted to get their before then, so I told Chris I would pass by before 10.
We got to Bell at around 10:25. We proceeded to the registration tent and was probably the first to arrive. As a matter of fact, they were still arranging the name tags when we got there. Both son and father received name tags. The "they" were mostly the board members of the Dad's Club, along with some volunteer dads.
We then proceeded to the next tent where our sons got their complimentary t-shirts. It was also at this tent that we were introduced to the Dad's Club, and that, if we were interested in becoming board members, we should apply online. We were given a card which displayed a link to the website for the application form.
The next tent talked about the Booster Club, which is one of the major fund-raising projects of the Dad's Club. The Booster Club is basically a family pass to all the home games of all the sports teams. If you love to watch football or basketball games, this pass is worth it. The club also solicits advertisement to their sports program (brochure) for the school year.
Our next stop was the Bell Store. This is where you get the Bell apparel and accessories you want. Everyone that I spoke with, who had kids at Bell, told me that their sons wear mostly Bell apparel to school. And this goes for practically all the students. So if we were planning on getting our son new clothes for school, we shouldn't look anywhere else, but this store.
I got James a couple sweat shirts and t-shirts, while I got myself a sweat shirt as well. I also bought a couple of car license plate holders for both cars, and a sweater for the wife. We'll probably go back one of these days for more stuff because James wants a pair of sweat pants, too, and maybe a couple more shirts.
Right after shopping, the boys were herded off with some other freshmen. And along with their Big Brothers (a few juniors and/or seniors), they toured the campus and answered any question they may have about the school. Meanwhile, us dads mingled around with the rest.
At around noon, we were all called to proceed to the quad and find a seat among the many picnic tables scattered around. The weather was excellent for an outdoor event, but the sun was just too hot. We were fortunate to sit under a shade. In our table were most of the St. Joe kids and their dads, plus a few Big Brothers.
Lunch was "BBQ" chicken, with sides of potato salad, beans, and a bag of chips, plus a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. Well, it wasn't really a BBQ, and the chicken wasn't cooked on the grill. It looked like it was seared, then baked and probably basted with BBQ sauce, to get that BBQ flavor. If you're serving close to 600 people, then that's the smart way of doing it. Imagine if they actually grilled the chicken, we would have been there all day.
There were speeches before and immediately after lunch, that included the school president, principal, incoming president of the Dad's Club, and a current freshman, among others. As I listened to the speeches, what was evident to me was each speaker's passion and love for the school. You can see it in their faces and hear it from their voices how much they cherished their experience as students, graduates, and volunteers, and even administrators of this all-boys college prep. It reminded me of my days at the Ateneo, and how proud we were then, and now. It's probably the Jesuit way.
Just as the speeches were underway after lunch, I snicked out and went to the Bell Store to get a few more items before the mad rush. As soon as I was done, everyone started coming in. Perfect timing. While everyone else was trying to get into that small store, my son and I were headed to the parking lot for our trip back home.
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