My Week that Was - March 4

The first plane of the day is de-iced. 2/25/23 dwm

The best and quickest deal I found for my flight to the ACF Faith & Fundraising Conference was a three-flight affair.  

Madison to Detroit, Detroit to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Myrtle Beach with an early afternoon arrival.

I'm not sure what happened but the middle flight was delayed so mid-way through the one hour flight to the Motor City I was searching the Delta app for an alternative route that could get me to Myrtle Beach before midnight.  

That meant flying to Atlanta through Columbus, Ohio and then on to Myrtle Beach.  Strangely, each flight was less than 90 minutes.  The Detroit to Ohio journey was just 30!

My brunch stop at DTW.

 Since I woke up an hour ahead of my 4:15 alarm clock, it was a tiring day.  We landed in Myrtle Beach just before 10 and I was in bed by 11.  Thankfully I was able to sleep-in a bit and recover from unusually long sleep deprivation.

  Sunday morning I went looking for the alternative fitness center because the one in the hotel is remodeling.  I missed an essential part of the directions and never found it but ended up running more than 4 miles so it felt like a good trade-off.  I ran into a walker a second time and he did know what I was looking for, so I made it to the center on Monday.

My first two days at the conference went well.  It was in the 50s and overcast Sunday, then a little more sun and 60s on Monday.  After the sessions wrapped up Monday evening, I wanted to try a Bojangle's restaurant, a southern chain featuring fried chicken.  When we got there, however, it was being cleaned and only open for drive-thru, so instead I enjoyed a trip to the nearby McAllister's.

Local highlights at McAllister's. 2/27/23 dwm

McAllister's were in Indianapolis when we lived there and I have good memories of eating there.  I enjoyed a horseradish topped roast beef and cheddar sandwich with a small baked potato accompanied by their sweet tea.  It was delicious.  A hotel shuttle took me to the restaurant, then I walked back to the hotel.

Judging a conference half-way through is premature but this edition of Faith & Fundraising has been quite good.  We had two interesting keynote speeches after lunch Monday.  One, if you can believe this, was an extremely funny planned giving expert.  He was followed by a local man, Ron Daise, who shared the story of the Gullah Geechee people.  

It was explained by our speaker that the Gullah Geechee were brought as slaves to the United States from rice-growing areas in West Africa.  The website indicates enslavement on isolated islands and coastal plantations led to groups of the people settling along the east coast of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.  The Gullah Geechee have their own language and culture.  Daise spoke and sang interactive songs that got everyone in the audience involved.  It was a fun, interesting, and important. 

 

Tuesday's sunrise over the Atlantic at Myrtle Beach. 2/28/23

 Tuesday was the first day with clear skies, so I rushed back to the hotel from my workout to grab the camera and head for the beach.

 There was a big crowd waiting for the sun.  It seemed most of us hailed from the upper Midwest and wanted to enjoy the warmest day we've experienced so far this year.

 The warm sun lightened the mood of every one at the conference.  The closing sessions were good, covering how to work with a board of directors and a better way to plan for major donor visits.

The Beach from above.

Wednesday I flew home, on just two aircraft this time, flying northwest from Myrtle Beach to Detroit, then after a a brief layover, west to Madison.  The plane out of South Carolina was the same type as the one that we flew in to the area known as the Grand Strand. 

All six flights were mostly turbulence-free and with the exception of the cancelled flight and a delayed flight on the trip down, it was a good experience in the friendly skies provided by Delta Airlines.

Back on the ground in Madison, Wednesday afternoon, I was surprised with sunshine and 50 degrees.

Thursday I was back at work and it was busy.  While I kept up with emails while away, the calendar was packed.

The Yahara River and Lake Mendota

 An open house was held for Oakwood's new Hebron Oaks Skilled Care and Rehabilitation Center.  It was packed with residents and community members interested to see what it had to offer.  

 

 The original building served Oakwood and the people cared for inside for more than fifty years.  The new building is state-of-the-art with natural light and touches to make it as home-like as possible and comfortable for residents and their families.  The transition to the new building begins in two weeks.

 Friday was equally busy, maybe more than the day before.  It was the day we distributed the pins to Oak Tree Circle members along with candy as tokens of appreciation.  There were also two mailings to deliver, one is the winter issue of our donor newsletter and the second an invitation to an upcoming donor appreciation party.

 There were two things I finished this week... books!  

 

Over the course of four flights and sitting in airline terminals, I finished To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies.  My take and review of each will be in this space in the weeks to come.

I hope you finished the projects on your calendar and are ready for the first full week in March - make it a great one!

All photos by david mossner.