With 2012 in full swing, here is a recap of a small portion of the athletic work that we have produced for Tech over the past year.

Donnie Bell, owner of Donnie Bell Design, LLC, was recently elected to serve on the Lincoln-Parish Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.   He will serve a three-year term in this capacity.  Have you ever wondered what the chamber does?  Here is a glimpse into its functionality.

The local chamber represents all of Lincoln Parish not only Ruston.  The members of the organization act as representatives for area businesses by adopting policies and resolutions in an effort to produce a strong local economy.  Additionally, the chamber distributes business, tourism, and relocation information daily through the mail.  Many times the chamber is someone’s initial contact with the community.  To keep citizens informed about local events, the organization maintains a calendar of local happenings.  Donnie said that he decided to serve on the chamber board “as a way to get more involved in the community.”

One interesting fact about the chamber is that it is funded by the programs that it plans like the Squire Creek Peach Festival and the Ruston Gun and Knife Show.  In short, the chamber gives to the community and the community gives back.

To celebrate the holiday season, we wanted to share our Christmas wish list with you.  To add a fun twist, we expressed our desires within the parameters that money would be no object and that we would include both a selfish gift and an unselfish gift.  Here is our 2011 Christmas wish list:

Selfish List

• Donnie – Backpack across Europe
• Courtney – Travel the country to see each NFL team play in their home stadium
• Neal – Visit all the Disney parks including Disneyland, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Paris.  He would conclude his trip with a long Disney cruise.
• Daniel – Build a water park inside his house complete with slides and a wave pool
• Jared – Drive a burnt orange Saleen S7
• Holly – Own a villa on St. John, Virgin Islands

Unselfish List

• Donnie would donate money to foster home organizations and be directly involved in helping children in foster homes find a loving permanent home.
• Courtney would donate his money and time to assist areas stricken with natural disasters like Joplin, Missouri.
• Neal would be inclined to donate his time and money to non-profit organizations.
• Daniel expressed that he would help people no matter the cost.  He would buy items for people in need and devote time to those who need assistance.  The fact that money would be no object would be his gift.
• Jared would fully fund an orphanage in Guatemala.
• Holly would provide unlimited food and clothing for children in Diriamba, Nicaragua.  I would build each citizen a brick home complete with indoor plumbing.

What would you do?

As we work on material to get ready for the Poinsettia Bowl, we want to congratulate Sonny Dykes and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on their WAC Championship and bowl bid.

The Bulldogs received numerous individual and team accolades this season including Sonny Dykes’ WAC Coach of the Year award, Adrien Cole’s WAC Defensive Player of the Year title, 7 All-WAC First Team honors, Ryan Allen’s Ray Guy Award given to the nation’s top punter, and of course, the aforementioned conference championship.

It is an exciting time to be the designers for Tech Athletics!  Go Bulldogs!