Membership Update - 2/16/09

We're off and running!There are so many exciting things happening, I don't know where to begin. On our collegiate sports side, our LSU spring sport teams are all enjoying success. Both the nationally ranked Tiger Baseball and Lady Tiger Softball teams are enjoying the comforts of new facilities with the No. 1 ranked Baseball team opening the new Alex Box Stadium this coming weekend. Both our Tiger and Lady Tiger Track teams are performing at NCAA Qualifying rates toward the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championship. Trent Johnson's Basketball team is on a 9 game winning streak in conference play and leads the SEC and this afternoon, our Lady Tiger Basketball team scored a solid win over #9 ranked Florida on national tv. So sports are racing forward.

On Thursday of last week, I received an email from Chuck Olano of Cypress (EE '61) who reported that he had received his LSU specialty license plates. His order was entered 9 days earlier and since TDoT has completed entering all 1295 orders submitted by the Houston and Dallas chapters by late Friday of last week, all purchasers should expect to hear from their local tax offices by the last Wed. of this month that their plates are in. Personalized plates are now being accepted and you can order on line using the link on our Dallas website, www.lsualumnidallas.com. While we have over 1350 orders so far, we still need to reach our goal of 1900 to obtain a refund of our $8000 deposit. So please keep spreading the word and ask others to join with you in helping us finalize this ground breaking achievement. 

This week will be one of the most concentrated weeks of the year as we have 4 events happening from Wed. through Sat of this week. Beginning Wed., the internationally renowned LSU A Capella Choir will be in the DFW area for 2 performances. Having been selected to perform on two separate occasions in the last 15 years at the American Choral Directors Association Convention, aka the "Rose Bowl" of invitations in the choral world. Of the 52 singers, the majority are students from Texas and alumni include members of our Dallas chapter.

The first performance will be held at Birdville HS, 9100 Mid-Cities Blvd in N Richland Hills (off Precinct Line Rd & Mid Cities Blvd) beginning at 7:00. They will be joined by the Varsity Mixed Choir of Haltom City, Richland and Birdville High Schools. The following night, Thursday, they will be at Custer Road United methodist Church, 6601 Custer Rd (south of Legacy Dr.) in Plano. With a 7:00 start, they will be joined by a Varsity Mixed Choir from the Dallas area. Both performances are open to the public and are a great way to enjoy more of the diversity of LSU's accomplishments in fine arts.

The DFW SEC Mixer will also be held on Thursday night of this week and for those who cannot make the trek to Plano, plan to join with us for our second monthly happy hour at Humperdinks at 2208 W Northwest Hwy in Restaurant Row off the intersection of Stemmons & Loop 12. Beginning at 6:30, you can meet other SEC alums who are enjoying the rise in SEC spirit between our chapters. Remember, each chapter will host monthly and ours comes up in April so let's show the other chapters our support for their mixers if we expect them to support ours.

On Saturday, the Second Annual Dallas Mardi Gras Parade will take place downtown and your LSU Alumni will have a bigger participation and float than in the inaugural event. Come plan to join with us that evening as we paas a good time! A mini update will follow later this week with a link to the parade route and times.

On Friday, we received word that LSU has again been recognized by US News & World Report. Last fall, they recognized us as one of the Tier One Universities in the Nation. This time, LSU has been recognized as one of the most popular universities in the nation! You can read the entire article on our Chapter Update Link on our website, www.lsualumnidallas.com.

Does anyone know what happens on April 18th? That's right. The 30th Annual Crawfish Boil. And for those of you who have inquired of tickets and tables, we've added a crawfish boil link on the home page of our website. Just follow the menu and if you have any questions, just drop us a note. More info will follow so mark your calenders. This will also be a good time to renew your membership as we have added 14 new members since the first of the year. Our family is growing and we're thankful for your support.

Have a great week. We'll see you at the many functions this week and geaux tigers!