Sun, Feb 5 2017 - Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl Game + Pre-game AOC Q&A Session! Drop by for any or all of this festive combo event. (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Charlie Cottingham, Stacey Johnson Participants: Charlie Cottingham, Stacey Johnson, Tom Jarosz (Yah-rosz), Eric M, Gayle M., Kathryn B, Jennifer C, Dawn Dyer, Susan W, JxH, Bill, AliciaT, Ann Blair, Trena, Dairlyn, Adrienne, Ginny, Armin, Melissa M, Gary Babiarz, Mark, Kathie Snyder, Monika, Dennis, Kathleen Flynn

What a rowdy good time we Rise-Up-yelling Falcons fans were having at "The Grove" yesterday evening!  Matt Ryan and our dirty birds were comfortably ahead by more than 3 touchdowns in the middle of the 3rd quarter. (See Stacey's colorful photo below of our jubilant smiles!) ...Then came the stunning and heartbreaking final 20 minutes of play: The Falcons' 28-to-3 lead vaporized as "Brady's Bunch" clawed their way back to tie the game with seconds to go in the 4th - then won it 34-28 in the first-ever Super Bowl overtime.  The Pats had staged the most miraculous comeback in NFL playoff history to snag their 5th Vince Lombardi trophy - and for Brady more Super Bowl wins than any other NFL quarterback.  A congratulatory High Five to our New England-born friend and AOC events director, Bill Pike, who was our sole brave AOC member attendee wearing a Pats cap yesterday! 

Special thanks to the ~15 in our group who arrived early and participated in our lively pre-game roundtable discussion of our "personal wish lists" regarding AOC hikes & other outings, socials, volunteer projects, indoor classes,  etc.  Among the excellent views and ideas expressed were these:

- We urge everyone to take advantage of the more numerous opportunities the Club is providing this year for Volunteerism, Outreach and Learning. Our AOC Trip Leaders should continue to emphasize fun & friendliness, and welcome newcomers in all of our events. (Thanks to Trena our President for emphasizing the above.)
- In our planning of hikes and other outings the Club should strive to continually reassess whether we're offering an appropriate mix of venues, route difficulty and leader pace.  Some members would like to see a higher proportion of slower-speed and lower mileage "D1-D3" events than we're currently offering.  They feel that some of our events would be safer and more enjoyable if more patience were shown along the way for regrouping, rehydrating, taking photos, etc. - esp. for the sake of our less experienced or more aerobically challenged participants.
- Atlantans who live on the West, South and East sides of town wish we'd offer more events in their neighborhoods and general direction.  We seem to be a bit "top-heavy" lately with north metro Atlanta events such as hikes in the Chattahoochee Nat'l Rec Area units.
- Our Vice President Eric Pierce regrettably had a conflict that kept him from attending the gathering, but suggested that we discuss the following question:  "Would it be in the Club's best interest to consider a partial revision of our traditional policy that all participants in our events must be members who are 21 and older?"

-The above was posted by Charlie on Mon AM Feb 6th.  I'll appreciate any addendums or corrections for the above "wish list summary" from other session attendees - also more shared photos, please!