BRAAS Brothers,
Welcome to year 43 of the Baton Rouge Ancient Athletes Society (BRAAS).
It is quite surreal and humbling to serve as your 43rd President of this awesome club.
For year 43 we welcome 16 new members which brings our total to 385 members. For those incoming members (rookies) I’m anxious for you to jump in feet first and participate in as many sports and social events as you can. You will hear this phrase many times from those who know…YOU WILL ONLY GET OUT OF THIS CLUB WHAT YOU PUT INTO IT. Although not delineated in this letter there are a few important rules but, you will be informed of them along with lots more information during your rookie orientation on August 17th, 2023.
I have been fortunate enough to be in this club for 20+ years and have served as a board member for 15 of those years. I want to thank my brother Kurt Bueche (PP #20) who sponsored me way back when because I have honestly loved every minute of my time with him and with this wonderful organization. I will continue to work hard for this club to make him proud and to honor the legacy of those past presidents, just like my brother, that have made this club what it is today.
For those of you who have been around for a while, you already know what this club is truly about and we hope that you will continue to participate as much as possible. Please encourage the rookies, and their families, to get involved, to come and watch you play and to show up at the family nights that are near the end of each sports playoffs and/or season end.
Thank you to all of our Past Presidents and board members who have given their time and talent to make this club what it is today. I recommend that you find something that you are good at or are comfortable with and volunteer to help with as often as it is needed. Simply reach out to myself or any board member and let us know how you can help. Many hands make light work.
A couple of noticeable enhancements this year are the newly formed Social Events Committee, our new BRAAS E-commerce site (details to come) for ordering BRAAS gear of all sorts and the addition of an annual golf tournament to support our BRAAStrong charity. The golf tournament is on Monday, September 18th at Pelican Point and it is sure to be a premier annual event and we have high hopes for it to also make some substantial contributions to the BRAAStrong fund. Please use the link that is on each club email and enter a team and/or choose a sponsorship option TODAY.
I would also like to thank all of our members who are active duty and reserve military, Veterans and first responders of any kind. We thank you for your service and truly appreciate what you do for our country. We enjoy our freedom and our way of life because of you. God Bless you and your family.
This club is full of members who are former college and professional athletes, doctors, lawyers, dentists, judges, therapists, soon-to-be State Representatives, IT guru’s, insurance agents, first responders and business owners/company representatives of all types. These members provide many different types of value added services that you can benefit from. Please use the BRAAS club website to familiarize yourself with them and then reach out to them directly when you or someone you know needs help or even if you just have questions. Many of these members advertise on our website and we encourage you to utilize their services whenever possible. Yes, this is a social club first and a sports club secondly, however, we all can use a little help sometimes and what better option than connecting with one of your BRAAS Brothers to assist you. READ YOUR CLUB EMAILS AND DBAD!
A big thank you is in order for ALL of you who allow us to use your venues as well as your donations of food & beverages and supplies of all types to the many events each year. You are truly appreciated by this club and IT would not be the same club without you. So THANK YOU!
Finally, it is my opinion that this club is not really “run” by the current year’s president. Rather, the president works closely with your board of directors, sports commissioners, volunteers, vendors, event hosts, etc.. in order to make your club experience all that you expect it to be. Your current board members, commissioners and Social Event Committee members are here for you to express your ideas, recommendations or issues at any event where you see them or even via phone or email if presented in a positive way. Our volunteer service to this club is certainly not something we offer in exchange for notoriety or recognition. We do what we can to make it better each year and, to be honest, that task has become more difficult as each year passes due to the previous board’s efforts. It’s certainly a good problem to have yet we understand that the personality and needs of this club do change periodically and we will continue to put forth the effort necessary to make any changes we feel benefit the club.
This club is the best organization you will ever be a part of and, honestly, it’s not even close!
Sincerely,
Kerry Bueche
#43