|
Pro athletes, face painting and
free food highlight students' 'Extreme' party
WOMAN BITES
DOG: Junior Alison Schofield inflicts serious
damage to a hot dog at the pre-concert party. Schofield,
who helped set up the party, said, the Paunis' happiness
"is more important than my time." / Photo
by Rebekah Bradway
By Rebekah Bradway
October 19, 2006 | Families, teams and students gathered
together in support of the Pauni family to eat, play
games and get their faces painted at the pre-party Wednesday
evening on Utah State's HPER field.
From 5 to 7 p.m., directly before a benefit concert,
partygoers met players from the Salt Lake REAL soccer
team and Utah Blaze indoor football team, chowed down
on free hotdogs, chips and soda, and played several
blow-up activities.
All donations from the pre-party and concert go to
the Pauni family, who received the surprise of winning
a new house through ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition.
"It's great to have the opportunity to be a part of
something special like this," Real left midfielder Seth
Trembly said.
"We love to give back to the community," Real defender
Nelson Akwari said.
Trembly and Akwari, along with another Real player,
planned on throwing Real T-shirts to the crowd at the
concert to help show their support for the contributions
for the Pauni family.
The Utah Blaze also demonstrated support with their
booth, which had a blow-up football game next to it.
Guests tried to hit goals by throwing a football at
the huge target board.
"We like the college atmosphere, the young people
who are very interested in learning about Blaze football,"
Rashaan Emoneson, an employee at the Blaze ticket office,
said.
Emoneson said they came up to support the Paunis as
well as to get awareness about the Blaze in Cache Valley.
The Blaze's game was only one of the 4 inflatable
toys at the pre-party. The other three, donated for
use by A&B Productions, Inc., included an obstacle course,
a bouncy boxing ring and a bungee basketball competition.
"We knew [donating] was for a good cause. This was
the main thing," Tyler Brooks, owner of A&B Productions
Inc. said.
Face-painting was also an available activity to participate
in. The sorority Chi Omega had members ready to paint
blue and white A's onto anyone's face.
"It's to attract the kids to get of the community
involved for Extreme Home Makeover," Chi Omega's
Kenzie Swenson said.
Sarah Reale, a public relations student who helped
plan and set up the pre-party, said, "I feel like it
was really good. We had strong community support, and
it was a great chance for everyone to have a part in
helping out."
MS
MS |
