an afternoon with chemistry!

Subtitle: SERMACS 2019, day 1, taking control of Morrell Park.

By noon10, I was at Morrell Park.
My brother Smitty had picked up me - and the fourteen tote bags - and safely transported me there.
He then insisted on staying with me until a few of the volunteers had arrived.
Thank you, my dear brother!
That helped steady my nerves to know you were looking out for your big sister.
(smile)

Speaking of volunteers, here they are receiving instruction at Table 3.
That's my designation for the demonstration on the etching of the copper strips.
My many thanks to the volunteers for showing up and being so enthusiastic!
My thanks also to Todd Hizer for bringing the six tables and to Will Lynch for arranging that.
Kudos to all!

Did I mention that I had designations for the six tables?
Well, I certainly did, and those were spelled out on my game plan.
While I was gathering my wits this morning at home -
that is, trying to not panic and play 'what if' -
a thought popped into my head to write out the details.
Amazing how much that calmed me down!
The very act of making the list of items to be at each table and items to be given away at each gave me confidence that
I had planned as much as anyone possibly could.
i thank You, God.

This is an action shot taken prior to the start of our National Chemistry Week event.
The woman in blue is Patti Galvan, the one from ACS who not only supplied all the materials for the demonstrations, but also carried out the training of the volunteers.
She is at Table 5, setting up the Yellow & Blue experiments.
You're priceless, Patti!
Randall Schmidt, the man in blue talking to one of our police officers, was the only volunteer who ever called me.
Thanks for reaching out, man!

Here's another action shot!
This was taken before the second photo, actually.
That's me at Table 3, grabbing the bag that belongs at the Table 4.
The young man in the blue shirt and khaki pants is Dan Graham, the first volunteer to arrive.
And when he came, he strode right up to me with a smile and an outstretched hand - magnificent!

This is such an excellent photo of the layout in action!
I'm at Table 4, making sure the items for the Yellow & Blue (ACS colors, y'all) are where they need to be and pulling out the trays.
Patti is at Table 2, preparing to demonstrate the Self-inflating Balloons demo and patter.
Table 6, the Exit Table, is in the background.

One last photo of the hexagonal pathway of the tables.
Table 1, with the three young women, has the empty goodie bags, the stickers and pencils, and the safety goggles for all participants.
Going counterclockwise, we see Table 3, Table 5 (for the UV-detecting wristbands), then Table 6 again.
Who's that blue-shirted woman bouncing around in the middle of the lawn?
Me, of course, constantly moving before game time!

And then it was 1:30 and truly time for our afternoon with chemistry to begin!
None of this would have been possible without the advice and assistance of these two!
David Horwitz was on that first conference call, the one on July 17th that lasted almost an hour!
He and Patti had answered my questions about insurance, advertising, demonstrations to use, and ideas for give-aways.

Since then, Patti and I have had several lengthy phone conversations, ironing out more details after the issue of "Celebrating Chemistry: Marvelous Metals" became official on August 1st.
I'm forever grateful that she came by my house on Friday morning to have a practice session... and to approve of my organization of the "tables" by tote bags. That last part truly bolstered my confidence!
My many thanks!
Now, on to the event in the next post!
Stay tuned!