Blue Sombrero team members Melanie Mota, Erik Stadler, Adam Abney, and Kathryn Morrell attended the Atlanta Falcons vs New England Patriots pre-season game on August 19th, contributing to the fundraising efforts of the County Line Ruritan Club.
Over the years, with many fundraising events, the County Line Ruritan Club has flourished as a sponsor for the East Paulding Raiders Athletic Association. They have raised millions of dollars for charity, according to Coach Mark White - County Line Ruritan Club’s Treasurer and Director of Baseball for East Paulding.
They continue to add to that total with this year’s fundraising efforts, which involve selling discounted tickets to two Falcons games, the first being the game against the Patriots. County Line Ruritan has done several fundraising events with the Falcons, and Coach Mark might actually be THE biggest Falcon’s fan - he has held season tickets since 1974!
Erik brought his father, Sergio (not pictured), and Adam brought his brother, Brandon, to join in on the fun.
Kathryn also brought her brother, Edmund, and his girlfriend Julie.
Melanie brought her husband, Jose, inciting some rivalry due to her Bostonian background and his love of any team playing against the Patriots, especially the Falcons.
Although the Falcons game was a bust for Falcons fans, with Patriots winning 14-3 at half time, the County Line 7 and 8 year old East Paulding Raiders gave everyone something to get excited about during the break, becoming the highlight of the evening by far.
Coach Mark watched from the middle of the field as his teams got everyone in the stadium up out of their seats, cheering.
During one of the games, Micah Brown broke out of the pack and headed for the end zone, giving his mother, Kesha Brown - seen below sitting with County Line Ruritan’s Secretary Ashley Johnston - the chance to say what every mom loves to say: “That’s my son!”
As the Falcons and Patriots made their way back onto the field, Micah, his father Duane, and his friend Nicholas Johnston (a player with the 9 and 10 year old Raiders teams) sat down to watch the rest of the game.
Ruritan National, founded in 1928, has nearly 32,000 members throughout the United States who work to improve more than 1,200 local communities. They provide a charitable (501c-3) organizational framework where clubs can assist in disaster relief through Operation We Care and participate in scholarship programs.
The County Line Ruritan Club is a Non-Profit, Community Service Organization that believes in “Fellowship, Goodwill, and Community Service.” They use Blue Sombrero for registration and ticket purchases, and we are proud to be one of their partners! To see Coach Mark with his Blue Sombrero Account Manager, Frances Harvel, click here.
To see some footage of the game, watch the video below: