If James Naismith were alive today, he would be grilling Kielbasa

and cursing his brackets, just like the rest of us.

 

St. James Day Activities St. James Day 2010 will be celebrated Friday, March 19. In honor of the traditional roots of the tournament, we here at the website continue to denominate the brackets by the compass, rather than by the hosting city. It only makes sense. Would you rather win the "St. Louis Regional" or be crowned "Midwestern Regional Champion of the World?" And if we said "Salem Regional," would you know which part of the bracket we were talking about? Of course you wouldn't. And neither would James Naismith.   West Regional Festivities: Host, Paul Smith   I know, I know.  It is hard to believe, but St. James Day is almost here again.  And, this year, we celebrate our 10th consecutive year of celebrating St. James's gift to us all--the NCAA Tournament (well, except for 2006...but we don't like to talk about that--and, of course, we've all been celebrating for more than 10 years, but nobody knew to call it St. James Day until 2001).  For those who remain uninitiated to (or blissfully ignorant of) St. James Day, you can check out the official website at www.stjamesday.com.  (For those public employees included on this e-mail, you might want to wait to check out that website from home). Or, if you'd rather, just ask, and I'll tell you that St. James Day is the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament when we all take off work and watch basketball. (In Oregon, the Governor has been kind enough to declare St. James Day this year to be a state holiday--unfortunately it is also an unpaid furlough day...but I digress).   Anyway, this year's festivities are again in Salem (as their was near mutiny at the suggestion that we go to Derek's house in Roseburg...and we're all about marital harmony and increasing turnout here at St. James Day Central).  Here are the details:   Date:  Friday, March 19, 2010 Time:  First game tips at about 9:00 a.m.  Feel free to come by anytime between 9am and 5pm.  We'll do lunch about noon. Where: Contact Paul or Derek for details. What:  Lots of College Basketball (this year, in High Definition!), Snacks, Soda, Lunch (the traditional kielbasa) Who:  YOU!  Kids, spouses, friends, and random passersby are also welcome (that means, invite others who might enjoy taking a day off of work and watching college basketball--just be sure to let Paul know how many to expect so he has enough kielbasa).   Thank you!  Looking forward to seeing everyone on St. James Day!     Midwestern Regional Festivities: Host, Rand Simmons   St. James Day will be celebrated this year in Emporia! In short, we will have the games on, we will be grilling, and we look to have plenty of food and good company.   Date:  Friday, March 19, 2010 Time:  Feel free to arrive as early as noon (Bring a dish to share -- snack food or whatever sounds good.) and we expect everyone to leave before they need to go to bed. ;-) BYOB. Where: Contact Rand for details.   If the weather ends up being nice, bring your own lawn chairs, as well.   RSVP is appreciated. We need to know how many kielbasa’s to plan on cooking up.     Midwestern Regional Festivities, part II: Host, Scott McLoughlin   To ease complications of schedules not conducive to taking off on St. James Day, there has been talk of continued celebration on Saturday, March 20, at the McLoughlin home in the greater Leavenworth area.   P.S.--for those of you outside of the above designated festivity areas --No, we don't actually expect you to come to travel just to watch basketball.  But, we do expect you to spread the gospel of St. James by either finding a local St. James Day party or holding one of your own (and be sure to send pictures as proof that you actually celebrated).   Scrapbook Midwestern Regional festivities 2009 were celebrated at the McLoughlin McMansion in the Greater Leavenworth, Kansas area. Festivities began at the break of dawn on St. James Day. West Regional festivities 2009 took place at the home of Paul Smith.   International festivities... In a sign of the growth in popularity of St. James Day, in 2009, it was celebrated for the first time in a foreign country. Mr. Thummel and Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez enjoyed St. James Day at a London pub. Jolly good, mates.

West Region, March 21, 2008: One Stanley, two Smiths, three Littlejohns and three Agarwals, and four Simmonses. Midwestern Region, March 21, 2008: Front row, left to right: Scott McLoughlin, Katie Chastain, Mike Chastain, and Adina Sanchez. Back row: Melissa McLoughlin, Todd Thummel, Tracy Million Simmons, Rand Simmons, and Cyprian Sanchez

West Region, March 18, 2005: Front row, left to right: Rives Kistler, cofounders Derek Simmons and Paul Smith, John Wittmayer. Back row, left to right: Patrick Smith, Barry Smith, Scott Stanley, J.D. Cozier, and Colin Benson.