Tempus Fugit!
A Look Back at NJCL Spirit and Bazaar
Grant Bruner, OJCL Treasurer
It feels like just yesterday that we were standing in Trojan arena, taking
tests, chanting Spirit themes, and selling our t-shirts at a bustling Bazaar. Already
two months have gone by since NJCL in Troy, Alabama, but my favorite memories
haven’t faded at all. Let’s take a quick look back at each day of convention.
Sunday, July 23rd: the Cincinnati bus left at 8:00, but I began hauling 5 of
my boxes and the Rome shower-curtain frame at 7:30. Spirit supplies took up an
entire separate compartment of the bus, but I eventually crammed everything into
the hold of the bus. After a long 14 hour bus ride, I was able ( with the help of lots
of friends) to drag all of the packages to my room. It was on this first day that I
joked that the Treasurer’s title be changed to “Collector of Stuff.”
Monday, July 24th: the first day of Agora was a blast! Our JCL sweatshirts
sold out in 10 minutes, and sales rolled in for the other shirts as well. We made
about $400 gross on the first day.
Tuesday, July 25th: Our first day of Spirit! All of Ohio rocked our blue state
t-shirts. Although our volume and enthusiasm needed work, we acclimated well to
our surroundings and yelled out some ferocious “O-H, I-O” cheers. On our
second day of Agora, we had over 15 volunteers (including 3 current and past
OJCL presidents) at our booth. Our best-selling item was our “Straight Outta
Troy” tank tops, as well as JCL glasses.
Wednesday, July 26th: Troy Story couldn’t have been more fun! Although
it was a little warm in our flannel shirts, our resilient OJCL team pulled through
to a 3rd place finish in Medium State Spirit. Special thanks to North Gubernator
Owen Kranz for getting us prepared for action. The last day of Agora was a
special event. Lots of proud OJCLers stopped by to see how their state booth
was faring, as well as pick up some of their favorite JCL merchandise. Although
our Rome shower-curtain picture frame didn’t attract much business at the
beginning of the week, State Chair Mr. Dean shot some great photos of the
Ohio delegation with it as the backdrop. Vintage shirts and JCL sunglasses were
the things to have- we raised a lot of money from older JCLers with fond
memories of past conventions.
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