To the Bible Quizzing Family,

We certainly have had interesting weather for quiz meets this year. I'm thankful that you all came in spite of the weather, and the fact that some of you were stranded overnight in Rochester just gave others an opportunity to provide some hospitality. I was really impressed and thankful for how you all just stepped up and took care of that need. Some of the conversation led to the question of whether we would ever cancel quizzing. While you're never supposed to say "never", it would be our intention to never cancel, simply because it is too hard to reschedule and there are a number of teams that could probably make it okay in most any weather situation. For those who can't, it seems appropriate to simply award them their average number of points toward their cumulative scores so they're not penalized in that way by the weather.

Thanks again to Louisa and the other gals for leading us in worship and to Andrew for bringing the devotional. This has added a wonderful touch to our quiz meets, and I'm very grateful for all who have participated. Next month is booked already, so the rest of you will have to wait until next year....

At the March Coaches Meeting, I would like to spend some time discussing ideas and suggestions for improvements we might need to make to the quizzing program. Please try to give this some thought ahead of time so this can be a fruitful discussion. I would also like some feedback from you regarding the Olympic Memory Challenge program, and any thoughts you might have about how it could be improved.

The Chicago Tournament is coming up soon, March 28-30. We still have room for quizzers to go who have not signed up yet. We have some teams that could use additional quizzers, and we can add more teams. Here is a link to the sign-up information thus far: http://rochesterbiblequizzing.org/tournaments/Chicago/2008/. If you are ready to sign up, or would like more information, please contact Jim Benson or myself.

A reminder about the Verse-A-Thon. I'd like to encourage all quizzers to participate. You can use the money you earn towards your Chicago Tournament expenses, and the remainder would benefit the quizzing program. You can turn in the money you raise at any time, but in order to have it go towards your expenses for the Chicago Tournament, you need to turn it in by the time we leave for the tournament.

Here is a brief summary of our cash flow for this quizzing season. I mention it because I believe I need to keep you informed, and because we have a need for additional donations to finish up the quiz year. Thanks for whatever you can do to help. Several of you have already contributed with donations through the year, and we're very grateful to you for that.

Donations                      $1225
Booklet sales                   $125
Total income                          $1350

Expenses                       $1175
Anticipated remaining expenses  $925
Total expenses                        $2100
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Donations required yet to break even   $750

Our last quiz will be March 8, at 1:00 pm at Emmanuel Baptist Church. Points earned this month will be doubled when accumulated for the year. The Little League will be quizzing over Philippians chapters 3 and 4, and the A/B League over Colossians 2:6 - 4:18 and Philemon.

Following the regular quizzing rounds, we will have a final quiz to wrap up the year, just for the fun of it, with our top quizzers participating. Following this, we will close with a Pizza Party at the church, for all who would like to attend. Besides the pizza, it'll be a fun way to celebrate the completion of the quizzing year together. The cost will be $3.50-4.00 per person. When we start the day, we'll need a count of everyone planning to stay, so please make sure that everyone you represent is accounted for. There will be a sign-up sheet on the information table.

Besides the Pizza Party, I'd like to think of the March quiz as a kind of "open house" to encourage potential new quizzers and families to see what quizzing is like. Please encourage people you know to feel free to drop in throughout the afternoon, and perhaps especially for the closing quiz and for pizza. And if you know of visitors who would be staying for pizza, please include them in your count and let them know that pizza is on us that evening. When we think of adding new quizzers and teams next year, everyone is welcome, but I'm especially interested in growing the Little League.

Let's make this last day of quizzing a great day for everyone!

Karl Kirkman