It would seem that the Albino Bowler has turned into quite the philanthropist.  A few weeks ago he joined me for the local MDA Lock-up, and this past week he came to the office to participate in a fund raiser for our local Children’s Hospital.  The Chick-fil-a cow also showed up to help raise money, which made for an awesome photo op.  Claris employees were encouraged to invite their families for lunch and fellowship, and for the second year in a row it was a fun little get together.  We also took this time to say goodbye to fellow employee and friend, Jim Garner.  Jim, we’ll miss you old timer!  ;)

– Dan Thompson

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    Yes, you read that correctly.  I got locked up recently, and decided to drag the Albino Bowler along with me.  Luckily, it was for a good cause and was a lot of fun.

    Apparently my wonderful sister-in-law thought it would be funny to sign me up for the Blount County Lock-up in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  She had been volunteered and needed someone to take down with her, so I was the lucky guy.  I was a good sport and played along… admittedly I had no idea what I was getting myself into though.  This was the first fund raiser I’d ever been involved with (well, unless of course you count selling candy bars for Boy Scouts), so this was very new to me.  The Albino Bowler was just an innocent bystander. 
   After digging in I quickly realized that MDA is all about helping children with neuromuscular diseases try to lead normal, fun lives through research, education, and direct assistance… definitely something I can get behind.  MDA really made it easy to raise money as well be providing participants with a web page to send people to where they could make their donations online using a credit card or other payment methods.  I was very encouraged that so many people were willing to help these kids out, even in these tough economic times.  Very cool.  So, how did I do?  Well, unfortunately I didn’t meet my goal, 

but I did manage to raise more money than my sister-in-law!  :)   I knew my competitive spirit would be good for something one day! All in all the Blount County drive raised $48,500, which is absolutely awesome.  That money is going to go a long way towards buying children wheel chairs, paying for summer camps, and research.  Thanks to everyone who pitched in!!

– Dan Thompson

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The Albino Bowler will be traveling with David Powell to visit orphans in the Ukraine and then stopping in Vienna, Austria as well.  Europe here we come!

The Albino Bowler will be traveling to the American Southwest with Dan and Holly Thompson!

     Recently the Albino Bowler and a good friend of mine, Grey Steed, took a trip out to Arizona to attend a wedding.  Grey insists that the Albino Bowler behaved himself at the wedding… however as yet, no pictures have surfaced from the event.  I’m starting to get the feeling its more of a “what happens at a wedding in Arizona, stays at a wedding in Arizona” type scenario… I won’t push the issue too much.  :)   The rest of the pictures turned out great though; ESPECIALLY the picture of him posed with the Oscar Myer wiener-mobile.  CLASSIC!  He also got a little too close for comfort with some of the locals… yikes!  All in all, it sounded like a great trip and the Albino Bowler certainly appreciated trading the cold weather here in the south for some warm sunshine.  See you next time!

– Dan Thompson

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