WellI first off have to apologize that it has been so long since our last update!Things seemed to get so hectic with the golf tournament, family in town for theevent, back to teaching, Les coaching hockey and now with the SCI fundraiser!
I will start with the golf tournament! What a huge success!! The tournament wassold out, every spot full! Les and I got to the course early to"help" out in any small way that we could. It was nicest for Les tobe there as everyone arrived and get to personally thank each person who came!We started out with a great taco bar donated from QDoba then it was out on thecourse for some good golfing! The weather was absolutely perfect, muchdifferent from last year! The sun was out and there was a nice breeze to coolthings down! We did many things the same as last year, we had free beer out onthe course for all of the players, there were different auction items ondifferent holes for people to bid on, and there were different contests.Les had a young kid that he knew from camps come down, Bart, and they were ableto get loaded up in a cart and drive around the course and hang out with eachteam for a while. Les was very glad that this year he was able to thank all ofthe people who turned out to support him! After the tournament there was anamazing dinner set up outside from Austin's, there was a silent auction as wellas a live auction and prizes were awarded from the tournament! There were evendonated helicopter rides! It was so amazing to see the helicopter come right inand land on the course and take people up for sunset rides! There were so manypeople who donated personal items, homemade things, like a birdhouse andpersonalized stepping stone as well as sports memorabilia, clothing, giftcertificates and other items! Les was thankful this year he was able to get upand say a thank you to everybody, although he still talks about what he"should have said". :) Looking back it seems like one of those out ofbody moments where you were so overwhelmed but you somehow got through it.There are so many people who got together for months to pull this thing off,there of course is Martin, donating the course, the entire Eagles office staffwho ran the show and ran it so flawlessly, all of the Eagles players who cameout and golfed as celebrities to support Les, all of the celebrities, many ofwho had to take the day to come up from Denver, all of the friends who donateditems for the auction, Mike and donating his time and helicopter for rides,Scott and Mike for the amazing food and set up, American EAgle andAnheuser for the free beer, what a selling point for people to come back yearafter year. It is so amazing that so many people came together, took offwork, donated their time, donated their personal skills, donated money, all ofthis over a year after Les was injured. Even the people who dont golf but stillwanted to be involved, still wanted to donate, still wanted to help set up, runbooths, anything to help Les. It just goes to show what a great community welive in and what a wonderful family we have come to be a part of. This is notenough thanks. We can never say thanks, or show thanks enough for what all ofyou have done. Les hopes to begin to show you with his hard work anddetermination in therapy and in everyday life as well as getting back in thecommunity and giving back in any way that he can at the moment.
After the golf tournament winded down Les began coaching the Junior EaglesMidget AA Major team. So far, everything has been going really well as far asgetting back into hockey. They have been having practice three times a week andhad a pre-season tournament this past weekend. Les has gotten some help fromsome of the guys and Chris to help him put some drills down onto paper for theplayers to work on. Chris is also working on getting some sort of headset linedup so that when he is sitting next to the bench he can communicate with thecoaches sitting on the bench during the games. It is neat for me to see howmuch those players look up to him despite his injury. They look up to him andrespect him as a player and as a coach. It is obvious that Les is aninspiration to them to do well in the game of hockey and in life, to be strong,not only physically, but also mentally, and how important it is to be a goodteam player and teammate and community member. I overheard one of the playerstalking to his parents after a recent practice and he said "I would skatethrough a wall for that coach." Pretty cool.
Since the last update, SCI has moved locations from Boulder to Denver, thedistance is about the same, but the travel time is now a bit shorter than itwas before so that is a plus! The space is in a brand new building and is amuch bigger space. It seems like it will work much better and give more room forthe clients and trainers to work together! With the new location they also hopeto get some new equipment for the clients. What they have now is very basic andminimal and they hope to expand their workouts and trainings with newequipment. They are holding a fundraiser in November, called Hops for Hope. Lesand I have been involved in the planning and are very excited about it! It willbe at the auto museum in Lakewood! I will be volunteering and I think Les willas well as sharing his story with the guests. Each client will have a moment onstage to share their story, how their accident changed their life and what SCIand the training has done to better it. We are looking forward to helping outSCI and the other clients! If you know anybody who is into classic cars andbeer, send them our way for a great night! :)
We have been working on getting a glider for Les to use. We have accomplishedthe first step, with the prescription from the doctor, now we are workingwith a company on getting it and getting it set up, so we will keep youposted on that, Les is very excited to get back in that machine!
Les was also offered an opportunity to speak at CSU to a couple of groups ofhighschoolers about goals and obstacles and overcoming those obstacles that maythrow a hurdle into reaching those goals. He will do this in themiddle of October and is already planning what he will say! This isan event that a group of students together on to plan and get guest speakersand Les was their first choice for this topic! Students at this age are such agood audience for Les to talk to, especially about things like this, sometimesthings sound so different when they come from somebody other than mom or dad.
It seems kids of all ages look up to Les for different reasons though. As mostof you know, I am now in my 7th week of student teaching 3rd grade here inWindsor. Yesterday we had "sports" day in our class where thestudents wore their favorite sports gear. The kids only know me as Ms. Englert,so when I showed up wearing one of Les's jerseys, although they thought it waspretty cool, they didn't put two and two together. :) One of my students raisedhis had and said "Ms. Englert, is that Borsheim's jersey?" I told himyes it was and he said "Did you know that he can even move his handsnow?" That was a pretty cool moment for me and it was hard to keep ittogether! So it has become obvious to me how much people of all ages look up toLes. Although if that student is reading this, the big secret it out....you knowwho you are:) :)
Obviously Les would not be where he is today without the support of all of you.You are the people encouraging him everyday to do his best, no matter how mad,sad or upset he is, no matter how tired or sore he is. He knows that people arewatching him, praying for him, and always thinking of him and that I know giveshim the strength to give all of the effort he can every single day. It isbecause of Aaron, the players and the parents encouraging and supporting himthat he is able to do so well with coaching. It is because of the excitementstudents show for him that he is able to get up and give speeches in front ofsuch a large crowd when he isn't feeling like himself yet. So, we owe it all toyou all. For standing by Les (and I) for over a year! WOW! Even though it isn'tenough, I will say it anyway, thank you!
love,
Kara
Thank you Deborah Leigh for the link to the new news! http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041426/ns/today-today_health thereis a video link called paralyzed rats walk again that tells about new findingsinvolving electrodes and medication. Check it out!
P.S.
New black shirts are here.
New shirts are coming soon!
By popular demand, hats will be arriving soon! :)
