JKR Family Fun Day MMXIII

Tim here - This past Wednesday (6/19) marked the first Annual JKR Family fun day.  Tram Fun did an excellent job organizing and hosting this fun day of games, activities and barbecuing in Philly's Fairmount Park West.  There was a great turnout of both staff and their families, and we hope this will be the first of many great Family Fun Days.

The office grill performed admirably on its first day of work.

The bubbles entertained Sean for hours. 

2nd Floor once again proves its superiority.

Burgers are always better when battered in beer.

Chris and David Urffer, u-r-f-f-e-r.

Birthday Run!

Zach here with the final softball update:  Birthday boy Blake Krevolin was a single shy of hitting for the cycle at last night's victory over Nelson.  A home run in the first inning followed by a double and then a triple secured Krevolin's place in the JKRP Softball record books in the category of "best performance on your own birthday."  The bats for the rest of the lineup were on fire, with many extra base hits and two additional home runs.  Positions were shuffled a bit in both the infield and outfield, but the team's defense remained tight throughout the game.  Solid fielding and laser-accurate throws kept Nelson at bay, allowing the offense to take control.    

The lead changed every inning, with JKRP up by three in the top of the 7th.  Surprisingly good hitting and a slide into first base put the scrappy Nelson team on top by one as the bottom of the JKRP order came to bat.  The future looked bleak, but Dan Howard and Laura Woolford managed to get on base.  Both were later forced out at second, leaving guest-star Mike Krevolin perched on first as Jason Wistreich stepped into the batter's box.  I honestly  have no idea where he hit the ball, but I know that Mike rounded the bases to tie it up and a throwing error allowed Jason to score the walk-off run.  What looked like a 13-14 loss a few minutes before turned into a glorious 15-14 victory to end the season. 

The team will be gathering at the Pub next Wednesday during normal softball hours to continue the beer consumption, but without the swinging of bats or running of bases.

History Is Made

Wednesday night saw many firsts for the JKRP softball team.  We had Dave's first 2011 appearance (he was 3 for 3), we had our first 9-run inning, and, for the first time in history, a pitching change was called for.  Glenn Werner, amassing a pitch count of 57 on his first batter, was pulled in the top of the third inning by interim manager/center fielder Mike Izzo.  The side was quickly retired after the change.  "The first one was right down the middle," said Werner on the bench, "but he didn't swing.  I guess he didn't want them like that."


There aren't many rules in slow-pitch architectural softball, but it felt like we were up against the entire ASL rulebook last night.  Two outs at the plate were nullified by a vocal Ewing Cole bench.  One in a "slide or surrender" situation (in which the runner neither slid nor surrendered), and another because "the foul tip didn't go over the batter's head."  Despite the bad calls, Marissa turned in some All-Star caliber play at the catcher's position.


What the team lacked in Krevolin brothers it more than made up for with grilled meats and cake balls.  Aggressive base running was not slowed by the pounds of hot dogs, cheeseburgers, and cake we ingested.  We were in it until the end, but ultimately walked away with a loss.  Only four more games to go before the 2011 season comes to a close. 

RED HEAT, RED MEAT & RED VELVET

Blake Here: While  this post really has nothing to do with the 1988 Schwarzenegger / Belushi cop flick I needed another "RED" something and  mother nature turned up the temperature to the higher degrees, plus it rhymes, therefore, it's suitable.  After much time spent igniting newspapers, wasting matches, burning through a lighter, and dousing the stubborn charcoals with an entire bottle of lighter fluid, mike, marissa, and I finally got JKR's first BBQ of the season started on the Thursday afternoon of May26th as that first cold piece of raw bison burger meat hit the heat on that grill.  The back sweat was flowing, the fire was burning, the burgers were cooking, and with the dynamite execution Sam had the place set not just for the consumption of mass quantities of goodness but for the real reason all this was being done, to honor the many years of hard work, dedication, and kind heartedness provided both in and outside the office by the one Miss Lauren Ulmer.  Lauren you will be missed by us all and we wish you nothing but the best with your upcoming move and future endeavors.  Thanks for all you've done for the firm and each of us here at JKR Partners, we'll miss you, good luck and stay in touch.