Small Town Basketball

This might be a lengthy post, but I promise it will be worth it! 

 

This is a very special card I made specially for some super generous people.  It has to do with small town basketball, tradition, and honor.  I'm entering this card in The Paper Players Theme Challenge this week, which is a thank you theme.

 

 

Basketball season, which runs from November to February or March, is a big deal in small town Montana.  It's a social time for most of the communities that are involved.  Friday and Saturday nights you can find most of the home town packed into a gymnasium cheering on their team to victory.  Pretty soon it's tournament time.  It's very exciting for these small towns.  One team in our district or region is a small, Native American town on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation called Brockton.  The Native Americans started a tradition back in the 1940's of giving out star quilts to honor players from other teams that they admired or thought highly of.  The ceremony is a highlight of our district tournament every year.  It's very exciting to see who will get honored and see all the beautiful quilts that are given away.  On the last night of the tournament, all the Brockton players (girls and boys) and their parents and/or grandparents, file into the gym, quilts in hand, and form a big circle.  They carefully lay out the quilts on the gym floor to display the amazing handiwork for all.  One by one they call down an opposing team player and their parents out of the stands to honor them.  Hugs are given, tears are shed and the quilt is carefully draped around the shoulders of the honored player's mother.  My son was one of those honored players this year and I can say that it was one of the highlights of this, his Senior year.   

 

 

 

We were not informed ahead of time, so it was a complete and total surprise for us to be honored.  Out of about 80 or 90 boys on the opposing teams, Our son Andy was chosen.  They only give out about 20 blankets.  It's an amazing testament to what a wonderful, kind kid he is.  He is pictured below in the black sweatshirt.  The boy that honored him, along with his mother, is draping the blanket around my shoulders. 

 

 

Here's another photo of my husband giving Mrs. Bear a hug and me trying to hold back the tears.  It was such a special moment for us. 

 

 

So naturally, I wanted to make a special thank you card for them.  I wanted to incorporate the quilt aspect somehow, and mimic the colors of the quilt we received.  It's such a small token of thanks for such a huge, honorable gift.  Thanks to Wayan Bear and his family for honoring our son Andy.

 

Supplies for this card

Stamps: Starburst Saying

Paper: White, Island Indigo, Sweet Sorbet DSP, Just Add Cake DSP, Island Indigo DSP

Ink: Summer Starfruit, Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Neutral button, 1" square punch, Starburst die, Circle die, Petals a plenty EF, Island Indigo ribbon

You can order most of these supplies HERE!

 Thanks for taking a peek!

Jenny