C: Meet the Flat Chasers

Chasers come in all shapes and sizes
By Victoria Dong

In the premiere issue of SNC Quarter Notes, Fun Editor Kim Davis introduced us to the idea of the Flat Chaser, “Chaserita,” as someone you can take “…on vacation, to the grocery store, to the local zoo…” In the second issue, Eileen Raff shared her visit with Chaserita, S. Brandon and Kathleen Broadfoot in Indiana. Now I’d like to tell you about the adventures of two newly created Flat Chasers, Frittain and Flaren.

Frittain, Brittain and Flaren

In December 2011, Brittain Southwell (a.k.a. the craft-wizard) created Flat Brittain (“Frittain”), who attended her first Straight No Chaser concert with Karen Klokkevold on New Year’s Eve in Fresno, CA. Frittain was even dressed for the occasion in her adorable Chaser shirt. She had a wonderful time attending the concert and meeting other Chasers, and she even got to meet the SNC guys and partake in group photos. What a lucky girl!

Frittain in Fresno

I had the pleasure of meeting Frittain in Vancouver, BC on March 17th, 2012. She had already gone to another SNC concert in Kelowna, BC with Karen just a few days beforehand, where Frittain got her own group picture and an individual picture with Seggie!
 

Frittain with Seggie in Kelowna

By this time, Frittain had been fully upgraded with multiple outfits and a new hairdo, as well as accessorized with jewelleries. Since she was attending concerts in Canada, naturally she also had a new passport! It was so much fun posing with her for pictures in Vancouver!

Frittain with her passport

In the beginning of April, Frittain gained a new friend - Flat Karen (“ Flaren”), and the two of them took a long road trip down to Baton Rouge with the real Brittain for another SNC concert! Upon returning home from Baton Rouge, Frittain and Flaren hopped on a plane and made an impromptu trip to visit me in Ann Arbor, MI. They enjoyed their stay here, and even had a few pictures taken with my pet rabbit, April, before she tried to chew Flaren’s head off.

Frittain, April and Flaren

On the afternoon of April 20th, 2012, Frittain and Flaren were tucked snugly into my purse as we and Dottie Kovacs embarked on our journey to (Ryan didn’t coin that phrase, sorry!) “Saginawesome,” MI for another SNC concert. After the concert, Flaren and Frittain waited in line with me for the Meet & Greet with the guys. While waiting, they posed for several pictures with other Chasers. When we finally got to the Meet & Greet, the guys were happy to see them and greeted them with smiles.

Flaren and Frittain redeem their "Kiss a Brother Day" rain checks

On January 27th, 2012, Jerome had jokingly tweeted that it was “Kiss a Brother Day,” a holiday he made up but hoped would someday become real. Stacey Eisenberg tweeted back that it should be a floating holiday for the Chasers who wouldn't be at the show that night and that we would like a rain check on that one. After more joking around, Karen actually designed a rain check for Chasers to print out and take to the shows!

As I handed Jerome my rain check, he burst out laughing, then jumped up and gave me a hug, then a kiss, followed by another hug. Flaren and Frittain then proceeded to redeem their miniature-sized rain checks. Jerome burst out laughing again, even louder this time. Then, before I realized what he was doing, Jerome grabbed Frittain and Flaren from my hands and gave them each a smooch on the face. It all happened too quickly that I didn’t catch it on camera. I asked if I could get a picture of them with him as proof that they redeemed their rain checks. Being such a good sport, Jerome happily obliged and posed for a picture with the flats.

After the group photos, Frittain went up to Ryan and asked him to sign her Flat Chaser passport. Ryan was very sweet and wrote a little note to her on behalf of SNC. That sure made her a very happy girl that night! Following the concert in Saginaw, the flats quickly hopped on a plane to visit Traci Patton in Maine and attend the SNC concert in Reading, PA the following week. Next they hopped on another plane to attend the SNC concert in Pittsburgh with Cindy Warrick. They were living the life that every Chaser dreams of - traveling across the country to see SNC perform in various cities!

Not only did they meet new Chaser friends when they were out on the road, the flats have also had a couple of out-of-town visitors. In June, Kathleen Broadfoot visited Washington and met up with Frittain and Flaren. She even brought them hand-made IU shirts! A month later, Eileen Raff took a trip to Seattle and had a fabulous time meeting up with Karen, Brittain, Kay Maletta, Miles and Frittain! Unfortunately, Flaren had a prior engagement and couldn’t make it to the gathering. 

Karen, Flaren, Brittain and Frittain meet up with Kathleen

 Frittain meets Karen's dog, Miles

If you know anything about Karen, you definitely know that she loves her Great Pyrenees, Miles.









Well, Flaren also shares Karen’s love for Miles. Therefore, the always awesome and always crafty Brittain decided to create Flat Miles (Fliles? Official name still pending). Karen’s sister, Heidi, has even made him an awesome dog tag!

Flat Miles with his collar

As a member of the Chaser Nation, I have been blessed with many wonderful new friends from all over the country, and even throughout the world. With Flat Chasers, we can share our experience of Chaserlove and shenanigans no matter where we may be!

Scarves for Sara

Editor's Note: The SNC QN would like to congratulate Angie Woollard. Today she completed the 71st and final scarf in an 8 month project that raised money to help out her friend and fellow Chaser, Sara Nemtuda, with some unexpected medical expenses. Way to go, Angie! You are amazing!

SNC QN Staff Writer Jennifer Lyon tells the story.

Graphic by Jana Barnes
Individual photos used with permission.

As a school teacher, Sara Nemtuda is used to dealing with the occasional cold. In December 2011 she began to fight what seemed to be the same cold as many of her co-workers, however, Sara was still fighting the same cough in March. During that time she made several trips to the doctor’s office. After each visit she would begin to feel better but could not completely rid herself of the cough. Sara decided to make one more trip to the urgent care center before going on vacation. After a series of testing, that visit to the doctor changed Sara’s life - she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Sara received an outpouring of support from the Chaser community when she posted on Facebook about her diagnosis and upcoming chemotherapy treatments. After seeing the post, Angie Woollard decided she wanted to do more than just give a few words of encouragement to her friend. She came up with the idea for Scarves for Sara and sent messages out to friends to see if anyone would be interested in donating money in exchange for one of her hand-knit scarves. “I just figured, I'm always knitting anyway and end up with a pile of stuff just because I like making it!” Angie said. “So this way, I get to do what I love, Sara's financial burden is eased a wee bit, and my friends get a pretty accessory out of the deal.” There was such a positive response to the idea that a Facebook group was created. Angie was astounded by the reaction. “I could NOT believe how it took off. I have never met or been part of a kinder, more generous community.”

The Scarves for Sara project was kept a secret from Sara for several weeks. Angie finally told Sara about what she was doing when she sent Sara the first installment of the donations. Sara was shocked to find out what her friend had been doing. She never expected anything like this from the Chaser community. “I was blown away by so many people, most of whom I haven't been able to meet yet, wanting to help,” Sara said. “It has been unbelievable.” Thankfully, Sara’s health insurance is helping to the cover the cost of her medical bills. The money raised through Scarves for Sara gave Sara one less thing to stress over as she focused on getting better. In late July Sara had a PET scan to see where the cancer was located in her body and how well the chemotherapy treatments worked. The results from the testing were very positive, with a 90% improvement compared to the scan in April. From what Sara’s doctor could tell from the scan, all the cancer cells in the lymph nodes are gone. Her last chemotherapy session was in early October and she celebrated on the SNC cruise, Chasers at Sea. Sara posted to her blog during the treatment process at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/saranemtuda

I asked Sara if there was anything she would like to say to the Chaser community. “Wow. I am so thankful to have so much support and love sent my way. I have gotten cards, care packages, Facebook messages, prayers, and then the donations as well. It has all been overwhelming. I truly am blessed to be involved with such a caring group of people. I really have a hard time putting into words just how appreciative I am of all of this. Just want to say a huge thank you to all of them for everything and I hope to be able to meet them all soon.”

Wishing you all the very best, Sara!

When Angie first started this project she had a goal of raising a couple hundred dollars, but the Scarves for Sara project final total was $3,135! (Angie is no longer taking any new orders.)

Here are just a few photos of Angie's beautiful works of art! Each one was sent along with a tiny Canadian flag pin as a crowning touch.

*All scarf photos courtesy of Angie Woollard.