Employees beat the winter blues at the Bromac Cup

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BY Susan Mitchell

February 21, 2005

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Lynn-Paton.jpg” caption=”A surprised Lynne Paton of Athletics and Recreation (and a M.E.S.S.! member) performs the ceremonial tip-off at Saturday’s game.”]More than 400 McMaster employees and their families were in attendance for the annual Employee Appreciation Day Basketball Event sponsored by the McMaster Employee Spirit Society (M.E.S.S.!). Along with complimentary tickets to the game, the employees enjoyed refreshments, doors prizes and face-painting.

It was an exciting game from start to finish and the full house of fans from both teams cheered loudly. Although the Marauders battled valiantly, the badgers came on strong in the second half to overcome the Marauders. The final score was 87-81.

M.E.S.S.! committee member, Terry Galan, sporting an painted “M” on his face, said, “I think having a winter event is a perfect break from our least favourite season and that is evidenced by the terrific turnout we have today.”

The game began with the singing of the national anthem by Tony DiBenedetto, a member of Opera Hamilton for many years and a McMaster alumnus (1982).

M.E.S.S! also chose to recognize one of its own, Lynne Paton, during the ceremonial tip-off. Paton, who retires this summer, has been a member of M.E.S.S! since the very first football event in 2002 and has processed registrations and distributed thousands of tickets for every M.E.S.S.! sporting event since that time. Saturday's game represented the last event she would be involved in. Looking slightly surprised when her name was called, Paton walked to centre court where she received a gift of appreciation from her M.E.S.S.! colleagues and then performed the ceremonial tip-off.

“Lynne is one of the most organized people I know. She has handled most, if not all of, the registration logistics for athletic M.E.S.S! events,” said Pat Harris, current chair of the Spirit Society. “We'll miss Lynne's enthusiasm for McMaster and her dedication to her job and fellow employees.”

But M.E.S.S.! is not finished yet. Next Saturday and Sunday, they will host employees and family members at two performances of The Wiz at Robinson Memorial Theatre. Both performances sold out quickly and 300 tickets have been sent to employees. It promises to be a fun-filled afternoon of musical theatre performed by McMaster's Musical Theatre Group.