By R.V. Baugus

The following appeared in the May 9 issue of The Republican, the newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts, regarding IAVM long-time member Wayne Coleman. Wayne happens to be a favorite personal friend of mine, and it is an honor to share his story below. By the way, Wayne said that his first pitch at the Atlanta Braves’ baseball game “short-hopped” mascot Blooper. One of the very few “E’s” we can put on your baseball scorecard, Wayne.

Piping Up

Pregame ceremonies for the Atlanta Braves’ home opener on April 9 included a rendition of “Amazing Grace,”
played by Wayne Coleman, a bagpiper from Springfield.

As he played the pipes, Coleman stood in center field, in front of a “44” sign that had been cut into the turf in honor of Hank Aaron, the National Baseball Hall of Famer who died on Jan. 22 at the age of 86. Aaron
wore No. 44 as he played 23 seasons in the major leagues, 21 of them in the Braves organization.

Coleman, a graduate of Springfield Classical High School, is a third-generation bagpiper. His father, Harold Coleman, and his grandfather, James Coleman, played in the Springfield Kiltie Band, which was established in 1917 and is still active.

“This marks my 39th year as a piper and my 12th time piping on the field at a Braves game. Professionally, I’ve piped coast to coast,” Coleman said. He played the bagpipes in accompaniment to Faith Hill when she sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. “That was quite an audience for a piper, or any
performer,” Coleman said of the Super Bowl.

He has been performing professionally in Atlanta since 1983. Wayne plays his father’s pipes, a set of Lawries with traditional army turnings He has the original receipt from Glasgow in 1937.

He began music lessons at the age of 5 and studied classical, popular, and jazz piano through high school. He continues to take bi-weekly pipe lessons and attended two summers at the Balmoral School of Piping and Drumming.

Now a resident of Stone Mountain, Georgia, Coleman is a Braves season-tickets holder and has served as
president of the Atlanta Braves booster club. His love of baseball goes back to his teen years, when he served two summers as batboy for the Springfield Giants of the Eastern League.

By Katarina Dos Santos, MA

Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings, along with Florida Department of Health in Orange County Director Dr. Raul Pino, recognized Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) Event Manager Janice Reindl with Orange County’s Public Health Hero Award at the Orlando International Airport.

Reindl has served as the Event Manager for the COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the OCCC for the last five months.

“She is a shining example of a civil servant, and she truly deserves this honor,” said Mayor Demings during his remarks.

Her unwavering dedication and service to the community has been a pillar in the success of the vaccination site. For five months, six days a week, she has displayed impressive skills in helping to plan and organize the use of the Center’s North Concourse for the first COVID-19 mass vaccination site in Orange County.

Ever-present and ever-vigilant, she became an indispensable daily resource, addressing problems before they disrupted the operation.

Janice also took on the task of feeding the staff and nurses by coordinating with numerous hotels, restaurants, bakeries, and food trucks to feed the more than 200 team members it took to run the vaccination operation each day. This feat alone had a profound, positive impact on the staff’s morale.

A large portion of the credit for the great success of the joint Orange County Government and Florida Department of Health COVID-19 mass vaccination site is due to the dedication, determination and personal drive of Janice Reindl.

Reindl is a resident of Windermere and has been an employee of the OCCC since 2018.

Katarina Dos Santos, MA, is Marketing and Communications Assistant Manager | Marketing & Communications, at the Orange County Convention Center.

Photo: OCCC’s Event Manager Janice Reindl was recently awarded with Orange County’s Public Health Hero Award by Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings and Florida Department of Health in Orange County Director Dr. Raul Pino.

By Teddi Anderson

The Hawai‘i Convention Center welcomed 1,200 participants for the Hawai‘i Prayer Breakfast on May 7, 2021. It was the Center’s largest in-person meeting since the start of COVID-19 pandemic health and safety
restrictions in March 2020. The breakfast included state and local leaders, as well as noted speakers Dr. Tony Evans and Priscilla Shirer.

The Center has implemented industry-leading health and safety measures led by ASM Global’s comprehensive Venue Shield program. This includes health and safety technologies, new food and beverage options, revised layouts for socially distanced gatherings, and extensive staff training. During the breakfast, the Center’s Exhibit Hall featured socially distanced tables, as well as freshly made, individually packaged meals, with staff and guests observing PPE guidelines.

The City & County of Honolulu eased COVID-19 restrictions for the island of O‘ahu to allow for select gatherings, meetings and events under the Tier 3 reopening strategy. Tier 3 allows venues such as convention centers, third-party conference room providers, and banquet halls to host low-risk structured events.

Teddi Anderson is President, TLC PR.

By Region 6 Newsletter

Before the confetti could drop and the 2021 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship trophy could be raised in San Antonio, one team would have to navigate an unprecedented tournament year and deliver an extraordinary effort amidst the challenges of a global pandemic.

The aforementioned “One Team” consisted of the Alamodome, the City of San Antonio and partners like San
Antonio Sports that helped parlay a championship bid win into an opportunity to host the entire 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament with 64 teams competing from March 21 through April 4 in the local region. For its part, the Alamodome expanded a three game championship weekend into a 38 game schedule with an additional 108 practices at the venue. The facility hosted match-ups in the First and Second Rounds and all games of the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and the Finals. Staff made history by creating under one roof, a dual-arena configuration that helped expedite COVID-19 cleaning efforts and enhance social distance protocols. Other fan safety procedures implemented included digital ticketing in socially distanced pods, touch less venue entry, mobile food ordering and the enforced wearing of face covers unless actively eating or drinking.

“Since reopening in the fall of 2020 for the UTSA football season, the Alamodome’s main priority has been fan safety but we also want to help create jobs and paychecks and promote the local economy,” said General Manager Steve Zito, CVE. The NCAA tournament generated an estimated $27.2 million in economic impact for San Antonio and filled 35,000 room nights at area hotels. Tourism was noticeably impacted and images of San Antonio were abundant since all tournament games were broadcasted on either ESPN or ABC networks. An estimated 33,246,000 national broadcast viewers were able to cheer on their teams and experience San Antonio and the Alamodome virtually.

Venue Operations veteran Tim McNeff has been hired as the Los Angeles Forum’s Vice President of Arena Operations. McNeff comes to the Forum from the Los Angeles Football Club and Banc of California Stadium, where he was the Assistant General Manager and Senior Director, Facilities. He guided the stadium from construction to its inaugural season as an award-winning sports and entertainment venue and beyond. McNeff has more than 25 years of operations experience and has also worked at Circuit of the Americas, STAPLES Center, and Disneyland Resort.

McNeff has both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Long Beach. He began his new position on May 17 and reports to Forum General Manager and Senior Vice President of Live Events Geni Lincoln.