Dear Coaches and Students in the Southern Regional HRRB

Jan. 17, 2008

Dear Coaches and Students in the Southern Regional HRRB,

We are thrilled that you will be participating in the Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl this year. The Southern Regional will take place on February 9 at VSU in Valdosta. We will be meeting in the HughBaileyScienceCenter for all bowl activities. We will begin our day at 9:00 with registration in the Atrium where you will find many interesting exhibits to enjoy. Only coaches need to register and pick up the team materials. At 9:30 the school banner carriers will line up outside the auditorium doors. We ask that all participants and guests be seated in the auditorium by 9:30. School teams may choose to sit where they wish in the auditorium. A PowerPoint of the past regional bowls will be running in the auditorium prior to the start of the bowl.

We will try to start the Opening Ceremony at 9:30 with a presentation of the colors by the Air Force ROTC Color Guard followed shortly by the Parade of Schools. Coaches, please remember to bring a banner (paper or cloth) with your school’s name on it for the parade. The banner should be no longer than four feet and should be placed on a pole so that two team members can carry it between them.

Following the Parade of Schools there will be short introductory remarks by several members of the college administration, a short history of our bowl and then the Reading of the Rules. At that time we will dismiss the teams to go to the assigned rooms (located on the three floors of the building) for the beginning of the rounds. Guests of each team will be asked to accompany the teams to each competition room as they move between rounds. There are numerous seating areas throughout the building where guests and teams can rest between rounds and during rounds that they need to sit out due to the schedule. The rounds should begin by 10:00 and be completed by 12:00. Each round consists of ten questions and each team will participate in six rounds.

When a team has finished their six rounds, they may proceed to the Palms Dining Hall for lunch. Lunch will be all you can eat with a cost of $6.96per person (includes tax).We will not have to make lunch reservations in advance. We highly encourage you to have your teams take advantage of this lunch opportunity as our schedule will be tight and it will be difficult to travel to a restaurant in town, order, eat and get back. The Palms Dining Hall is under new management and according to several students who live on campus the food is really good.

At approximately 1:00 we will begin the Closing Ceremony. This will include some words of challenge to our students, the presentation of participation trophies and the announcement of the winners. We hope to be finished by 2:00 at which time we may have some guided tours of the campus available for those who wish to learn more about VSU.

We ask that each team bring one QuikPro lockout device from Patrick’s Press of the 5 buzzers on each side model. If you do not have a lockout device to bring, please email me at and let me know so we can be sure we have enough lockout devices to hold the bowl. You will not be excluded from the bowl for not having a device. We have some counties that can provide extra. Please make sure your QuikPro is clearly labeled with your school name. Send the QuikPro with your representative to the Friday Set-up session. Please don’t forget to retrieve your QuikPro from the registration table before you leave in the afternoon.

VSU and our sponsors will provide a “goodie” bag for our participants when they arrive which will include a bottle of water, several snacks and “freebies”. Please caution the students to deposit trash in the appropriate trash receptacles.

We will be meeting in the HughBaileyScienceCenter. You can access a map of the campus at . The HughBaileyScienceCenter is marked #15 Biology/Chemistry building on the map.

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CampusLot(refer to campus map). Parents may park in the Oak St. Lot (back portion which can be entered from Sustella Ave.), P.E. Complex Lot, UniversityCenter, Fine Arts Lot, Admissions Lot, Alumni Parking Lot, North Campus Parking Lots, or the lot on the north side of Georgia Ave. You can find a map showing the construction and parking lots at . On this map we are meeting in building #5.

Coaches, I recommend that you copy some of this information to a letter for your team’s parents and include your travel information.

If you are your county’s representative for the Friday Set-up session and will be staying overnight, several of us are staying at the Jamison Inn near I-75 exit 18.

If you have any questions that I haven’t answered, please feel free to contact me at or call me at 912-882-8191(day) or 912-673-8240(evening).

Looking forward to a great bowl,

Donna Milner

Southern Regional chair, Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl