SJAFB holds the annual Make it Better Club Expo
By John Joyce
Published in News on January 17, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Heidi Sumpter gives a few pointers to SrA Nathaniel Waring at the Chess Club booth during the Make it Better club fair at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base welcomed active duty members, dependents, retirees and civilians Jan. 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for its annual Make it Better Club Expo at the installations Eagles Landing event center.
Seymour Johnson boasts more than 100 clubs open to anyone with access to the base, all of which are backed by the base-wide Make it Better campaign.
"The Make it Better campaign started in Oct. 2014. It started as an initiative (after) our commander (Col. Mark Slocum) and command chief (Chief Master Sgt. Jeffrey Craver) were walking around base and would run into people, and there was just this theme that people were like, 'there is nothing to do,'" Master Sgt. Kiera Daniels said.
Daniels is the 4th Medical Group First Sergeant and a member of the MiB committee.
"There are hundreds of things to do, people just weren't being connected," she said.
The goal of MiB is to create activities for members of the base to get involved, to create that sense of community and to get airmen of like-interests together, Daniels explained.
The club expo featured more than 50 of the base clubs, with tables set up to display some of the features each club has to offer. Attendees were able to chat with club members and founders, to take away information about each club and many were able to sign up an join either on the spot or on-line.
"We found that if people have that sense of belonging, that sense of community, they are generally in a better place just as people," Daniels said.
Among the many clubs -- which included those centered around sports and the outdoors, cars and mechanics, flying, skydiving and white water rafting, and more -- were Rebecca Griener and Jennifer Barnes. Both women are Air Force spouses and Barnes is prior-service.
Together the two women founded the Seymour Johnson Roller Derby club. Although there is an age-requirement, 18, and only women can play in their league, Griener and Barnes said anyone is welcome to come out and support their events.
"It is an all-women's sport, but we do allow men to referee in our league, though," Griener said.
First-timers are welcome to join as well.
"First we will teach you the basics, how to hit, how to take a fall," she said.
And despite some risk, the sport is not as inherently violent as some people might believe.
"It's athleticism, plain and simple. It is no more violent than football. We do have rules-- no punching, no elbows.
The game is played on a point system in a timed offensive and defensive struggle. Each team tries to score as many points within a two-minute window -- called a jam -- by passing the other team. Each team has one member designated as "the jammer."
The goal is to get your jammer by the other team, while stopping their jammer from being able to pass.
The team with the most points at the end wins.
"It can be a really low score, or, if the jammer gets through a lot, it can be a really high score. It depends on both teams."
Plus each player gets a jersey number and their own Derby name. Griener and Barnes are known within the roller Derby world as, "The Sandwich," and, "Gypsy," respectively.
The club is only open to women players, but again men are welcome to join as referees, scorekeepers and time keepers.
Also at the Expo were the Seymour Savers club, which helps its more than 200 members learn to save money and shop smarter by clipping coupons and tracking sales.
"I have not bought laundry detergent in a year and a half. I have not bought toilet paper in a year," Staff Sgt. Nicole Moriarty said. "And it is all thanks to coupons," she said.
At any given time there were more than 200 people circulating from booth to booth inside Eagle's Landing. Folks went from the Seymour Johnson Book Club to the theater club, the leather working and cooking clubs, the model train club, and more.
Tech. Sgt. Kimberly McDougle spent her mid-morning telling people about the base Storytellers group.
"So Storytellers is an event that we hold here once a quarter, and it is kind of taking a peek behind the uniform. People share their experiences through resiliency and their life experiences," she said.
"We're kind of not a traditional club, persay. It is more of an event. The fun part is, the Storytellers group takes over the Eagles Landing and Converts it to a coffee shop setting.
"The lights are dim. So it is not like your standard power point presentation, it's like a coffee shop vibe with music. We usually serve free breakfast," she said.
"They will come, we will have Starbuck's coffee and then people just tell their stories."
Each club has its own Facebook page, or it has one on the way. Information about MiB and a list of the clubs on base are available on the SJAFB web site at seymourjohnson.af.mil
"The added benefit for us is that people like being at SJAFB, people enjoy being here, people want to come to SJAFB," Daniels said. "We want people, their experience here, to be a good one. And these clubs bring that."