Jim Dailey

Stanley Ski Team …. SST

Here is the note I sent to my ski buddies after the 2012 ski trip.  We have been going on a trip each year for over 30 years. Stanley is the last name of the original founding father of SST.

 Once again, it was a special treat to be with the best friends in the world.  In a very small way, I miss skiing with the group but in a very big way I enjoy our time together and will do all I can to attend for as long as the Good Lord allows.  I certainly don’t wish to be maudlin, but John made a prophetic and profound statement when he said “we will probably not be doing this ten years from now”.

 The evening discussions, especially the evening discussing family histories was a highlight for me … as different as we may be, there is a common thread we all share.  We are family oriented, we obviously value true friendships, for the most part we are fairly conservative (a couple maybe more than “fairly conservative”), we are self starting, entrepreneurial guys … in most cases from self starting entrepreneurial roots, we are fundamentally Christian, God fearing men with strong work ethics and, by golly, strong play ethics… I repeat, Strong Play Ethics!!!  Who would ever have thought for 31 or 32 or 33 years, a group like ours would click, stay together, take a trip each year together, schedule lunch every Friday together and for all these years keep this exercise right at the top of our priority lists.  Who would have thought?  Who would have thought a Dermatologist, Ad guy, a coffin salesman, a funeral director,  an asbestos tester, an architect, a refrigeration/electric supplier, a jeweler and a politician could find enough in common to embark on this adventure, and even more significant, to continue it for so many years.  Ours truly is a unique story..a meaningful, enriching celebration of friendship.  I thank each of you. 

With all the recent publicity about the firing of Coach Bobby Petrino, I must share something I witnessed wednesday evening while attending a joint meeting of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Parks, Travel and Tourism Commission and  Highway Commission.  We were all invited to a wonderful evening reception and dinner at the NW Arkansas Botanical Garden.  After dinner, UofA Chancellor, Dave Gearhart was the speaker/MC.  He began by acknowledging the media coverage of the firing reminding us he could say very little because of the pending appeal process.  However, he did say “I have never been so proud of a University of Arkansas employee than I was of Athletic Director, Jeff Long for the way he handled all aspects of this high profile situation.”  With that, approximately 300 people gave a standing applause of unanimous approval.
Clearly, the entire leadership deserves praise for making Arkansas proud … proud of the courage, integrity and character it took to stand on principle … the “Do Right Principle”.

Jeff Long is my hero of the week