Party Time

If you're looking for someone to plan your next party, you could do a lot worse than Kim Meszaros.

If you don't know who Kim is, she is the assistant to the athletic director at Princeton. She is a fixture in Room 1 of Jadwin Gym.

Kim, who by the way is a past recipient of the Presidential Achievement award at Princeton, has had her fingerprints on pretty much every Department of Athletics celebration of the last few decades. If TB had to guess, he'd think that even though they are a great deal of work to put together, Kim probably missed having them a lot during the pandemic.

Also, keep in mind that Kim's primary responsibilities do not include planning parties. She has a ton of stuff to do to keep the department flowing smoothly, so TB always appreciates the effort that she puts in to these parties, which in turn keep a widely distributed department connected.

Princeton's athletic department has offices in facilities all over the campus. Those who work closely in other capacities with the athletes, coaches and administrators are even further spread out. This is good in many ways, especially since it keeps athletics integrated with the rest of the University.

The down side is that the entire group isn't always able to get together on a regular basis. The social events that Kim makes happen achieve that goal.

The most recent party Kim threw was the pregame "Team Around The Team" tailgate Saturday prior to the football game Saturday against Columbia. Like the rest of her events, there were plenty of the core things that make one of these parties great: 1) lots of refreshments, 2) orange and black, 3) people.

This one was a bit different, though, since it was the first big event since everyone has returned to campus. It was held above the baseball field while the team was having an Orange and Black scrimmage (though TB did not get to see head coach Scott Bradley get behind the plate).

What TB did see were a lot of familiar faces. Because of the Zoom world that everyone lived in for so long, seeing faces was easy. Seeing them in person was a rarity. TB, like everyone else, went months without seeing more than a small handful of people from Princeton actually in person.

Coming back to campus every day was always going to be a bit of a new dynamic. Now that it's here, one thing that TB can 100 percent say for sure is that it's been great to actually be around his colleagues. 

The party Saturday was great on two levels. One, it was fun. Two, it was something else that's been missing that is now doable again. 

TigerBlog saw Peter Farrell, the former head coach of women's track and field, and Kristen Appelget, a rowing Facult Fellow, a huge Princeton sports fan and a the University's Director of Community and Regional Affairs. What do they have in common? They are Notre Dame alums. They were pessimistic Notre Dame alums at that, what with the game the Irish had coming up with Cincinnati. As it turned out, they had reason for pessimism. Cincinnati won 24-13.

Phyllis Chase was there. She used to be the department travel coordinator. She is well-loved still among the group.

He saw Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack, who continues to meet more and more people from campus. There were coaches there. Other administrators. Faculty Fellows. It was just a group of people who are united in their affection for Princeton Athletics, gathering together before a football game, the way people have for a long time.

At one point, he stepped away from the party to look around the tent. What he saw he's seen hundreds of times before. It almost looked like he was looking at pictures from events in the past. 

As with everything else, though, TigerBlog found himself appreciating it this time even more. It's part of how it is now. 

When things were shut down for so long, it's important to recognize that these aren't moments to be taken for granted.

And so what Kim did Saturday meant a bit more than just a pregame tailgate. It was also something of a reminder, of the people and of the moments that make working in the Department of Athletics the special experience that it is. And so for that, TB once again thanks Kim.