No new posts going forward...

I will no longer post recruiting or rock painting updates on this blog.  Last year VN asked us to stop soliciting donations on the VN site so I created this blog for that purpose. They seemed fine with it at that point. 

Fast forward to 2013 ... every post I've tried to initiate about this blog gets removed by the VN mods almost immediately.  Apparently, I upset the mods at VN. I can't even redirect people to this site from the VN forums.  The only purpose of this site was to have a separate conduit for donations to the rock painting fund.  I've always been above board with donations and making sure the funds were used for rock paintings. 

Again, I'd like to thank the generous VFLs that made donations to the Rock Painting fund over the past two years.  It's a fun way for Vol fans to getr involved with the process.  And I do believe it makes a difference in our recruiting.

Ertel and Jake ... If you read this -- sorry guys, you're on your own. Not much else I can do from my side. I'll make sure you guys get the donations made the past couple of weeks.   Good luck with the painting.

I'll conintue to monitor the blog peridocially for comments and such but will be making no new posts.

Mike

2013 Official Visits

UPDATE:  We got enough donations to complete the 2013 rock paintings.  Thanks to our generous donors!  Ertel and crew will have the funds by Friday.  Check back here for pictures of the rock paintings.  Go Vols!!

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Numerous recruits will be in town to see our beautiful campus this weekend.  Ertel plans to paint each recruiting weekend up until signing day.  We're in the hunt for some big time recruits and it's time VN did our part.  Let's show them how serious we are about our football.  You guys remember last year the kind of impression the rock paintings made on several recruits. 

We need your help, though.  The supplies needed for painting can be expensive.  I volunteered again to donate my time and PayPal account this year to help distribute funds to Ertel and his painting crew.  If you would like to contribute, please logon to the PayPal website and use your credit or debit card to make a payment to my e-mail account (mjsmith1967@yahoo.com).  This is the same process we used last year with success.  We just need some VFLs to help us.

Disclaimer:  All funds donated to my PayPal account for the purpose of painting the rock will be distributed to Ertel for the purchase of paint and supplies.  No money will be kept by me or Ertel for our own personal gain.  We just love the Vols and want to help our school any way possible.

Signing day done...

...with mixed results. We got most everybody that was committed. We did lose Peters and Santos but we gained a huge recruit in Patterson from the JUCO ranks. All-in-all, a solid class considering how poorly our season ended. I'm not sure how muh the rock paintings helped the recruiting cause. One thing we DID learn, though .... Recruits and their parent do pay attention to it. I even saw a quote from the Virginia Tech forum where a moderator mentioned the rock painting that was done for Korren Kirven the week before signing day. I encourage the rock painters to contact me again if/when they're ready to tackle another painting. Great work guys...

Weekend painting...

Check out the new artwork on our Twitter account (@paintthevolrock) and VolNation.com (http://www.volnation.com/forum/pub/153090-rock-15.html). Some dedicated Vol fans gave their all for our school Friday night. Bravo gents...

Mid week painting for Korren Kirven...

Great work guys....

The week of January 23 - 30....

Jake and crew have two paintings scheduled this week. The first is for a midweek visit by Korren Kirven and his parents. This is a really important recruit for UT. I'm glad we're getting the rock painted to show his family the kind of fans we have in TN. The second painting is for the BIG final recruiting weekend of the year. Numerous recruits will be in town to see our beautiful campus. Jake has a cool design planned for these guys. I just purchased enough supplies for both paintings. The total amount was $99.87. I'm looking for three donors to contribute $20 each. I'll carry the other $40. If you would like to contribute, please let me know in the comments of this posting. I'll get you to logon to the PayPal website and use your credit or debit card to make a payment to my e-mail account (mjsmith1967@yahoo.com). Again, I only need three people to donate.

Here's how we'll operate...

EDIT:  After talking with Jake on the VN forum, we decided he'd rather plan the painting on VN and use this site exclusively for donations.  Fine with me.  I don't care.  So ... here are the rules...

1. Jake or another volunteer will start a new post on VN asking for volunteers to paint the rock.  The link for the VN rock thread - http://www.volnation.com/forum/pub/153090-rock.html. 
2. I will solicit donors and steer people to this blog site.  I'll create a post here with the date of the painting.  I'll define a set amount required to fund each rock painting.  Jake estimates $30 -- we'll use that number for now.  If we find out it's higher or lower, I can adjust later.
3. Donors will contribute money for that particular rock painting via my PayPal account.  I'll keep PayPal information posted under my profile here.  Donors can send money using a debit/credit card or their PayPal account.
4. Jake or another volunteer will update the VN rock thread with status reports on gathering volunteers ... I'll update this blog site for donors.  As soon as we have enough donations for that event, I'll tell everybody to stop sending money.
5. Jake or another volunteer will give me a list of supplies required for the painting.  I will purchase the supplies and meet a volunteer to give them their stuff (time and place will be discussed).
6. The volunteers will take pictures of the completed rock and post them on this website and VolNation.com.
7. We land the next 5 star recruit!

Let's try it this way and see how it works.  Again, I'll fund the next one.  I'd like to get a better feel for how much it costs.