In late February of 2010, the Eastern Hills Mall was once again the setting for an event put on to help improve people's health, this event sponsored by Kaleida Health, designed to help teach families about staying healthy through dance. I showed up a little late thanks to traffic and the weather myself but the Jills performed before I got there and then handed out info on the Jr Jills program and on Jills auditions coming up. Other groups performed dances as well, including one that put on a West African dance routine and invited several members of the audience up on stage to learn and participate. Valerie and Lisa, there at the event in civvies to support their squadmates, were part of that group that learned some West African dance moves.
Jackie, Ayeshia, Eileen, Loren, and Omarlla at the Day of Dance with a little fan
The 3 Musketeers, Kristen, Nicole, and Alyssa
The evening's appearance was a little bigger, the annual Buffalo Jills Adult Comedy Show at Club Paradise in Blasdell. In addition to the above-mentioned performance, there were 3 comedians who took the stage to entertain the crowd. First up was local comedian Dan Pordum, who put on a show talking about, among other things, how much better Buffalonians handle bad weather than other people around the nation. The 2nd comedian onstage was no stranger to Jills fans as he'd been running the 103.3 The Edge Away Game Parties the past 2 seasons. I'm talking of course about Edge DJ and Program Director James. The final comedian, Jocko Alston, was from Montreal and touched on a variety of topics including how similar dance styles actually are and raved about how beautiful Buffalo women are, based on the solid representation from the Buffalo Jills. Jocko had a few DVDs out on the market and, at the end of the show, sold some with a portion of the sales going to the Jills Calendar Shoot fund, helping cover some of the costs of the Jills' trip to Jamaica in May to shoot their 2010-2011 Swimsuit Calendar. Sadly, Jocko passed away later in the year but while we can no longer see him onstage anymore, we can see more about him on YouTube.
squad photo with Jocko Alston
Of course no Jills event was ever complete without a dance performance and Jackie, Loren, Eileen, Omarlla, and Ayeshia made sure to keep the crowd fully enthralled when they weren't laughing with the comedy acts onstage.
Blondes! Eileen, Christina, Jess, Heather, and Amanda
Pro Bowl Dan with Omarlla, Eileen, Christina, and Jess
One thing that I, as someone who's gotten to know many of the Jills over the years, looks forward to with these events, is when Jills alumni show up to support their former squadmates. I'm not alone in this by any means as current members of the squad get pretty excited to see former squadmates show up as well. This event featured longtime Jills Ambassador Captain Kelly (2002-08) as well as a pair of 2005-07 alumni in Autumn and Rachael, all of whom posed for pictures as if they had never left the squad. There was also one more extra celebrity in the crowd as Pro Bowl Dan made the trip up from Virginia to take in the show and take some photos. For anyone who's not sure who Pro Bowl Dan is, he's been going to every Pro Bowl for the past several years and has been getting a lot of good shots of all the Pro Bowl Cheerleaders for UltimateCheerleaders.com
alums Autumn and Rachael with the last remaining member of their 2005 rookie class, Katie K
See all the pics at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/7309
From the Bandettes comes a photo from before the April game against the New England Black Wolves. Shown smiling for the camera is rookie Brittany as she's stationed to sell game programs. After one of her closest friends spent a season on the Jills, she decided to do the same, but with the Bandettes after getting her family started. Sadly, Brittany followed Jena's example again and called it a career after a season, presumably to spend more time with her young family. Considering how active Jena is as a Jills alum though, hopefully we'll see plenty of Brittany at Bandettes alum events.
Every February. the Buffalo Auto Show is held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center and besides the new model cars on display, there are events to get involved in. Buffalo is a city well-known for its tailgating prowess, annually ranked in the top 3 in the NFL with Green Bay and Kansas City. Besides their devotion to tailgating, the foods that are served at Buffalo tailgate parties are spoken of around the league. In honor of this, the Buffalo Auto Show, with the aid of radio station 103.3 The Edge, hosted a contest in which 5 contestants put their recipes up for judging.
On this Valentine's Day, Jills vets Kaitlin and Amanda were a part of the judging panel and before sitting down to judge, posed for photos with several of the fans there, including this little lady who hoped to be on the sidelines at the Ralph one day herself. #BringBackTheJills They even ran into a family friend of Amanda's who was there checking things out for his job as a police officer.
Kaitlin and Amanda with a little fan
Amanda and Kaitlin with Tom Ragan from 103.3 The Edge's Shredd & Ragan show
You can see all the pics at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/7292
From the Bandettes comes a photo from the April game against New England. Shown posing for the camera while handling program sales is rookie beauty Syidah, a young lady who has some grand goals for her future. While we hope she accomplishes each of her goals, we still hope to see her on the Bandettes for several more years.
With tryouts finished for the 2 teams we're currently covering, the new members of the squads are being introduced to the public!
First up is the Lady 716ers, who had tryouts a little over 3 weeks ago. Coached by Bandettes alum LaToya and Jills alum Loren, they're taking to social media to introduce the ladies to the public. So far they've introduced us to three of the lovely young ladies who will be performing at Buffalo 716ers games starting on November 28th. Like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Lady-716ers-383773911753996/timeline/ and follow them on Instagram at https://instagram.com/lady716ers/ to meet Tia, Shannon, and Dolly so far with the rest of the squad being introduced over the next couple of weeks!
Bandettes tryouts were held over the weekend and they've already posted a photo of everyone at https://www.facebook.com/Buffalo-Bandettes-610024352385837/timeline/ Sadly, many familiar faces chose not to return but we have a lot of fresh new faces to get to know and love. Captaining the squad will be Mandy and Stephanie. Behind them, only 4 vets return with MaKenzie, Janelle, Jennifer, and Syidah being the familiar faces returning and 9 brand new rookies!
Occasionally, I would find out about Jills appearances from the ladies involved in them directly. It meant extra exposure for the event, usually charity-related, and more photos taken. 2009 rookie Alyssa was always excited to share appearance details with me and this was one of those appearances she told me about when she saw me the week before at the appearances she was at that I covered. The bonus for me was that it was happening just a few miles from my home and in the afternoon before I had a trip up to Buffalo planned for a Bandits game covering the Bandettes.
Like the September event, this DFT event featured, in addition to 4 of Buffalo's Beauties, former Bills LS Adam Lingner. In addition to autographs and photo ops with Adam and the Jills, the new DFT location sponsored a brand-new Subaru Impreza giveaway with a dice game. Overall, the event wasn't as packed as the September tailgate event but there was still a pretty steady flow of fans stopping in throughout much of the afternoon. Things did start to die down by the end of the event and Murissa kept everyone entertained spelling out DFT with her hands as part of a cheer she made up on the spot.
Murissa making a T, as in DFT
Murissa, Amanda, Alyssa, and Keisha with Bills alum Adam Lingner
After the girls left, I hung around for a bit and talked with Adam about life, football, and, of all things, politics. Adam's become a big advocate over the years in trying to get government to work more for all the people instead of just the ones with deep pockets. See all the pics at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/24183
From the Bandettes comes a photo from the March game against Minnesota. Shown cheering on a goal in the 4th quarter is the beautiful MaKenzie. She was a 3rd year vet in 2015 and helped out co-captaining Mandy's line one game when she was off and Chrissy took the captain's role. The question now is whether MaKenzie is returning and if so, how will her responsibilities change on gamedays?
Every January, the Eastern Hills Mall in Williamsville has played host to a Heath and Wellness Expo is designed to give area families important health information from local businesses and organizations. Several healthy living activities being presented included blood pressure screening, flu shots, martial arts and workout demonstrations. The Jills' part of this event was more than the usual posing for photos and signing autographs, although they did that as well. Besides being a model of what healthy and fit women generally aspire to look like, they worked with the Coca-Cola bottling company of Buffalo, NY handing out samples of Fuze Orange Blossom White Tea to mall shoppers.
When I got there, Alyssa and Jackie had been on the job for over an hour and had already met a lot of fans. I hung off to the side, grabbing a few photos when fans were there and talking to the girls when they were free. Before long, Amanda and Lisa showed up to take over. Before leaving, Alyssa made sure to let me know she expected me at the appearance she was headed to next after she grabbed some lunch, a few miles away at Stereo Advantage in Williamsville.
Jackie, Amanda, Alyssa, and Lisa
After some time spent with and photographing these beauties, it was on to Stereo Advantage where some more of the Jills were on hand to help promote their Football Theater systems. As part of the event, the Jills signed people up to win an autographed Paul Posluszny jersey at an event that included free food for shoppers and the chance to buy Buffalo football-themed t-shirts with proceeds from the sales going to the American Red Cross for the Haitian Relief Effort. On hand for the event when I arrived were 3rd year vet Angelina, 2nd year vet Murissa, and rookie Nicole. It wasn't long after I arrived that Alyssa and Courteney showed up to help out In addition to what I previously said, the girls got to explore the store and check out the comfy theater that Stereo Advantage has on display with a large HD TV and big comfy seating.
Alyssa, Murissa, Angelina, and Nicole showing off the shirts
After spending some time at Stereo Advantage with these 5 beautiful ladies, I wanted to make sure the last shift of Jills at the Health Expo got some attention as well so it was back on the road to the Eastern Hills Mall where 3rd year vet Jessica and rookie ambassador Ruby were on hand, having taken over from Lisa and Amanda a little while earlier. In addition to handing out Fuze and posing for pictures, Jess and Ruby took a crack at Channel 2's prize wheel. WGRZ Channel 2's booth was set up right next door to educate people about breast cancer.
Jess and Ruby back at the Health Fair
See all the pics at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/7270
From the Bandettes comes a photo from Bandettes alum day before the March game against Minnesota. Shown posing for the camera are Beth, Kelsey, and Alicia. Beth had a long, eventful career as a Bandette with two 3-year stints, the 1st ending after a Bandits title and the 2nd ending when she joined the Jills. Kelsey followed in her sister Danielle's footsteps both literally and figuratively dancing in the same spot during games each year that her sister had as well as calling it quits after 2 seasons. Alicia only spent a season on the squad but when you consider how much she loves the Bandits, I have to imagine she'll look at a return sometime soon.
