The Family and MWR Command presents the 2010 U.S. Army Soldier Show.

Aug 31 at 7pm and Sept 1 at 7pm. McCain Auditorium, Manhattan, KS.

More info visit www.armymwr.com or call 785-240-0479. Only remaining tickets are on Fort Riley, 785-240-0479.

We are expanding our Yellow Ribbon program to include a few extracurricular activities.  We had a Challenge Course experience at K-State in July as well as a cooking class at Emerald City Market.

Mark your calendars for the following fun events:

Sep 11    Texas Hold 'Em Poker Class at the Fort Riley USO--We'll have guest poker 
               experts "live" from Vegas on the VTC on hand to teach us the basics and then we'll 
               start playing.  No cash buy-in, but there will be fabulous prizes for the top chip leader
               at the end of play. The fun starts at 10 am and lasts until 12:30 pm.  Lunch will be
               provided.  Free day care is available that day at CYSS! This is class one in a 4 series
               class.  Dates still TBD.

Sep 18    Go Red Girls Night Out at the Kansas City Royals Game in KC--We're going to
               caravan and carpool over to the game which starts at 6:10 pm.  The Go Red
               pre-game event starts as early as 3:30 pm with advance purchase of a VIP 
               ticket package (Cost $34 and $25--includes game ticket, entrance to Go Red 
               event, t-shirt, , $5 AHA donation and $6 concession credit).  For more info click 
               here.  We are hoping to leave MHK no later than 3 pm and maybe earlier if we can
               work it out.  Email if you want to attend so we can plan
               transportation and ticket purchase.

Oct 15     Exclusive Fall Preview Night at Ann-A-Lee's in the Grand Mere Shopping Center--Join 
               the staff at Ann-A-Lee's for a special preview of new fall merchanside and tastings of 
               their food lines.  They'll provide the yummies and beverages for us!

TBD        Food tasting at 4Olives
TBD        Continuing food classes at Emerald City Market (next up Wine & Cheese tasting)
TBD        Book discussion group to meet for coffee in the mornings while the kids are at school

KState's Institute for the Health and Security of Military Families is working on a study that will be able to answer many questions about the early years of marriage in the military. 

Eligibility for the study requires:

* being at least 18 years old,
* currently engaged (with a wedding date within the next six months) or
* recently married (within the last year) and
* in your first marriage

In addition, one member of the couple must be an active member of the military. Both spouses must be willing to participate. Deployed soldiers are eligible as the survey is conducted online.  

They are looking to recruit an additional 40-60 couples this summer and believe this information will be able to inform current pre-marriage and marriage strengthening programs for military couples.  

If you are interested or know someone who is eligible, please have them contact Jared Anderson at Jared's email for details on the program. Information will be kept confidential. Feel free to pass along this information to your friends and neighbors.

Dirty car? Head on over to Ashley Furniture Homestore at 200 Sarber Lane on 14 Aug and 21 Aug from 9:30 am to 3 pm to get it washed by the 2-16 Rangers.  Just returned from Iraq, they are holding a fundraiser to help reduce costs for Soldiers of all ranks to attend their upcoming unit ball.  Encore performance will be on 11 Sep at Autozone on Fort Riley BLVD from 9:30 am to 3 pm.  Donations accepted and much appreciated.

The new USO on Fort RIley is open seven days a week: Mon.—Thurs., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sat. & Sun. from noon to 6 p.m.and features:

*  Free WiFi and computer lab
*  Xbox 360, PS3, Wii areas
*  Pool tables, air hockey,
*  Shuffleboard, foosball
*  Poker tables
* 9 DirecTV televisions
* Movie theater with 65” TV
* Fireplace/lounge areas
* Library with free books
* Free phone calls home
* Snack bar with free drinks & snacks
* Outdoor patio AND MORE!!!

 

Once a month we host the Lunch Bunch gatherings which are designed to promote community networking opportunities between Fort Riley spouses and Manhattan businesswomen.  The gatherings are always from 11:30 am to 1 pm and are a Dutch affair.  No reservations are required, simply show up and join the fun.  This is a great way to meet other people and get connected.  The dates below are all on the 2nd Tuesday except for the Aug 16 date.

Aug 16    Cox Bros BBQ                             Sep 14   Olive Garden
Oct 12     Kite's Eastside                            Nov 9      dellaVoce
Dec 14    Houlihan's                                   Jan 11     Hibachi Hut/Texas Star
Feb 8      Harry's                                        Mar 8      Little Apple Brewery
Apr 12     Paddy O'Quigleys                        May 10   Los Potrillos
Jun 14     4 Olives                                      Jul 12      AJ Pizzaria
Aug 9      Hy-Vee

In order to provide a casual social experience for spouses of deployed Soldiers, the MRC is sponsoring twice monthly Yellow Ribbon Socials at various restaurant locations around Manhattan.  The events are from 6-9 pm and are come and go--stay as long as works for your schedule.  We try to pick a variety of restaurant venues to accommodate different budgets and tastes.  The socials are adult only, so please no kids.   We offer free appetizers at the events, but your meal, drinks and desserts are on you.

So far we have been to Houlihan's, The Patio Grille, Little Apple Brew Pub, dellaVoce, Texas Star, Manhttan Country Club, Harry's, Carlos O'Kelly's, AJs Pizzaria, Coco Bolos and Olive Garden.  If you have suggestions, please let us know.  Our next dates and locations are:


Aug 19 at The Little Grill
Sep 1 at Houlihan's
Sep 16 at Famous Dave's
Oct 6 at La Fiesta
Oct 21 at Paddy O'quigleys
Nov 3 Texas Star
Nov 18 Little Apple Brewery

USO Fort Riley is offering deploying service members a local place to participate in USO’s United Through Reading® Military Program. The program allows service members to be videotaped while reading children’s books aloud before they depart or while they are home on R&R.

All deploying units and individuals are eligible to participate in UTR.

Units can request the free program up to 4 months prior to deployment. The program is mobile and can set up in a quiet room in a unit's building during duty hours. It only takes about 10 minutes for soldiers to read books to their children on DVD. To request UTR for your unit, e-mail . More information on the program is available at

www.uso.org/fortriley

Donations of new children's books, postage, etc. are needed. For more information on how you can help, e-mail