FEBRUARY 2010 Team Excel Family Newsletter

Team Excel qualifies four teams to the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships with medal winning performances and the Preliminary team earns berth in Championship Round

Junior and Collegiate earn Silver Medals in highly competitive fields; Welcome to Juvenile and Novice teams awarded Pewter Medals; Preliminary team earns berth in Championship Round

Team Excel! (February 2, 2010) Less than a year after forming as an organization In this issue: created to promote synchronized skating and prepare synchronized skating teams for national and international competition, Team • Basic Skills Excel qualified all eligible teams for the upcoming U.S. Competition Synchronized Skating Championships and the Preliminary team qualified for the Championship Round. • Salvation Army Show The Paul Tsongas Arena was the venue for the 2010 Eastern • Ice Chips Sectional Synchronized Skating Championships where the Team Excel Preliminary, Juvenile, Novice, Junior and Collegiate teams all • Evening with competed. Eastern Sectionals is the qualifying competition for Champions garnering the right to compete at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships, which will take place this year in Minneapolis, MN • Nationals on March 3-6, 2010.

• Try Outs The Junior line was awarded a silver medal after a two days of rigorous competition. After the short program on Friday, Team Excel’s inspired performance to Josh Groban’s "You are Loved" was Team Excel. tied with another team for the top spot on the points, but was awarded first place on the strength of its higher technical scores. On Promoting Synchronized the following day, the Junior line performed its long program to a Skating. medley of Celtic tunes, showcasing the skaters' grace and power. Building Character (continued on page 2)

TTHEEAM LOREM EXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010

Easterns (Continued from page 1)

In only its second performance of the season, the Though a newly formed organization, Team Excel Team Excel Collegiate team, skating to Slumdog features an experienced coaching staff led by Millionaire, earned a silver medal in a field of nine Director Merita Mullen, Coach of National Medal teams with a score of 78.42. This was a 26 point Winning and US World Teams, a dedicated and improvement over its initial competition committed group of parent and skater volunteers performance just a couple of weeks earlier. and an affiliation with The Skating Club of Boston, one of the premier figure skating clubs in the Skating to a medley from the Twilight soundtrack United States. The Skating Club of Boston ranging from romantic to gothic, the Novice provides practice facilities in Brighton and program featured beautifully choreographed arm Marlborough. movements designed to coincide with the dramatic musical transitions. The program, Team Excel offers skaters of all ages and levels an showcasing intricate circle footwork and a flowing opportunity to have fun, develop skating skills, moving wheel, earned them a pewter medal. grow as individuals and develop a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence that comes The Juvenile team received a pewter medal for its with working towards goals and achieving them. Mulan-inspired program with featured artful spiral circle, spread-eagles, and Ina Bauers. The Tryouts for the 2010-2011 synchronized skating technically challenging program gave the Juvenile season will be held at the New England Sports team a chance to highlight its strong skating Center in Marlborough, MA beginning March 25 skills. and continuing through April. There will be openings at each level, including Preliminary, Competing in a field of fourteen teams, the Juvenile, Novice, Junior and Collegiate. Additional "practically-perfect" Mary Poppins program of the tryouts for Team Excel's popular Collegiate team Preliminary team wowed the crowd from the very will be held in early September. beginning with a circle accented by blade-grab teardrop spirals. The performance earned them a Team Excel also offers introductory classes in berth in the Championship Round where they synchronized skating in Brighton, Marlborough finished sixth. and Weston and beginner teams in Brighton and Marlborough. Team Excel’s beginner teams Merita Mullen, Head Coach and Director of welcome all young skaters who wish to enjoy the Synchronized Skating for Team Excel said, "Being fun of skating in a team environment. a new organization, I am very proud that our skaters, coaching staff and volunteers worked so Team Excel is also hosting the first annual Boston hard in a short timeframe to accomplish what Synchronized Skating Classic on March 27 and is they did. We qualified all eligible teams for the offering clinics for all skaters at the competition. U.S. Championships and I was pleased they finished in the top four places. Our success this In addition, on February 14, Team Excel skaters weekend validates the vision of a synchronized- will participate in Skatefest 2010 to benefit The skating organization that combines experienced Salvation Army's Our Place Day Care Center for coaches, trainers and supportive volunteers with Homeless Children in Cambridge. And then on older accomplished skaters who mentor and April 10-11, Team Excel will participate in The nurture younger skaters, inspiring them with Skating Club's annual Ice Chips show which has personal passion and excitement for our sport." traditionally benefitted local charities such as the Girl Scouts and Children’s Hospital.

Jeff Sokolov

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TEAMTHE E XCELLOREM FAMILY IPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 2012 2010

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TTHEEAM E LOREMXCEL FAMILY IPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 2012 2010

Congratulations to the Team Excel Beginner teams (Black and Gold) Beginner for skating in the Boston Basic Skills Competition on Saturday, February 6 in the Boston Basic Skills competition. Both teams had a great skate and completed all the elements in their programs successfully. Medals were awarded upstairs with kind and welcoming words from SCoB board member Gloria Miner. Each skater got a personally engraved medal. Gloria’s words reinforced the feeling of being welcomed that we all have at The Skating Club of Boston and we were proud to be compete there!

If you see a Team Excel Beginner – give them a high-5 for a job well done!

Our Preliminary Team were terrific at Easterns skating to a medley of songs from Mary Poppins. This was the first time they Preliminary competed at Easterns, and they were proud to represent Team Excel in its inaugural year. The preliminary flight was very competitive with 14 teams competing in the qualifying round yet Team Excel was the only New England preliminary team to qualify for the championship round with a third place finish. In the championship round, they placed 6th, beating the two teams from their qualifying group, and having the best skate of

the year!

They are proud to have made it to the championship round and to have been considered one of the top East Coast Preliminary

XL Juvies finished 4th out of 9 teams at Easterns, earning the pewter medal and a trip to Nationals! The highlight of our Easterns weekend, other than qualifying for Nationals, of course, was our first hotel stay of the season. After a very busy day that included official Juvenile practice, unofficial practice, breakfast at Bickford's, movies and popcorn at the Gouker's house, and a team dinner at The Macaroni Grille, the girls had a great time at the hotel spending quality off-ice time together. Merita let the team know that February will be filled

with lots of hard work in preparation for Nationals and the girls are up for the challenge. In our first year, Team Excel will be sending four teams to Nationals making it a very special trip for everyone. Mall of America here we come!

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TEAMTHE E XCELLOREM FAMILY IPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 2012 2010

The Novice team is eagerly preparing for Nationals!!! Having qualified at the Eastern Sectional Championships last weekend, and earning their first medal of the season, the novice team is focused and ready to go. Their Twilight program has changed and Novice improved greatly since their inaugural performance in Plymouth over 3 months ago. The new hand and head movements really bring a feeling of confidence to their program, it really is such a pleasure to watch. They are also preparing to exhibit at Skatefest 2010, a fundraiser for Salvation Army, on February 14th at Bright Arena on the campus of Harvard University. It has been an exciting and fun season for the Novice team thus far, they have grown so close both on and off the ice. They are a focused group of athletes ready to attack each and every challenge.

Though the Team Excel Juniors are disappointed that they did not qualify for Hungary, they are even more determined to skate "their" programs. Though their Easterns short program featured an unusual tie, they were in first place because of their higher technical score. The team ended up finishing second overall. We Junior love that taking the bus together gave us a chance to get really pumped up and ready to compete!! We are so excited that all the eligible Team Excel lines will be going to Nationals. Between now and Nationals, the Junior team will be exhibiting at the Salvation Army Show (Feb 14th) and the National Sendoff (Feb 19th). We are looking forward to some outstanding skating, getting Team Excel jackets, and going to the Mall of America!!!!!

The month of January was an extremely exciting month for the Collegiate team and certainly brought additional meaning to our Collegiate music Jai Ho, which when translated means "Victory to Thee." We had our first competition at the beginning of the month where we were finally able to showcase our program. With only two weeks until the next competition, the team worked extremely hard, and came out fighting at Easterns earning a silver medal competing against 9 teams. We are extremely proud of our performance,

which was a personal best skating-wise and point-wise, and we have already started to work hard to prepare for our trip to Minnesota! Go Team Excel!

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TTHEEAM LOREM EXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010 Fitness Update

Only a couple of weeks until Nationals! That does not mean that skaters should give up on off ice exercises, but the goals do change. Significant strength gains cannot be made in this short time, but loss of flexibility and strength can happen if you give up. Keep it simple - static stretching daily. 3 way planks utilize almost all the muscles in the body, Practice them at home 2 days a week in addition to off ice at the rink. Intervals have been raised for novice and junior but will level off next week. Stay well hydrated, be careful of getting over tired with preparation, eat well - you will be in great shape for the competition. Bring any injury concerns to Grubie or Dr. Ellen who will be junior practice a couple of times prior to Nationals.

Nutrition!!!

A dietetic intern from Mass General Hospital met with the Novice & Junior lines on January 17th! Her name is Molly and she loved meeting with our athletes, and came away impressed by their motivation and dedication! She’s continued to keep in touch with the teams, to give continued support. She gave the teams some XLcellent athletic food choices! Along with giving our athletes better snack, meal and hydration ideas, she also gave ideas on team meals. You can find the handouts she created in the Members section of the website shortly.

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TTHEEAM LOREM EXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010 Party of Gold!

Many thanks to all of you who participated in the Party of Gold fundraiser and to Pam Bohen and Patty Riley for organizing it! The first Party yielded just under $1000 and was so well received that we are offering F another Party for those who missed the first one. Party of Gold II will be scheduled for another date soon. If anyone is unable to attend but would still like to sell or donate gold, you can give your gold to Patty Riley or UNDRAISING Pam Bohen (in a sealed envelope, with your name and SELL or DONATION on it) and we will be happy to do it for you. If this doesn’t work for you, please contact Pam or Patty to make other arrangements. Patty Riley 978.658.5062

Fudge Sales!

We apparently have some sweet tooth’s on the team! This fundraiser was a success due to the efforts of our members. We sold many boxes of fudge and raised over $1000! The highest sales came from the Junior team and the biggest participation from the Preliminary team. Thanks to Mary-Ellen Prescott for organizing and to everybody who sold fudge!

Silent Auction

Our next big fundraiser will be a silent auction at our banquet in late March. You will hear more about this over the next few weeks but in the meantime, we are looking for volunteers to help us organize and run the auction and for donations for the auction itself. Team Excel is a qualified not for profit and therefore able to issue receipts for tax purposes for any donation that you make.

Ideas for donations are virtually limitless! Do you have a talent or special skill to share with others – popular items include cooking lessons, painting or photography? Perhaps you have tickets to the Red Sox, can donate a week at your vacation house or would like to host a wine tasting dinner? Maybe your company makes something unique like a robot that cleans the house and can donate one?

If you have a donation for the auction or would like to volunteer to help us organize it, please contact Kelly Requadt [email protected]

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TTHEEAM LOREM EXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010

Mark the Date for the First Annual Team Excel Team Excel End of the Year Banquet Banquet

Get ready to celebrate the first season of Team Excel. The evening's events include Mr. David Wolfe as the MC, our Annual Meeting and the election of a new slate of board members, "amp up" music provided by our own Team DJ's, awards, Team presentations and a Silent Auction.

Date: Saturday, March 27th

Place: Best Western Royal Plaza and Trade Center (Marlboro, MA)

Time: 5:30 - 9:30

Cost: $35 per person (this is a budgeted expense for skaters)

Cash Bar. More information on making reservations will be coming shortly.

Team Excel National Sendoff Friday, Feb 19th

Come one and all to send our Team Excel skaters off to the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in style. The festivities will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 19, 2010, at The Skating Club of Boston, 1250 Soldiers Field Road, Brighton, MA. Marvel at the speed and style of synchronized skating as our Junior, Collegiate, Novice and Juvenile teams take the ice. Welcome our future national competitors as the Preliminary and Beginner teams join in the excitement. At the end of the exhibition, don't miss your chance to capture a once in a lifetime memory - all inaugural year Team Excel skaters together on the ice for a combined group photo. Next, enjoy a full buffet dinner, pleasing desert, and a few words of inspiration and encouragement. The ice will be open for younger skaters, families and friends to enjoy until 9:00 pm. The cost for the evening is $15 per person and reservations will be required to enter the building. Please make your reservations no later than 11:00 am on Wednesday, February 17 by calling The Skating Club of Boston office at 617-782-5900. If you have questions, contact Mary Naphtal at [email protected].

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TTHEEAM LOREM EXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010

Junior and Novice Teams to exhibit 2010 Boston Synchronized Feb 14th in Skatefest 2010 to Skating Classic Benefit Homeless Children

March 27 is the date! The Skating Club For the 18th year in a row, The Skating Club of of Boston is the place...for the 2010 Boston will be producing "Skatefest", a figure skating Boston Synchronized Skating Classic! show to benefit The Salvation Army's Our Place Day We warmly welcome teams from up Care Center for Homeless Children in Cambridge. Our and down the East Coast, as well as Place Day Care Center is the learning place for 38 our own Team Excel Beginner and homeless children from the Cambridge/Somerville Preliminary Teams. It promises to be a area. Under the direction of Coach Amanda Farkas, fun afternoon for all of the teams who over eighty nationally known figure skaters and the have entered. Merita will also run a Team Excel Junior and Novice teams will perform. synchro clinic for skaters and coaches at the conclusion of the competition. The performance will be held at the Bright Hockey See you on March 27! Center at Harvard University on Sunday, February 14th at 2pm. If you would like to attend, Complimentary tickets are still available. If you are interested email Kathy Fuller at [email protected]

Team Excel Teams to perform at The Skating Club of Boston Ice Chips Show – Show of Champions 2010

Lace up your skates and get ready to share your love of figure skating with family, friends, teachers, and other Skating Club of Boston members as part of Ice Chips - Show of Champions 2010. The show will be held on April 10 and 11 at Harvard's Bright Arena. This year, The Skating Club of Boston will continue its long and distinguished tradition of featuring the best National and International skaters. Since the theme of this year's show is "Believe in Your Dreams", in honor of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, we are especially honored to welcome as our guest skaters, Meryl Davis and Charlie White, two-time National Dance Champions, reigning Grand Prix Final Champions, and 2010 Olympian. We also welcome Ryan Bradley, 2010 Olympic Alternate and crowd pleaser extraordinaire. Phyllis Sokolov, Team Excel's Ice Chips liaison, will be sending detailed information as we get closer to the date of the show. In the meantime, mark your calendars. Each team should plan to attend the final dress rehearsal at Bright Arena on Friday, April 9, starting at 3pm. The following Team Excel teams will be skating in each show.

• Saturday, April 10 at 1 pm: Preliminary, Novice, Junior (Short program) • Saturday, April 10 at 7 pm: Juvenile, Collegiate • Sunday, April 11 at 2 pm: Beginner, Junior (Long program)

The always enjoyable cast party will be held at the Brighton rink following the Sunday show. All are invited to have their pictures taken with the stars, dance and skate with your friends. In the meantime, the Ice Chips committee is looking for volunteers. If you would like to help, please contact Phyllis at [email protected].

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TTHEEAM LOREM EXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010

Team Excel to Exhibit March 21st at the Relay For Life Benefit

Kate Wolstenholme has been having a very busy senior year at Bourne High School. In addition to being a cross skater for the Novice and Junior teams, she has once again been organizing the Relay For Life Benefit to be held on March 21st at the Gallo Ice Arena in Bourne, MA. This will be the 13th year that Kate has participated in the benefit. This year, the Team Excel Juvenile, Novice, and Junior Teams will be exhibiting at the benefit along with many fabulous skaters. See below for a letter from Kate.

Dear Members of Team Excel, February 4, 2010

I would like to invite the members of Team Excel to participate in a fundraising event to benefit the American Cancer Society. I have already asked Merita and she is very enthusiastic about the idea. I have participated in Relay for Life for the past 11 years and for the past two years have been the Team Captain of “Skaters For A Cure”. The Relay for Life is a fundraising event where friends, families, churches, schools, co-workers and others come together as teams to take up the fight against cancer. During the 24 hour event, each team must have at least one person walking on the track at all times. Importantly, this event is not just about raising money, but it is also a celebration of survivorship, an opportunity to raise cancer awareness in the community, and a way to honor the memory of our loved ones who have lost their lives to cancer.

I came up with the idea for the skating show when one of the coaches from Bourne Skating Club was diagnosed with cancer. In order to show support for her, and to raise money for the American Cancer Society, I organized the skating exhibition as a benefit. In the past two years, we have raised over $4,000.00 through this event.

This year, the skating exhibition will be held on Sunday, March 21 at Gallo Ice Arena, Bourne MA, from 6:30 to 8:30. Please say yes to being a part of this event by supporting the team, and also by inviting friends and family to the show. There will be soloists skating from a number of different clubs. The suggested donation for the show is $10.00 and tickets will be available at the door.

Also, you may dedicate your skate to a person who is fighting cancer, to someone who has died, or to someone who is a survivor. This is a way that we could show our support for our own Jane Gruber, who has also been diagnosed with cancer. We will list the names in the program, and also dedicate a luminaria bag to that person. The cost of the dedication is $5.00 and I will have luminaria bags available at practice. These will be on display the day of the show and will also be lit during the actually Relay event in June.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Remember: Relay for Life represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated. Sincerely, Kate Wolstenholme Member of Team Excel Skating Club of Boston 10

TTHEEAM LOREMEXCEL FAMILY IPSUMS NEWSLETTER FSUMMEREBRUARY 20102012

Help the publicity task force in preparation for tryouts PUBLICITY

Though the current skating year has not SECTION! ended -- we look forward to the Boston Classic and the U.S. Championships -- we have already begun planning for next year. Getting the word out is one of the many Contact your local newspaper important activities that helps to make Team Excel a success. The goal of the Team Excel would like to offer parents the publicity task force will be maximize opportunity to reach out to their local participation at tryouts. If you are newspaper to promote the interested in helping, please send email to accomplishments of their skaters and all Jeff Sokolov at [email protected] the Team Excel teams. If you are interested, please send email to Jeff Sokolov at [email protected] You won't need to write a press release from Visit our blog and leave comments scratch as you may copy and edit the existing press release on our website. If you It's an exciting time as the synchronized do plan to include your skater names, skating season kicks into gear and it's a please include all the skaters on all the particularly interesting time for Team Excel. teams that live in the area served by the It's our first year as an organization and we target newspaper. We can help you have been sharing some of our experiences coordinate this activity. in a team blog. We invite you to visit our blog and share your thoughts with us. Follow Team Excel on Facebook

Starting with Merita Mullen, our Director of Synchronized Skating, we have begun to post We invite you to become a fan of Team Excel regular articles. Over time, we will be pleased on Facebook. We plan to use our Official to feature articles contributed by our Facebook Page to publish updates during the coaches, volunteers and skaters. We've course of the season. selected topics and authors with an eye towards what might interest fans of synchronized skating. And if you have ideas for additional topics, we can try to add them. To become a fan, log on to Facebook and All the articles will be published on our search for our official fan page "Team Excel website and will be accessible at Synchronized Skating Teams" and then click www.ExcelSynchro.org/blog. the "Become a Fan" button..

Please visit, subscribe to receive updates If you have ideas, want to send and feel free to leave comments. We look congratulations or wish the team good luck, forward to hearing from you! you can write on a note on our "Wall."

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THETEAM LOREM EXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010

February and March are busy months with teams practicing for Nationals, exhibitions, shows and the Boston Synchro competition

Preliminary: - February 13th: no practice - February 21st: FESSENDEN: on ice 1:00-2:50pm - February 27th: FESSENDEN: on ice 5:00-6:50pm

Juvenile: - February 13th: FMC GARDNER: off ice @ 11:45am, on ice 12:30-3:00pm - February 21st: FESENDEN: off ice @ 9:15am, on ice 10:00-11:50am - February 27th: FESSENDEN: off ice @ 1:15pm, on ice 2:00-3:50pm - February 28th: FESSENDEN: off ice 9:15am, on ice 10:00-11:50am

Novice: - February 13th: FMC GARDNER: off ice @ 2:15pm, on ice 3:00-6:40pm - February 20th: SCoB: off ice @ 4:15pm, on ice 5:00-7:30pm - February 27th: SCoB: off ice @ 4:15pm, on ice 5:00-10:30pm

Junior: - February 13th: SCoB: off ice @ 4:15pm, on ice 5:00-8:30pm - February 14th: FMC GARDNER: off ice @ 3:45pm, on ice 4:30-9:10pm - February 20th: FESSENDEN: off ice @ 1:15pm, on ice 2:00-3:50pm & 5:00-6:50pm

Collegiate: - February 28th: FMC GARDNER: off ice @ 3:45pm, on ice 4:40- 6:40pm - March 1st: off ice @ 7pm, on ice 8-10pm

Finance Watch for statements to arrive by regular mail this weekend. Please settle your account by March 1st! Thank you – The Finance Committee

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TTHEEAM LOREMEXCEL F AMILYIPSUMS NEWSL ETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010 Team Excel Looks forward to seeing you next year!

Mark your calendars with Try Outs for next year!

Beginner Preliminary

April 17th 5:00-5:50pm @ SCoB March 29th 6:00-6:50pm @ NESC

April 24th 5:00-5:50pm @ SCoB April 17th 5:00-5:50pm @ SCoB

April 24th 5:00-5:50pm @ SCoB

Juvenile Novice

March 20th 5:0-5:50pm @ SCoB March 20th 6:00-7:30pm @ SCoB

March 24th 6:00-6:50pm @ NESC March 24th 7:00-8:30pm @ NESC

March 29th 7:00-7:50pm @ NESC March 29th 8:00-9:00pm @ NESC

Junior Collegiate

March 20th 7:40-9:00pm @ SCoB April 17th 6:00-7:30pm @ SCoB

March 24th 8:40-10:00pm @ NESC April 24th 6:00-7:30pm @ SCoB

March 29th 9:10-10:00pm @ NESC

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THETEAM LOREM EXCEL FIPSUMSAMILY NEWSLETTER SUMMERFEBRUARY 20122010 Fans Wanted

BN = Beginner NESC BB = Beginner Brighton P = Preliminary Jv = Juvenile N = Novice Jr = Junior C = Collegiate

FEBUARY MARCH

14th: Salvation Army Show @ Harvard 2pm *N, Jr 3rd: Nationals (Minneapolis, MN) *Jv, N, Jr, C 19th: Nationals Send Off @ SCoB-Brighton 6pm 6th: Hope for Hati Benefit Exhibition @ SCoB *B, P 27th: Exhibition @ Rivers School in Weston *BN 21st: Relay for Life *Jv, N, Jr

28th: Exhibition @ Rivers School 27th: Boston Synchronized in Weston *BB, P Skating Classic (Beginner Competition & End of Year Dinner) @ SCoB – all day