JANS Winter Welcome 2014 | Park City Event Photographer

The 34th Annual JANS Winter Welcome was AWESOME.  Awesome awesome awesome.  This completely sold out affair (the third we’ve shot — please see previous years’ coverage here and here) brings in a wonderfully vibrant socialite crowd as well as loads of Olympic athletes to support Park City’s own Youth Sports Alliance, an organization that promotes good sportsmanship and healthy lifestyles through participation, education and competition for our local youth — in some cases, offering scholarships to local youth that wouldn’t be able to bear the heavy costs associated with their dream sports.

The stories of the kids (and the now-adults that participated in the program when they were younger) associated with this program are inspiring.  Some of these youth athletes have gone on to win Olympic medals, and others simply appreciate the opportunity to Get Out and Play.  Each year, I enjoy listening to Geoff Buchheister (president of the Youth Sports Alliance board of directors) and Aimee Preston (YSA executive director) introduce the evening with these feel-good stories.  YSA’s words and actions make me proud to work with the organization.

And, of course, the enormity of the evening’s success cannot go unnoticed.  Not only has the Stein Eriksen YSA Opportunity Endowment reached ONE MILLION DOLLARS (!!), but the crowd always has such a great time cheering on the live auction and mingling during the silent auction.  Even the guests’ entrance (being escorted up a red carpet in front of the five star Stein Eriksen Lodge by one of the YSA youth athletes) is a blast.  As the theme was Monte Carlo this year, casino tables were added to the merriment (this was particularly fun for us to shoot).

Congratulations, YSA, on another year’s achievement!  Please view the entire image gallery from the event here (you can purchase photos too!).