With A&M playing football from sea to shining sea this year, The Association of Former Students' Club Programs coordinators are taking the opportunity to visit nearly 50 A&M Clubs along the way. And we're inviting you, too!

Every year, The Association helps organize Midnight Yell Practice and the free All-Aggie Tailgate at away football games, and our staff always partners with local A&M Clubs for those events and visits as many Clubs as they can along the route. This year, we're adding more stops!

The purpose of all this is not only to touch base with and meet Aggies across the country, but also to help spread the word about just how many A&M Clubs there are and the amazing variety of programs they offer. With 250 Clubs worldwide, Texas A&M is easily in the top 5 alumni club networks. Hundreds of former students just like you volunteer thousands of hours making these Club events great, raising money to send local students to Texas A&M and keeping the Aggie Spirit burning bright worldwide.

You can follow along online, too, as we'll be blogging, tweeting and otherwise sharing photos and updates from all these A&M Clubs, including on this thread.

Coast to Coast links:

See if we're coming to a town near you at tx.ag/ClubsCoastToCoast

Follow the tour on Twitter: @texasaggieclubs

RSVP to a Facebook event: facebook.com/pg/AggieNetwork/events

Let us know if we'll see you along the way. We'd love to meet you!

Update: August 6, 2017

Lake Tahoe BBQ with Sierra Nevada A&M Club



Today, the Sierra Nevada A&M Club is sending off local students headed to Texas A&M for the fall semester! Brisket and sausage, plus side dishes that Aggies brought, are being shared, with a beautiful view across Lake Tahoe from Incline Village, Nev.

At least six students from the area are headed to A&M this fall. Here's returning A&M student Carley Armstrong '18 with Club President Jim Stolarski '83!



Full blog post --> HERE

Update: August 7, 2017

Happy Hour with Sacramento area Aggies



We met up with Aggies in Sacramento Aug. 7 for a Happy Hour at Hoppy Brewing Co.!

Close to 100 Aggies attend their Muster, and the Club is looking into new event ideas to engage more families in the area. They've gone as a Club to a Sacramento Kings basketball game and are looking at going to a minor-league baseball game.

And last year, the Club created a fund for its own endowed scholarship, with the goal of raising enough money to distribute a $1,000 scholarship each year. One of the primary goals of A&M Clubs everywhere is helping students get to Texas A&M.

Full blog post --> HERE

Next Stop --> 8/9 - Central California

Update: August 8, 2017

Aggie takeover in San Francisco!



Nearly 40 Aggies came out throughout the evening for the Howdy Hour with both the San Francisco and San Mateo County A&M Clubs! We marooned out the Royal Exchange in San Francisco. Whoop!

Next up for the San Francisco Bay Area A&M Club is a barbecue on Aug. 26. The Club has lots of chances to volunteer and get involved, and draws 50 to 75 Aggies regularly for its A&M football game-watch parties. They're working on holding events around the city.

Full blog post --> HERE

Next stop --> 8/29 - El Paso, TX

Update: August 9, 2017

Central California barbecue with Ags in Fresno!



Tonight in Fresno, Calif., we met up with Central California Aggies at Westwoods BBQ and Spice Co., which at least one fellow Aggie on Facebook called the best BBQ in town!

The Central California A&M Club, originally chartered in 1968, is in the process of restarting they're looking for Ags who would like to volunteer and help plan get-togethers.

The Club is looking to start holding a monthly dinner, and will begin planning for Muster soon!

(That's not a typo Muster planning goes on nearly year-round for many A&M Clubs. For many, it's their largest event of the year, and they use it to combine officer elections and scholarship awards or other events.)

Full blog post --> HERE

Next Stop --> 8/29 - El Paso

Update: August 30, 2017

Happy Hour with the Southern Arizona A&M Club



On Aug. 30, we were in Tucson, Ariz., for happy hour and a meal with the Aggies of the Southern Arizona A&M Club!

Like numerous A&M Clubs around the country, the Southern Arizona A&M Club doesn't charge dues and considers everyone a member. It's socially very active for a small- to medium-sized A&M Club, with watch parties for every football game, 50 to 70 attending Muster and an average event pulling 15 to 20 Aggies.

In the offseason, they'll frequently get together for happy hours on the 12th of a month.

Trey Tucker '91 says, "A lot of us really like seeing each other, and we see each other regularly during football season but then it kind of tails off. So then we say, 'Let's get together.'"

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: August 30, 2017

Happy Hour with the Valley of the Sun A&M Club



The Aggies of the Phoenix area have this game-watch party thing down to a science.

With the raffles and sales they hold during Aggie football games, the Valley of the Sun A&M Club raises enough money to provide a Maricopa County student with $1,000 per semester to attend Texas A&M.

And any member of the Club can host the whole thing, with the complete kit stored in a rolling tool chest. Merchandise and swag like Valley of the Sun A&M Club T-shirts, receipts, record-keeping it's all in there, and any officer or member who hosted the last event can just drop it off to whoever's hosting the next one.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: August 31, 2017

Flyover and happy hour with San Diego County A&M Club



Aggies stood on the Embarcadero in San Diego on Aug. 31 and watched one of their own soar above the USS Midway in an F/A-18 Super Hornet the same Aggie pilot who will lead tomorrow's flyover at the Rose Bowl before the A&M/UCLA game.

The San Diego County A&M Club welcomed The Association's Coast to Coast tour to California with a happy hour on Broadway Pier and held a quick yell practice, featuring "Beat The Hell Out Of Harvey," before the flyover by Club member and U.S. Navy commander Chris Edwards '01.

Technically, the flyover was part of the Midway gala being held at the start of Fleet Week, but we think the Aggies on the pier whooped louder than the gala guests.

The happy hour came together very quickly. "We're very agile as a Club. This event just popped up, and using social media and our email list, we were able to get 40 people here, including people I've never met before," said Ed Weisbrod '87.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 2-3, 2017

Southern California A&M Club hosting Aggies in Pasadena



The Southern California A&M Club is so large it holds three watch parties at separate locations for every Aggie football game, and yet they take time to put a personal focus on every single Aggie who attends their annual Muster.

"We go around with a microphone and you introduce yourself, say what you're doing. All 150 people. If you're visiting or not," says Amanda Van Cleve '15, the Club's director of activities.

Last year was the Club's first annual crawfish boil, a family-friendly pool party with about 50 in attendance, with live crawfish from Louisiana. The Club even shipped in Blue Bell ice cream: "There's a local ice cream shop that sells blue bell and i told them we had a bulk order," Amanda says. "It took a lot of effort, but we got it in dry ice and coolers."

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 5, 2017

Happy hour on the Vegas strip with Las Vegas A&M Club



On Sept. 5, we met up with the Las Vegas Aggies for a happy hour at the south end of the strip, and we also met with Club President Danny Rakestraw '86 and fellow Club officers. (Pictured, from left, are Las Vegas A&M Club officers Debbie Phipps '05, Danny Rakestraw '86 and Cathy O'Neal '78.)

The Las Vegas Aggies are planning a Harvey relief fundraiser with other SEC schools' local chapters at the Wayne Newton estate Oct. 15. They also need more volunteer leadership, so if you are in the area, connect with them on Facebook and come out to an event!

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 6, 2017

Dinner in Salt Lake City with the Utah A&M Club



Aggies from the Classes of 1967 to 2014 came out for the Texas A&M Club of Utah's Sept. 6 fall Kickoff Dinner, which The Association of Former Students attended on its Coast to Coast tour of 50 A&M Clubs.

We met at MacCool's Public House, which is where the Club will hold watch parties for this season's football games vs. Arkansas, Alabama and Auburn (see tx.ag/watchparties for details). Officers are also working on having events in several locations around the city to be more accessible to members.

The Club has also come together for events such as a summer picnic and attending Salt Lake City Bees baseball games.

They've had as many as 80 attend Muster, and usually average around 45 in attendance. This year's Muster was held at a local restaurant and featured a taco bar buffet.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 6, 2017

Talking green chile with the Albuquerque A&M Club



"This is my first interaction with the Club, but I wasn't worried about showing up here and feeling like an outsider,' says Shannon Abbott '18, an Albuquerque native and current student at A&M's Bush School. Sure enough, she was greeted by a couple dozen Ags spanning 5 decades, from the Class of '60 to new grads.

"Send me your ideas; I'm open to anything," says Lauryn Hoch '15; she says the Club also needs volunteers for officer positions. A ski trip, a Christmas party and other ideas have been suggested; chime in on the group's Facebook page. They're building a relationship with a local sports bar and hope to host regular game-watch events there.

The Club has a quarter-century of history in the Albuquerque area. Chrisma Jackson '95, who regularly attends the watch parties, says, "There's quite a few Aggies here, especially engineers because of tech and the Labs" (Sandia National Labs).

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 8, 2017

Dinner with the Texas A&M Club of Denver



We pulled into Denver on Sept. 8 for dinner with one of the largest A&M Clubs outside Texas!

Some 50 Aggies met up at Terminal Bar downtown in the grandly restored Union Station train hub.

The Denver Aggies hold regular game-watch parties at Sloan's Lake Tap and Burger. More than 150 Ags came out for the first game of the season! This Saturday, they'll meet to watch A&M BTHO Arkansas.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 8, 2017

Lunch with the Northern Colorado A&M Club



Aggies from the Classes of '74 to '16 came out for lunch at Nordy's BBQ & Grill in Loveland when we visited Sept. 8.

Past events have included a potluck picnic, and the Club's most recent Muster, held at Club president Joe Palieri '84's local wedding venue, included a silent auction and a short vaudeville play!

The region's about an hour north of Denver, and the Club may try to cross-coordinate an event with the Denver A&M Club in the future.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 7, 2017

Dinner wagon ride with Wyoming A&M Club



Aggies rode out on the Oregon Trail in covered wagons on Sept. 7, with dinner cooked and served at a campsite along the route Americans used to bring families west. It was a truly unique stop on the Coast to Coast tour of A&M Clubs.

At the covered-wagon dinner, the Club collected donations with the goal of sending two local ROTC students to "Spend the Night with the Corps" this fall. In the past, the Club has gathered enough donations to help a local student bound for A&M with a scholarship.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: September 9, 2017

Game-watch with the Pikes Peak A&M Club



On Sept. 9, we joined the Pikes Peak A&M Club for their game-watch party in Colorado Springs as the Ags BTHO Nicholls State! The Club gathers at Rudy's BBQ for every game.

In July, they held their summer picnic at a Sky Sox ballgame (the Colorado Springs minor-league team), having dinner while watching the game on the Picnic Terrace.

A crowd of 125 attended the Club's 2017 Muster, held at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, with a catered barbecue dinner and a silent auction raising scholarship funds.

Full blog post --> HERE

I hope you're enjoying the road trip, Ryan. I just saw this post for the first time today, but it was great to meet you up at Lake Tahoe earlier this year. Gig Em!

Update: September 22-23, 2017

Spending the weekend with the Dallas A&M Club, Fort Worth/Tarrant County A&M Club and Northeast Tarrant County A&M Club.









The Club team spent the weekend with the three area Clubs playing golf, setting up Midnight Yell Practice, serving breakfast tacos and welcoming Ags to the free All-Aggie Tailgate over the September 22-23 weekend.

Read more about the big weekend that ended with another Aggie victory.

D/FW Aggies tee up best Golf Classic in recent years --> FULL BLOG POST HERE

Fort Worth/Tarrant: Reaching Ags with breakfast tacos, beer yoga --> FULL BLOG POST HERE

Tapping Instagram's power with the Dallas A&M Club --> FULL BLOG POST HERE

New grassroots growth: Northeast Tarrant County A&M Club --> FULL BLOG POST HERE

Update: October 10, 2017

Southwest Louisiana A&M Club hosts Aggies by land or by sea



The Southwest Louisiana A&M Club covers a six-parish area, from Cameron on the coast up to Leesville, and connects Aggies in the area with decades of tradition.

Chris Gibbons '80 says the Club gets all ages at its occasional events, and Aggies bring their kids. "There's some new folks every time." We met with them Oct. 10 for dinner in downtown Lake Charles, La., as part of The Association's Clubs Coast to Coast tour.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: October 9, 2017

Honoring teachers, recovering from Harvey in Beaumont



On Oct. 9, we gathered with members of the Beaumont A&M Club at Luke's Icehouse for dinner on our Coast to Coast tour!

The Beaumont A&M Club tries to have one big event each month, and the one held in October was the Teacher Awards night, a 58-year tradition in which the Club honors local teachers Aggies or otherwise, simply the best local classroom teachers, nominated by their peers. It's a program that has drawn the praise of local school district and city leaders for helping build a stronger Beaumont and recognize teachers outside the education setting.

Full blog post --> HERE

Update: October 10, 2017

Learning the roots of Mardi Gras with Mobile Aggies



"Mardi Gras started here," explains David Barr '70, as we settle in for happy hour at a downtown cocktail bar with the Mobile A&M Club on Oct. 10.

The first annual Mardi Gras carnival in what became the United States was held in Mobile, Ala., in 1703 15 years before New Orleans. Today, Mobile societies create dozens of floats, and Mardi Gras here is a family-friendly event.

Sarah Jones '05 says, "The French settled here before they moved to New Orleans. The city's flown under several different flags, and you can see that in the architecture."

Sarah says the Club has a core of highly active members, and a larger group that gets the messages and comes to different events. "It's a different crowd that will show up for Muster than for football games." She's not officially an officer: "We have a few people who help plan Muster or organize events. We don't have dues or anything; it's more social."

Full blog post --> HERE