Texas A&M Clubs plan football watch parties

Across the nation, Texas A&M Clubs are planning football game-watch parties to bring Aggies together this fall. See the full list of over 270 A&M Clubs at tx.ag/Clubs, and find the one nearest to you to see what they are planning, or to offer your help as a volunteer!

A&M Clubs can also list their game-watch parties for inclusion on The Association's official game-watch events page. If your gathering is public and you'd like other Aggies to attend, list it here!

In North Texas, the McKinney A&M Club turned a suggestion from U.S. Navy veteran and Club member John Kelty '16 into a plan for the whole upcoming football season — and their first watch party will include Aggie football legend Jorvorskie Lane '09.

This summer, when the Club asked members for suggestions on where to host their fall game-watches, Kelty said, "I threw an idea in the hat saying, 'This may be your least popular suggestion, but I think it would be great to designate VFW Post 2150 – The Lone Star Post as our official HQ for the season.'

"It was heartwarming just to see that my suggestion actually ended up being well-received. Next, many local options were vetted, including VFW Post 2150." 

The VFW post has several televisions for game-watching and didn't require the Club to guarantee a fixed number of attendees, Kelty said. Also, the Club explored the possibility of bringing food trucks for the events. 

"Typically, on game day we will line up a food truck for each week, and the post has a full bar for both nonalcoholic and alcoholic drinks," he said.

But the first game-watch on Sept. 2 will be special, with catered food "for all Aggies and VFW visitors alike to eat watch Aggie football in the company of Jorvorskie, and make memories with friends and family," he said. 

Kelty said he had gotten to know Lane previously and asked him if he could come to the event to lend "star power" and help support veterans. Lane "emphatically agreed without hesitation," Kelty said. 

The Club has gotten great reaction to their partnership with the VFW post, and Kelty noted that it will bring foot traffic to the post "in a day where the VFW is needing newer generations of veterans and public supporters to flood the doors."

"No university outside of the military academies has done more in service to our country than Texas A&M. No organization over the last 100 years has done more for veterans than the VFW," he said.