There's the old proverb, "The best-laid schemes of mice and men go oft awry in golf, which, even if you play against a scratch mouse who should theoretically be an expert, you'll find its best to plan your post-game strategy before it goes hopelessly out of bounds, 'cause if the mouse loses he'll probably get frustrated and throw a club and a ball in the pond, and then you're unsure how to respond, like should you humor him or point out it's just a game, but the thing is, to him it isn't just a game, it's his life, so you have to sit there silently and wait for him to calm down."

What can we learn from this? You should most definitely sign up now for the America's Credit Union's Nov. 8 Charity Golf Tournament at Eagles Pride Golf Course. Here are the details:

Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), WA - America's Credit Union (ACU) is pleased to announce its 13^th Annual Charity Golf Tournament in support of the troops, also known as the Turkey Shoot, which will be held at Eagles Pride Golf Course on November 8th, 2013 with a 10 a.m. shotgun start.

Over 4,000 Soldiers and Airmen are returning from Afghanistan throughout this summer and fall. ACU is raising money for a much anticipated and challenging holiday season. With a perfect storm brewing between the sequestration, cut backs, and the struggling economy we at ACU and the community have an opportunity to support our troops on the most basic of levels; through the Food Basket Program on JBLM, The Madigan Foundation, and Santa's Castle.

Twelve years ago, ACU started the Turkey Shoot to raise additional funds for struggling families on JBLM. With the help of community partners, ACU has raised over $222,000 in donations over the last 12 years.

"We are very pleased with how this event has been able to positively impact the lives of military families," said Ken Leonard, ACU President/CEO. "It's a great venue for community partners to contribute to the JBLM community."

We are looking for sponsors and golfers to become involved. There are multiple advertising & sponsorship opportunities, and teams are welcome. Contact Amy Tiemeyer at 253.912.3214 or atiemeyer@youracu.org to get involved.

Bring your mouse friend.

Operation Homefront and Dollar Tree have joined forces again this pre-school season to gather school supplies for military children across the country. The supplies can be purchased starting Tuesday by customers at the more than 4,000 Dollar Tree and Deal$ stores nationwide and placed in collection boxes in each store. 

Let's read a press release. ...

The Back to School Brigade program is a nationwide campaign by Operation Homefront and Dollar Tree, now in its sixth season. Last year, Dollar Tree patrons donated more than $3 million of supplies nationwide.

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Ever feel like Joint Base Lewis-McChord is more than just your duty station? Like maybe it's a part of you that just can't be extricated or erased from your brain? Then you might be a JBLM native. One definition of the word native reads ‘living naturally in a particular region' and while you might be questioning how a military installation can be thought of as an entire region, remember that JBLM has its own zip code, a variety of places of employment, tons of housing, a hospital and even an H&R Block storefront - so yeah, there is such a thing as a JBLM native.

Here's how to know if you are one...

10. You're still looking for the proverbial Battle Bean and have purchased a mug, T-shirt or other item emblazoned with that caffeinated combative's cheerful face.

9. You've sat in traffic on I-5 for 30 minutes ... and only made it three miles out of the gate ... any gate ... and you're not even surprised.

8. You know which CDC is best to book in advance and which one will incite an influenza outbreak in your home.

7. You know where the old post office was, where the current post office is and, most importantly, to never go at lunchtime or anytime during the month of December. 

6. You've either moved into more than two neighborhoods on base or you've moved from off base to on base and vice versa.

5. You know to avoid downtown DuPont at lunchtime during the week and, as a result, you've learned all about Galloping Gertie's, $1 Chinese and Norma's Burgers.

4. You still have to stop and think about what JBLM stands for ... so you're more likely to say you work at "Lewis" or "McChord" than use any official BRAC language.

3. Seeing a Stryker pass you on the road barely raises your level of awareness and C-17s or Blackhawks taking off 100 feet away make you yawn.

2. You know that the McChord Exchange has higher-end goods and more selection, but that the Army side of the house boasts the superiorly stocked Class 6.

1. When picking up prescriptions at the Madigan pharmacy, you know to do one of three things: bring War and Peace and expect to finish it, heck, maybe bring Great Expectations too; send your spouse in uniform to take advantage of the better number system; or to just suck it up and dole out the co-pay at Rite Aid and reclaim an entire day.

It's often a highlight of the summer Olympic Games - a team of flexible, coordinated and impossibly strong young gymnasts who put aside pressure and leap, flip and swing their way into history and our hearts.

But they gotta start somewhere - and that somewhere is often the local Y.

Last week, more than 2,000 gymnasts from 107 YMCA gymnastics teams around the country - including 30 from the Lakewood Family YMCA - converged on Savannah, Ga., for the annual YMCA National Gymnastics Championship and Invitational.

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If you search Brown Paper Tickets for show going down today, you'll find tickets for the World's Quickest Theater Festival, Architectural Walking Tour, Le Faux female celebrity impersonation show, the opening ceremony of the honorary consulate for the Czech Republic and more.

If you're a veteran, you might be able to free score tickets to these events, and the thousands of music festivals, comic book conventions, sporting events, comedy shows, farm-to-table dinners, cooking classes, plays, concerts, burlesque, roller derby and more offered through the ticket agency. Brown Paper Tickets has made it easy for anyone to donate tickets to the men and women of the U.S. armed services through a crowdfunding program called "Brown Paper Tickets Salutes." An integration with the Veteran Tickets Foundation, also known as Vet Tix, allows anyone creating event registration and ticketing through Brown Paper Tickets to donate tickets to veterans with just one click, and to allow ticket buyers to purchase extra tickets that are donated to veterans.

For the scoop on this program, and to get in on the party, click here.

Let's face it. Joint Base Lewis-McChord life can get a bit overwhelming, especially with talk of deactivations, Soldier 2020 plans, Interstate-5 traffic hell and trips through The Gauntlet — especially after a year's deployment in Afghanistan.

Sometimes you need to let off a little steam.

Sometimes you need to squirt kids with water guns.

Charlie 52nd Infantry Regiment (Anti-Tank) dropped by Chambers Prairie Elementary School in Lacey earlier in the month for some fun and games. The 3-2 SBCT has partnered with the school, proving a leadership model for the kids, helping them with sports and putting smiles on their faces.

They also squirt the kids with water guns.

Check out the fun and games below.

Aside from being an auto enthusiast with sleeved tattoos, Daymon Fritz, a Tacoma native, is also a talented musician. He jams an acoustic guitar at a local tea and coffee house during open mic nights and is a member of an up-and-coming band, DedElectric.

Fritz's lyrics range from topical to deeply personal, covering relationships, religious jewelry, and even siblings. After finding out that his brother was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan, he begrudgingly promised to play at his funeral.

The song turned into a celebration of his life, said Frtiz. His brother likes to live fast and take life head on and he wanted the song to reflect that passion. Like his brother, Fritz is no stranger to life in the Army.

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A military ID gets you in. Without it, you're stuck outside the gate, watching Northwest outdoors expert after expert drive through the gate with their sports utility vehicles loaded with the latest outdoor toys. Clutching cups of scalding coffee in camoflage travel mugs and shouldering backpacks better suited for navigating trails than city traffic, they'll set up booths at Joint Base Lewis McChord's Main Exchange. Indeed, Saturday, June 22 more than 50 hunting and fishing guides, vendors and outdoor experts - including representatives from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Project Healing Waters - will be on hand in the Exchange parking lot as part of the JBLM Outdoor Expo. Included will be 17 Northwest hunting and fishing experts on hand to answer your questions and offers tips.

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You love ABC's Mistresses, the show about four sexy girlfriends - including Alyssa Milano and Lost's Yunjin Kim - who lead sexy lives loaded with sexy problems and sexy men, but at least they have one another's sexy shoulders to cry on. You know what you don't love? You don't love M177 Howitzer firings during your beloved Mistresses show. Unfortunately for you, that's exactly what's going to happen tonight at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In fact, the 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. blasts will happen every night, same time, through Friday, June 21. Tuesday's The Voice? Boom! Wednesday's Restaurant Stakeout? Bam! Thursday's Swamp People? Ka-boom! Friday's Blue Bloods when Danny leans about voodoo while investigating a stabbing committed by someone in costume on Halloween? No! Yup, BANG!

What are you going to do? Not allow the troops to meet training requirement because you love watching actors act like terrible waiters?

According to a press release from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, "The purpose of the late-night training is to maintain unit proficiency in firing illumination rounds during periods of low visibility, as well as standard high-explosive rounds, to maintain section level proficiencies, and to meet requirements for certification and qualification. This is normally scheduled and required training, which allows military members to practice and improve skills required during combat. As often as possible, JBLM conducts larger scale demolition training and artillery firing at JBLM Yakima Training Center in an effort to minimize inconvenience for the surrounding communities. However, some training must take place on base."

At least JBLM won't blast your beloved Breaking Amish Saturday night.

SUNDAY, JUNE 16 2013 >>>

1. In the year 2018, Cyndi Lauper astonished the world by staging a coup and becoming Earth's first Overlord. It started nonchalantly enough, with clandestine visits to Camp David and crossing the International Date Line multiple times in an evening. Nothing a globetrotting rock star wouldn't do, right? But Lauper had secret plans. No one would have guessed, back in the halcyon days of 1983, that Lauper would have designs on global domination. I mean, sure, she conquered the world in a metaphorical sense with the power of pop hits like "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "True Colors," but becoming a literal world superpower was far from anyone's mind. Hear her plans at 7:30 p.m. in the Pantages Theater. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full analysis of Cyndi Lauper's world domination in Northwest Military's Music & Culture section.

2. The 18th annual International Military Band Concert, hosted by the Washington National Guard, will be held at 3 p.m. Father's Day Sunday in the Washington Center in downtown Olympia. Scheduled to perform at the NADEN Band of the Royal Canadian Navy; Band of the 15th Filed Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery; 56th "I Corp" Band; US Navy Band Northwest and the 133D Washington National Guard Band. And just like previous years, this popular concert is free and will sell out. To reserve your seat, call 360.753.8586.

3. Take the modern alt-country blues sound of Drive-By Truckers, throw in the fun loving attitude and riff-blues-rock of ZZ Top, mix them all together and you get close to the vibe of Too Slim and the Taildraggers. This is real, down and dirty rock and roll - a delightful jumble of virtuosic slide guitar work from frontman Tim "Too Slim" Langford and the revamped rock sound of the Taildraggers. The band's vibe blends power-chord-driven, fun-loving nasty grooves with a new, indie-rock songwriting vibe. And it works. Don't worry, though, Too Slim and crew definitely infuse plenty of blues and Americana into their work. You dig? Then catch the band at the 5 p.m. Blues Vespers show at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church.

4. Mark Dufresne will lay it down at the Spar in Old Town Tacoma at 7 p.m.

5. Ten comedians battle for $2,500 first prize at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Comedy Club.

LINK: Sunday, June 16 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area