In their spare time, many of the Los Angeles Lakers like to take it upon themselves to do something to give back to the community that is so good to them. On November 7th, Sasha Vujacic participated in an event held at the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim, California. It was an evening consisting of traditional Greek and Serbian music, dancing, and food. There was also ample opportunity for some of Sasha’s most devoted fans to get autographs, pictures, and spend some rare one on one time with their favorite Laker. In the days following the event, I caught up with some of the girls and they were nice enough to share their experiences, even providing pictures they took.

Shelly, Tanya, and Maria met in a small but lively Sasha Vujacic forum on Ning.com that was created by Anji Bee. Since all three of them were going to the dinner event, they decided to meet up and experience it together. Shelly got there first and waited for Tanya and Maria, who were carpooling together. “A car pulls up with younger girls asking what the event was for. We mentioned Sasha, and the girls looked like they were glad they were at the right place.”

The church was using a basketball gym to host the event, with tables filling up half of it and the rest of the floor reserved for dancing and live music. “The dinner was supposed to start at 7, but they were running late and of course Sasha was running fashionably late as well,” said Shelly. Eventually the place started to fill up; people seated themselves, enjoyed drinks, and started to get in line for food. The Greek and Serbian music was contributing to a delightful atmosphere. “I felt like we should start smashing our plates on the ground! And say ‘opa,’” remarked Jennie. There were also basketballs available for purchase to raise money for the church and so that you could have Sasha sign it for you.

Finally, the man of the hour arrived and settled down in an area where people could come to him for autographs and photos. Now here is what really made this event stand out from other arranged Laker fan meet and greets: the environment. Usually these things take place at some commercial venue and herd all the fans into one really long line that they have to wait in for hours. Instead, Shelly describes something completely different. “The church members were really nice and although I did feel a little out of place, I still felt comfortable enough and it felt really nice and different to be in a family atmosphere with Sasha. Everyone was going up to him, but in a respectful way and not mobbing him. There was no need for security guards or anything like that.”

The girls waited while everyone else got their autographs and pictures before finally hopping in line. For Shelly, it wasn’t the first time she had met Sasha. In fact, she had a frame with pictures of the previous occasions she’d met him and he remembered her. “Then he asked me if I wanted him to sign it again and I asked him if he could write something in Italian and he immediately wrote ‘Buona Fortuna E Grazie’ or ‘good luck and thanks!’” Both Tanya and Maria had a great time when they got to meet Sasha as well. Maria says, “It was my first time meeting him and it was great!!! It was a great event to attend to get a feel for his culture.”

In the days to come, the three posted about their experiences on the forum sharing about their time spent together that Saturday night and this is how I came to find them. I want to thank them for corresponding with me, sharing details and photos, and just being overall lovely. “The funny thing too is after we left Maria drove in the wrong direction for about 12 miles. We were so engrossed with details about Sasha that we didn’t even notice!” Something tells me they won’t ever forget the details of that special night.