Concert Choir Tour – Day 3: The Unexpected State We Found Ourselves In

Aloha!  I have just a minute or two to write you before lunch and let you know how awesome your boys are doing.  At the moment, we are just passing through Council Bluffs/Omaha, Iowa on Interstate 29.  There is a little Rest Area on the south side of the city that we are going to have lunch at, assuming the intermittent showers we have seen the past hour hold-off.  From the sounds of things, you folks back home had quite the excitement last night with the thunderstorms.  We have elected to withhold some of that information from the boys so they don’t worry too much, but if they find out it’s probably not the end of the world.

We woke the boys up at 7:15 so they had plenty of time to get their things packed and ready before breakfast.  After room checks, I only found 1 left behind item, which was very good. The boys packed the bus and we then walked over to breakfast at the student center.  It was a delicious spread they put together for the boys, complete with pancakes, sausage, fruit and yogurt parfaits, eggs, and a number of other items.  Our host at the college continued to talk about the compliments he had been hearing since the concert.  A lot of the residents of the monastery and the college were very appreciative of the boys’ efforts and were talking about contacting friends along the route so they could take-in the concert as well.

We picked-up our bag lunches from the kitchen and boarded the bus for Kansas City.  While on the road, our Officer of the Day (Sam Strub) gave us his daily report, including the schedule for the day, weather report, “Word of the Day”, and some words of wisdom to help make our trip a little more enjoyable.  All of the boys turned a letter into our mailman, Dillon, and now we are looking for a mailbox to drop them in.

Then Aaron decided to hog the mic and gave a great guided tour of Sioux City, Iowa.  While we were going around the “Washington Monument”, which was actually an obelisk in memory of Sgt. Floyd from the Lewis and Clark expedition, our navigator (Aaron J. Carpenter) that had his back to the road, decided to be derelict in his duties and missed a turn until it was too late to merge into that lane.

“WELCOME TO NEBRASKA”, the sign read as we crossed the Missouri river.  This was an unplanned venture into Nebraska, which allowed an opportunity to read the state facts and hear the state song in the spirit of “Merlin Brando”, the son of Nebraska native Marlon Brando.  We caught the first exit, swung around and ended-up adding 6 minutes to the journey, but the memory of the state song will stay in some of their minds forever.

Back on the trial, we busted-out the BINGO cards for the first games of the year.  Shawn, Tim, and Camden won the three games.  Many boys were over-awed by the incredible announcing of the numbers.  The rest of the time was spent in “Code Green” with the games of their choice.  A game of “War” broke-out with the playing cards Camden won during BINGO.  Naturally, Camden won that game as well.  I think there have probably been actual wars throughout history that were quieter and less dramatic than this one was.  Aaron called it “the longest game of war I have ever played”.

Now we are at the rest stop and my stomach is letting me know it is time to go eat.  Keep writing those letters!

-P.J.

Concert Choir Tour - Day Two: Slayed by the Goliath Challenge (2 of 2)

Aloha!

The boys are all done with their concert tonight and WOW!  What an amazing space!  It always amazes me how many great spaces there are to sing in this country that are not greatly known.  Time after time we go to towns with amazing spaces.  We are very fortunate.

When we last left our sweater-vested heroes they were making their way towards lunch at a rest stop just inside the South Dakota border.  It was a pretty typical rest stop lunch, where we took full advantage of the opportunity to let the bus cool down inside to a cool 65 degrees.  It’s incredible how much hot air a bus load of 28 boys will put-off.  From the rest stop to Yankton, tonight’s city, it was only about another 45 minutes.  We had the boys take an abbreviated rest period and by the time they were ready to get up, we were at Mount Marty College, which was founded by the sisters of St. Benedict.

Our accommodations are pretty much perfect for us. We are staying in the dormitory here, where each room has two beds with a sink, linens for each boy, communal restrooms and showers, and close proximity to our concert site and eating arrangements.  (Our financially minded friends will be happy to know it’s an economically ideal situation as well.)  It also allows us to give our tremendous driver Rodney an afternoon off.  On the flip-side, there is really no off-time for the staff. 

The afternoon was fairly relaxed.  We woke the boys up from rest period and gave them a little “chill time” in their rooms to prepare their first letter home (going in the mail tomorrow) and update their journals. Around 4:00, we gathered them for a short rehearsal and warm-up in the beautiful chapel here at Mount Marty.  The space is a wide open stone building with tall arching ceilings and virtually no carpet, padding, or anything else that can take-away from the sound.  The boys were very happy to be singing in this space.

At 5:00 the boys were treated to a chicken dinner then gathered their concert items from the bus so they could prepare in their own rooms, just a few steps from the chapel.  The only snafu in the system was a missing tie, which we remedied by using one of Aaron’s for the night that looked similar, but not exact.  Since this our first year with these new uniforms on tour, we are still learning a few things we need to be better prepared for, such as having ample ties on hand.  A shipment of replacement ties are on their way to College Station, Texas at this moment.  J

The concert went very well and the boys looked like they were genuinely enjoying themselves – not just that “stage smile” that we try to plan on their faces every time.  The reverb in the church enhanced their already great sound and the boys just fed off the engaged audience.  It was a great time!  There are a number of songs in this year’s program that catch the audience a little unprepared.  So far through two concerts it has been very enjoyable to watch their reactions to the music.

We did have one interesting story:  During “Thank You Very Much”, one young man stopped Donovan in the middle of the song while he was shaking hands and a lady leaned over and explained how the 93-year-old woman sitting next to her said “this is the greatest thing I have ever heard.”  The boys thoroughly enjoyed hearing that little tidbit, but it was evidently clear the woman had never heard Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “How Great Thou Art.”

After the concert, the boys shook hands with the very appreciative audience and made their way back to the dorms.  All of the boys made it through the showers tonight and we had a little time left over to sit and chat about the upcoming days and a few minor things we need to work on.  These boys are doing great and I hope you are all very proud of the work they are accomplishing.  Tour is always a little different when you are still only a day’s drive from home, but after tomorrow, that will all change as we begin making some serious mileage south.

One housekeeping note:  Mail has been pretty light so far.  Remember:  You can send emails to mail@lolcb.org.  If you get them sent before about 7:40am, I will still be able to print them easily and get them to the boys with tonight’s stack.

Just found-out the Heat won.  BLAH.  I won’t tell the boys right away in the morning, as I don’t want to spoil their breakfast. 

-P.J.

Concert Choir Tour - Day Two: Slayed by the Goliath Challenge (1 of 2)

Aloha!

I have a rare moment to sit at a desk (with AC and Wifi) and no boys around!  Sounds like a good time to work on blog post.  We are situated in our dorm rooms for the night at Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota.  It was a pretty short drive today by our standards from LeMars, so we had some time to sight-see this morning.  I’ll get right to it.

The boys met back at the church at 8:30 this morning with their luggage and bag lunches.  Only one boy forgot his hat, so I can live with that, but there is still work to do.  They loaded the bags quite efficiently.  Chi has that group working well together and I keep catching him teaching boys how to do their jobs properly and more effectively.  As far as Quarter Masters go, he is one of the best we’ve had and will leave some big shoes to fill when he graduates this year.  The host home families all seemed very happy with the boys.  Jeffrey got hugs from a number of the moms – some that weren’t even his.  (He can turn the charm on when he needs to, that is for sure.)  Jacob Gordon gathered the boys up and had them “count-off” before boarding the bus and heading for our first stop.

We did not choose our first stop.  When you are in the Ice Cream Capital of the World with a bus full of boys, your first stop chooses you, regardless if it is 9:00 am or not.  The Well’s Blue Bunny factory is located in LeMars, Iowa as well as their Museum and Parlor.  We had an appointment for a tour of the Museum at 9:30 am, followed by a scoop of delicious ice cream afterwards and if there was time, some souvenir shopping.  We arrived a little early so we had time to take a photo on their grand staircase.  If you want the nice picture, I posted it on our Facebook Page.  This one was too funny though, so I had to share it with someone.  This is Arteom in mid-sneeze. 

We started by watching a few short and entertaining videos on the history of Ice Cream and the company.  The jokes were pretty cheesy in the movie, so the boys felt right at home after listening to cheesy jokes from Aaron for the previous 24 hours.  (For those keeping track of the “Funniest Staff Member Contest” at home, it’s a rout right now in my favor.  From the looks of the scoreboard right now, Lisa isn’t even playing.)  ;-)

After the movie, the boys headed downstairs to the ice cream.  There were about 36 flavors and we told them they could have any one they wanted.  When about 2/3 of the boys had gone through the line, one brave young soul asked if he could try “The Goliath Challenge”.  I laughed it off, thinking it was a cute idea, but not something we would generally let the boys do. 

Then he asked again.

I don’t know what came over me, but for some reason I didn’t say “no” and instead said “you have to ask your director”.  Aaron and I both kind of gave each other a look and the words “You only live once” popped out of my mouth.  The Goliath Challenge had been accepted.

So what is The Goliath Challenge?  First of all, you start with a spoon and six scoops of premium Blue Bunny Ice Cream.  Then they cram as much toppings on there as can fit, and follow it up with whipped cream.  Then, the 15-minute clock begins and you must finish it all before the time is up.  It’s a monstrosity of a sundae but if you can slay it, you become immortalized by signing the in-store a
pron and go home with a t-shirt that proudly announces your claim to fame.  Today, we didn’t have David, but we had Joel, and he was determined to eat it.

A huge bell rang-out from behind the counter and the ice cream scooper announced to the world that Joel was going to attempt the challenge.  The rest of the boys were very excited about this notion.  Many others were asking if they could try it until they saw the labor it took just to create the thing.  It probably took about 4-5 minutes to create the sundae, all with wide-eyed Choirboys peering through the freezer doors as the scoops continued to pile up.  Joel was given the middle seat at the parlor bar so everyone could watch as the 15-minute timers were put in place.  The waiter got all the boys chanting for Joel and he began the timers.  Joel dug-in and ate to his little heart’s content.

 

Around minute mark 5 or 6 he began to slow-down a little, but he never stopped.  The weight of the challenge was clearly evident however.  It appeared Joel had scooped out a little more than he could chew.  As time expired, Joel ditched the spoon for the much more primitively efficient “just put your face in the bowl of ice cream method”, but it was too late.  The boys gave him a hearty congratulatory cheer and went through the gift shop before gathering to leave.  The manager of the gift shop was very eager to hear the boys sing so we gathered on the steps one more time to sing “America: The Beautiful” for the staff and several customers in the store.  Many great compliments were given for the boys.  Each of the boys were given a Blue Bunny pencil on the way out and thanked for their visit.  Then it was back to the bus for some free time until lunch.

Time for supper – we’ll finish the rest tonight.

-P.J.

Concert Choir Tour - Day 1

Aloha!

Probably going to be a short blog post tonight so I will apologize in advance.  We're all a bit tired, but things went very well today and the boys were all in pretty good spirits.  Thank you to everyone for helping to get us on the road on time and so far to our knowledge, with 99.9% of everything we needed.

So after the pictures and potty breaks at the building, we hugged our mamas and boarded the bus for the great state of Iowa.  This entire day went very smooth.  This is a great, fairly mellow, group of boys and I am expecting big things from them.  We changed them into their play clothes before we hit Rogers and let them chill-out with some free time all the way to Owatonna.  At the rest stop, we swung in and ate lunch then boarded the bus to continue our trip.  The boys had a rest period for a strong hour and then it was back to some free time.  I played the School House Rock video called "Earth" - quite disappointing.

We entered Iowa and Aaron explained the strange laws of Iowa while I sung a rendition of the Iowa state song for the boys, along with telling them many of the state facts about Iowa.  Before we knew it, we were in  Aaron's hometown of LeMars and preparing to sing in the beautiful St. Joseph's Catholic Church, which only opened this past October.  An amazing space and the boys were quite excited to sing in it.

The concert preparation went very smooth and the boys worked through their concert jobs for the first time. They also prepared very well with their focus and pre-concert routine.  The concert itself went very well and was well attended. We have a little work to do on the post-concert routine, but I am pleased with where we are at for Day One.  After a few cookies, the boys met their host families and made their way home for the night.


A very routine, smooth Day One.

P.J.

Concert Choir Tour - Day 1

This is where you will find the blog posts for the Concert Choir Tour.  Be sure to check back here later tonight for the latest updates.  Thank you!

Concert Choir Day Seventeen: Home

Aloha!

Since a number of you use this for your son's journals and other memory items, I will finish it out this year.  Makes no sense to have only 16 of the 17 days logged.

This morning was beautiful as the boys boarded the bus from Neillsville, Wisconsin.  Two of the ladies looked quite distraught as she was saying "goodbye" to the boys...she was afraid to give them hugs "because of how things are these days", but she wanted desperately to do so.  Before I could even get the permission out, the boys instinctively did it on their own to say their farewells.  I am more than a little certain that made her week.

The people of Neillsville were extremely kind to us.  It was one of the highlights of the tour, for sure.  Before we could leave the area completely, we had one more stop to make at "The Highgrounds", a veterans memorial on the outskirts of town.  The Highgrounds are the only 24-hour a day staffed veterans memorial in the country.  They are very much about healing and helping vets and they show it in everything they do.  Kirk, our volunteer tour guide, did a great job of showing the boys each of the exhibits and doing his best to instill the significance of the memorials to the youngsters.  The weather was already on the warmer side by 11, but the boys did a great job.  They also sang "America the Beautiful" for Kirk, who seemed very moved by the piece.

The boys ate their lunch on site and then boarded the bus for the ride home.  Honesty disclosure:  It wasn't the most pleasant day to be on the bus, with the temps again pushing our old bus's air conditioner to its limits.  With temperatures as high as they were in the bus, some of the anxiousness to get home and the fatigue of 17 incredible days began to wear on the boys.  They were tired and really wanted to just get home.  I wanted them to get home as well, as some of them were a bit on the cranky side.  As wonderful as they are, at the end of the day, they are still boys.  These days do happen.

The drive went fast, as we gave them a good long rest period to help prepare them for the concert.  At 3:35 or so, we pulled into the parking lot to a wall of family, friends, and other supporters who gathered to welcome us home.  Banners, flags, and balloons all waved around as we brought our 34 travelers to their final stop of the tour.  We were home!

The dinner was incredible.  There was so much food that I wasn't sure we'd be able to even put a dent in it.  After filling ourselves again, we warmed-up the boys and took the stage for what would be some of the boys final time.  The boys certainly saved their best for last, as well.  It was probably the best show of the year.

After unpacking the bus and saying our goodbyes, I have no idea what happened with the boys.  They are at their homes, and they are someone elses charge tonight - not this guys.

Thank you to everyone that watched this blog for the past 3 weeks.  Your comments and kinds words are inspiration for me to keep it going.  Thank you for your support of this organization and these great boys.  

P.J.

Concert Choir Day Sixteen: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Neillsville

Aloha!

If you are reading this, it means we are back in decent cell phone range.  The past 14 hours or so has been a nice disconnect from the constant barrage of emails and text messages.  For those of you waiting for an update – well, I’m sorry.

Yesterday morning was about as good as it can get.  It’s never easy mobilizing 40 people to get through the same breakfast line, cleaned-up, packed-up, and loaded-up on the bus.  On this particular morning, it went very well.  The boys were faster than their usual pokey selves and the motel we were at did an incredible job of getting all the boys fed well and on the road.  At one point during the breakfast, there were 5 different motel staff members helping to serve the food. 

…and about that food!  The line started with your usual oatmeals, cereals and toast.  Then it blossomed into a smorgasbord of pancakes, waffles, sausages, biscuits & gravy, four different kinds of juices, and the most popular stop:  the made-to-order omelets.  The boys ate like kings on this morning.  It was pretty great.

We were about to be leaving right now time, when the motel manager stopped us and had all the boys take one a beverage from his little lobby store.  He was so happy with the boys and their stay.  (They posted on our Facebook wall as well.)  3 minutes late, we boarded the bus and headed on our way. 

The first 99.9% of the drive was fairly normal.  The heat beat us pretty good, bringing the temperature in our old bus up to 87 at some points.  These buses just aren’t made for this kind of weather, especially when they are 22 years old.  Rodney did a great job of keeping it as cool as possible, but there was just little any of us could do.  The boys did very well.  They had games out for most of the ride, so that kept them calm, quiet, and in their seats.

Around 12:55, we stopped at McDonald’s for lunch.  The boys have gotten very good at ordering and getting situated in the store.  It’s never easy to get 40 people in and out of McDonald’s in 40 minutes, but we manage to make it happen pretty regularly.  We’ve learned a few tricks over the years that work well for us.  After several practice runs of it at other lunches along the way, the boys finally have it down.  Compliments about the boys came from everywhere – customers and employees alike.  It was a pretty proud moment for this guy.

After a nice long rest period, we stopped at a rest stop on 94 – the same 94 that runs right through our backyard.  We are starting to get close, and the signs along the way for St. Paul are a constant reminder.  The boys are going to be a handful tomorrow.  They always are down the home stretch, much like a horse running home to the barn.  From here on out it is just a lot of pulling-back on the reigns.  As we were boarding the bus, Rodney mentioned that we were getting low on fuel –just over 1/8 tank.  We weren’t too far from the church, so the plan was to drop the boys off so they could prepare, then run up to the store to top the tank-off for the last leg of the tour.  

As we came into Neillsville, we passed the gas station that had diesel for $3.59 – a pretty decent price.  Being less an a mile from the church (and one mile back to the station), the plan to drop the boys off was still feasible.  In a pinch, we have been lower in the tank.  

We went about 3 blocks north, then took a left up a small hill.  Three blocks from the church, the bus stopped.  We ran-out of fuel.  Although there was still fuel in the tank, it sloshed to the back of the tank on the hill and left us stranded.  (For those of you unfamiliar with diesel engines, they are NOT something you want to run out of fuel.  It is quite the process to get fuel back in the lines and get you running again.)

The boys didn’t panic at all.  Immediately, they got quiet and I could tell the understood the situation.  Without missing a beat, Aaron gathered them all and began the walk to the church to begin preparing for the concert.  Since we were in Neillsville, the hometown of Karen Heineck and Julie Strub, we immediately called in for some assistance and got things rolling.  Rick Strub loaded everything we needed for the concert in his vehicle and brought it the rest of the way to the church.  Rodney found some local guys that knew a thing or two about diesel engines.  A local man, Dale, was on his way to our concert when he saw the bus.  He sprang into action, calling around to find the right people we needed to get the bus going again.  

One of those people was his father, who knew more than a thing or two about priming the fuel lines so we could get moving.  While he worked on the necessary parts, his son Dale called the local tire shop to get an industrial sized air compressor to blow the fuel from the tank up front to the engine in the back.  While all of this was going on, I made 4 trips to the gas station with fuel cans to get as much volume and back pressure as possible in tank.  Within 2.5 hours, a few weird looks, and a handful of guys in need of a good shower (temps on the bus reached 103), we had the old girl back up and running in time to catch the second half of the concert.  A huge thank you to Dale, his father, Ned (the air compressor guy), Rick, and Rodney for all their help with this.  We promise not to let it happen again!

The concert was very well attended and the boys did a great job.  The audience seemed very impressed with the boys.  Many had heard them the last time we were in Neillsville and commented on how well they did.  After an ice cream social provided by Roger & Mary Heineck, we handed-out mail and sent the boys home with their host families.  At the end of the day and all things considered, it was a pretty good day.

Boys are home tomorrow, so there is still time to donate towards our goal of $4,000 to help these boys!  Please consider a gift today!  Click here!

P.J.