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.