Oddwalk had a pretty darn good 100+ degree weekend in Chandler, AZ, just outside of Phoenix. Flying in Friday night, on Saturday we keynoted a multi-parish Junior high rally – about 130 youth came, and we all had a great time together. A grandma of one of the kids sent us this note a couple days later:
My 11 year old grand daughter,Alisa, attended the rally on Sat. and when I came to pick her up her face was glowing and she had a smile as wide as her face. “Thank you grammy for taking me today, this was one of the best days of my life”. It was awesome to see her get so excited about a “church” happening. We have been singing the songs on the CD since then and she said “don’t forget to check on when their new CD comes out in November”.
THANK YOU!!!
I hope you come back to Phoenix soon.
It’s nice to get such positive reminders sometimes about why we do what we do. We also did a coffee-house concert for a young adult group in the evening, getting a chance to do some rarely-heard-in-public music.
The next day, Shannon met up with a cousin of his, Jim and his family, while Orin met up with a cousin of his, Monica, and her family. Shannon’s daughter Madeleine also made the trip with us – the first time on a long-distance, get-on-the-place sort of Oddwalk trip for her. Orin hadn’t seen Monica in certainly 15 years at least, and had never met her family. Here are a few pics of the reunion:
Ashley and Monica - Ashley is working on some art with a few berries from the shrubs nearby
The whole family - Monica, Chris, Danielle, and Ashley
Monica and Orin
Shannon may add a few pics of his fmaily adventures later on.
Also on Sunday, Oddwalk sang “Show Us the Way” at their evening mass. The parish, St. Andrew the Apostle, has some steel beams from the world trade center (not sure how they got them) reminiscent of that iconic cross that was left in the rubble 8 years ago:
The cross was placed in the sanctuary this anniversary weekend
After mass we then performed a set during a youth ministry kickoff BBQ – what a great time that was, thanks to the willingness of all the families to get involved in the usual Oddwalk spirit.
Thanks to Butch, Mike, Barb, and the all the folks there for the invitation and the great time! While one bag was delayed coming home (the one with hundreds of dollars of Oddwalk merchandise in it) – it is supposed to be delivered this morning! Hooray!