Cheerleading & Volleyball

Hello?  Is there anybody out there?  If you are reading, I'd love to hear from you!  Comment, sign the guestbook, or e-mail me at youthguy07@aol.com !

For the Floridays 1993 trip to Walt Disney World, we had 6-day park hopper passes.  This meant that we had access every day to the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, the Disney/MGM Studios, the Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, River Country Water Park and the Disney Village Marketplace/Pleasure Island.  We could go to multiple parks each day if we wanted.  We could (and a few of us did) go to all three main parks on the same day.  We had limitless possibilities for seeing all of WDW and for doing our favorite parts again and again.  For some of our group, however, happiness was never leaving Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort!

Ken Hill and Gilly Douglas (they are now married) were adult leaders on our trip, and they were college students at Appalachian State University.  Both of them were cheerleaders on an ASU squad that had done quite well in the national collegiate cheerleading competition that spring.  Several of the girls on the trip (especially Bree Clapp and Lisa Crabtree; Holly Harward was our main cheerleader at the time, but I don't remember her being too invloved in this madness) were also cheerleaders, and when they discovered the expertise of Ken and Gilly, they went nuts.  All the ever wanted to do was learn how to do stunts and practice them in resort pool- which was at least a reasonably safe place to do such a thing.  Safe for them, I mean.  The other guests trying to swim while our kids were cheerleading were taking their lives in their hands!  Fortunately, both Gilly and Ken had the good sense to limit what they taught them, and the even better sense to leave the resort and go the parks.  It is safe to say, however, that when our group headed for the pool, the other guests at Aruba scattered!

I have mentioned that there was a beautiful beach volleyball court at Old Port Royale in the center of the CBR, and many of our youth took advantage of it.   David Mercadante (and I think Will Rees and perhaps his friend Jay?) became obsessed with it.  Almost any time there was "free time" when the students were on their own to be at any park, you could find Big Dave playing volleyball- sometimes by himself!  David later became a big fan of WDW and came to stay with us and do Disney after we moved to Kissimmee.  But on this trip- volleyball ruled!

As you can see, this was not a homogeneous group, with everyone liking the same things.  But this Friday and Saturday you will read of one night we were all together at Pleasure Island and made memories that will last a lifetime.  The amouont of food we ate was amazing.  Our laughter must have shaken the foundations of WDW.  We also may have destroyed a travel company...  You be the judges.  See you tomorrow as my CCM Countdown hits number 6!

Because of Jesus,