Hall of Fame: Keri Vinson

Doug Thomas, Keri & Heather @ QLC, 1987

The late 1980s were a wild time for the youth ministry of Springfield Friends Meeting.  Our TNT program was bringing in students from all over the community for our Monday night fiesta of fun, and a number of the youth were becoming more and more involved in our ministry.  One such student was Keri Vinson.  Keri began attending events shortly after my arrival at SFM in 1986 with her best friend (and fellow Hall of Fame inductee) Heather Beggs.  Like many other TNT students, Keri's family attended another church, but she became an important part of our youth ministry.  Today I recognize her contributions to those amazing years by making Keri an official member of my Youth Group Hall of Fame.

Andy, Keri and friends

There are so many stories I could tell about Keri, and many were featured on this blog during the period when I was writing about my days at Springfield.  You can see her here stopping by our house in High Point on the way to the 1989 Trinity High School prom.  Her date was (I believe) Andy; the other 2 were just along for the ride (A side note:  Does this picture capture the 80s or what?  Hair, fashion, the whole bit.  Makes me want to rent a pink tux and go to a prom myself!).  She was victimized in a Gorilla Kidnapping; she called me at 1 AM to ask the name of a song she had just heard on the radio (see my post The Best of Bread); and I have a VHS tape featuring hours of she and Heather entertaining us on our 1989 Myrtle Beach trip at the Betsy B.  We had an amazing time on a New York trip and on a couple of retreats.  But the two stories I want to share today are new to this blog, and I think will help you understand why Keri is a Hall of Fame youth.


The first story is pure silliness. Heather and Keri had stopped by my office one day for reasons I do not remember.  At some point during the visit, they began to make-up a story about two men.  One was named Fred, and he was from Georgia.  The other was named George, and he was from Fredia.  For an hour or so they told this tale, and it was one of the funniest things I have ever heard in my life.  I remember nothing else about it, except that there I have been times in my life when I wish I could have heard it again because it made me laugh so hard.  I always found Keri to be hilarious.  But she also had a very serious side, and often came to me to talk about issues, faith and pretty much anything else that was on her mind.  I have often said that there were certain people in my student ministries about whom I knew way more than I wanted to.  Keri fell in to that category.  One night, on a retreat at Quaker Lake, I said some things without thinking as part of a program that really hurt Keri.  She wrote me a very angry letter.  She doesn't know it, but I kept that letter for all of the years that I was in youth ministry, as a reminder that I was never speaking to a "group;"  I was always speaking to individuals with their own personal stories.  She eventually forgave me.  After she got married and moved away, we lost touch, and didn't connect again until she discovered this blog and Marilyn on Facebook.  I keep threatening her with old pictures; the prom pic was my final blackmail leverage.  She is safe now- at least until I figure out how to convert VHS into a file I can use on this blog.  Then it's on! :)


In the end, my fictional Hall of Fame is all about enshrining great memories, and few students can stir more memories than Keri Vinson Johnston.  She simply belongs.  With her loving spirit, big heart and infectious smile, she continues to have a great impact on all who know her- and that includes me.  Welcome to the HOF, Keri!  Or as you would have said back in the day- "HIIIIIEEEEE!"


Because of Jesus,