NYC 2016

In November of 1976 (my senior year in high school)I went with a group of friends to a seminar at the United Nations sponsored by Friends United Meeting, a national organization of Quakers. That was my first trip to New York City. Over the years that followed there would be 15 more trips (We think this made 11 for Marilyn) to the Big Apple. I took small youth groups and large ones. I went by myself to plan trips on 3 occasions. I went with a group of friends once, and with my parents and Marilyn once. But the last youth group trip was in March of 2005, and I had not visited since- and had never been able to take our now 21 year old son, Will. Last week (Nov. 10-14) we fixed those two problems with one glorious trip. It was a triumphant return! The city keeps evolving- the old Milford Plaza is now called Row NYC and looks like a boarding home for hipsters (even the spiral staircase and chandeliers are gone!)- but it is still so familiar. It was an interesting time to be there, with thousands protesting our new President-Elect and disrupting traffic, clogging 5th Avenue in front of Trump Tower and filling Times Square and Central Park at times. It is sign of how universally disliked Mr. Trump is in the city he calls home that the cabbies were complaining about him- not the traffic problems. New York is a city like no other.

My years of planning trips and my knowledge of the city allowed for us to do some incredible things, as did having set aside a LOT of money (shout out to my Mom in heaven!) to spend! After flying to Newark, we surprised Will and his girlfriend Michelle with a limo ride (see picture at top) in to the city and our room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located at 47th and Broadway- the heart of midtown Manhattan. Our 29th floor room, complete with a view of Times Square, set a great tone for a fabulous few days together. We began our adventure with lunch at Planet Hollywood and an exploration of Times Square.

Thursday evening featured dinner reservations at Carmine's, a classic family-style Italian eatery so authentic you expect to run into Don Corelone most any moment! The restaurant was long a favorite with the groups I traveled with over the years. A long, leisurely meal was followed by front row seats to see The Lion King, one of two shows chosen by Will and Michelle. It felt like Ed the Hyena was laughing at us- personally! And yes- that's us with the actors who played Mufasa and Sarabi. So cool!

On Friday we did a Movie/TV On Locations Tour, visiting famous spots around the city. We saw the apartment building used for outside shots on Friends, the Ghostbusters firehouse and a variety of other great sights. Our guide was an actor and stuntman who really knew his stuff.  The tour ended at McGee's Pub, the real life version of McClaren's Bar from one of our favorite TV shows, How I Met Your Mother. We had a great meal there, with Will proclaiming the McClaren's Steakburger one of his all-time favorite hamburgers.

That night we had VIP passes to the Empire State Building, which allowed to skip as 2 hour wait and head straight up to the observatory levels (TOTALLY worth the extra bucks!). As many times as I have been up there, the view never ceases to amaze me.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at Ellen's Stardust Dinner, where Broadway bound servers serenade you with show tunes while you eat- and they were awesome! Four of them even did an amazing version of One Day More from Les Miz- it was like they knew I was there! We then took the new and improved NBC Studios Tour, which was great fun and included Will and Michelle being filmed as part of a make-believe talk show. After boarding a doubledecker tour bus and seeing Central Park, Harlem and the Upper West and East Sides while nearly freezing to death, we grabbed some pizza before heading to our second show of the weekend.

Show #2 was Aladdin, which none of us had seen before. The music was wonderful, and once again being on the front row made us feel very much a part of Agrabah. James Monroe Iglehart, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Genie, was simply a tour-de-force. The rest of the cast was stellar as well, and the changes to the story from the animated movie worked very well. There was even an actual flying carpet. And just as a bonus, Jonathan Freeman, who voiced the villainous Jafar in the animated version, played Jafar on stage! It was an incredible night for all of us.

Sunday was filled with more sightseeing, shopping and adventure, including seeing Battery Park and the Freedom Tower. The day ended with a fabulous meal at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse in Grand Central Station, followed by one final visit to Times Square. It was a perfect ending to a nearly perfect trip.

We flew back to Tampa on Monday, tired but ready to do it all again as soon as we can! It was truly a blessing to get to share one of favorite places with Will and Michelle, and to share it again with Marilyn. And it also reminded me of the hundreds of others that have shared that adventure with me over these past 40 years. What do you think, old friends? Reunion trip? I'll buy dessert...

Have a blessed day!

Throwback Thursday: New York Trips

For much of my life the weekend before Thanksgiving meant one of two things. I was either going to the National Youth Workers Convention or I was taking a group to New York City. There is something about this time of year that makes me miss the Big Apple more than usual, and this Throwback Thursday seemed like a great time to share this video with you again. Capturing the essence of the more than one dozen New York trips that I took with youth is pretty much an impossible task.The people, the hotels, the restaurants, the sight-seeing stops, the plays and so many other things would take months to write about. But pictures- pictures can capture the feeling much faster and with more clarity. Whether you went with me from NC Yearly Meeting, New Garden Friends, Springfield Friends, FUMC-Kissimmee or Wesley Memorial UMC- you will see friends here. So many great pictures, so many great memories from so many great trips- and the music of Mr. William Joel, whom we once saw on the streets of Manhattan. If these photos trigger any memories for you, I'd love to hear them. For me, it's easy to be thankful and be aware of our efforts to #SaveThanksgivng when watching this look back to wonderful times spent with people I love. For all of you who ever traveled with me to NYC, this one's for you. Be blessed!

Because of Jesus,

A Birthday Triple Play

Sometimes you can KNOW something for years without ever truly being AWARE of it. It is not new knowledge to me that three of my friends, from three different eras of my life, were born on September 10th. What had never really occurred to me, however, is that ALL three of them were born on September 10th. That makes this a much more special day than I had ever realized. It's a birthday triple play!

Lisa Ramos Moran has been in my life so long that I don't actually remember when we met. It was probably junior high school, but it could have been earlier and it may have been a bit later. Lisa became a part of the New Garden Friends Meeting youth group around the same time I did (1972), and we shared many friends and many adventures. Everyone who was part of that group has a special place in my heart, and Lisa is no different. We were together on a New York trip in high school when she met the love her life, Dan Moran. They have been married 30 years now and have an amazing family. She has given her life to ministry and the service of others and is making a huge difference in the lives of so many young people. Lisa and I shared one special bond in high school, one little tradition that has never been forgotten. Anytime we would see each other we offered up this loving greeting- I would say "RAM IT Ramos!" and she would respond, "JAM IT Jones!" Now that's love. Happy birthday, Lisa. For the next few weeks, you are as old as I am!

Leigh Ann Everhart Venable was a camper at Quaker Lake Camp my first summer as a counselor in 1978. The first thing I remember about Leigh Ann was seeing her in the swimming pool on Sunday afternoon and thinking to myself that she could not possibly be a camper- she looked too old. The second thing I remember was eavesdropping on a conversation she was having with Cynthia Davis about a party one of them had been to. So I was able to embarrass her right off the bat! We became good friends that week, even surviving a prank where my guys stole her suitcase and hid it in a corn field.That closeness continued when we mourned the loss of another camper in car wreck later that summer. She was later with me when I drove a van from NC to NYC and helped keep me calm in the madness. There was also a legendary 6 hour brain game on the way back- but I will spare her the humiliation of saying WHY it took so long! As the years passed, we remained friends, and eventually worked together on the QLC staff. For reasons that cannot be rationally explained she married my good friend Terry Venable 29 years ago and I was honored to be in their wedding just as Terry was later in ours. Shortly after we left Springfield Friends Meeting, Terry became the pastor there and Leigh Ann and I struck a deal. If I didn't tell anyone at SFM any stories about her, she wouldn't tell any about me. It was a pact we each gladly honored.  When anyone first met Leigh Ann back in those QLC days their immediate response was to comment on her beauty. Once you got to know her you realized that the beauty ran clear to the bone- and it still does. Happy birthday, Leigh Ann! And notice I am not mentioning any numbers...

Todd Willis was a junior in high school when Marilyn and I arrived in Kissimmee in 1994. He was the son of the senior pastor and an important part of that group. He immediately became one of my favorite people, despite accidently telling us to "GET OUTA TOWN!" on our third night in Florida. He cheated at every game we ever played; he had terrible luck with the ladies; and he was a leader in helping to bring that group back from the edge of extinction. When I was going to wait a tear before planning a New York trip, he pestered me to do in his senior year- and I did. His lovely wife Kristin has told me she feels like she was on that trip because she has heard his stories so many times. He visited us in Chicago right before his wedding. He has been a huge support to me through all of my trials, writing a beautiful letter for me that carried extra weight because he is an attorney. He and his family have recently moved back to Florida, and we cannot wait to hang with them again soon. Happy birthday, Todd! And don't cheat blowing out the candles...

Three wonderful people. Three birthdays. Three eras. Lisa and Leigh Ann know each other through Quaker circles, but neither of them know Todd. Celebrating with them reminds me how varied and blessed my life has been. And while they were part of my life at different times, we have a shared faith that binds us- and we'll always have New York! I am so blessed to know each of them. May this day be full of joy and blessings in their honor!!!

Because of Jesus,

My Top 11 New York City Memories

An FUMC-Kissimmee crew loving life in NYC!

For many years the week before Thanksgiving meant one thing to me: New York City.  Beginning with my own high school United Nation Seminar experience on this week in 1976, I spent many of the next 20 years with groups of teenagers in NYC. In the later years of my ministry the trip often took place during Spring Break for school purposes. I would like to share with you today 11 of my favorite memories from those trips. Most of these stories I have shared before here on the blog; links to those posts are included. Here we go:

1. On one of the earliest UN Seminars (1978 or '79) we were discussing the concept of bringing peace to the Middle East. Due to a scheduling conflict, the representative for the Palestine Liberation Organization (the PLO was a radical Arab group) and the representative from Israel were, for a few moments, in the same room. We almost got to see what war looked like up close and personal...
2. On the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty in 1982 a group of us turned our Paul Newman look-alike leader Wallace Sills into an instant celebrity with Asian tourists. That's also the same place where Alan Brown and I sat on Liberty Island watching mentally defective seagulls crash into the rocks off the island while diving for fish. That inspired another Brown/Jones unreleased classic song, Watching the Seagulls Crash!

3. Over the years we saw many of the greatest shows that Broadway had to offer, including Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, Cats, A Chorus Line and Rent. We also saw shows like Shenandoah, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express, Movin' Out!, Good Vibrations, The Scarlet Pimpernel, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Beauty and the Beast and Once Upon A Mattress. And with the exception of Cats they were all wonderful...
4. We saw the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular a number of times. Almost every person who sends me their memories of these trips mentions the living nativity in that show, complete with live animals- including camels. Very moving and truly spectacular!

5. The food was always memorable, whether it was eating at pizza places, Chinatown, tiny deli/stores or from street corner carts like we did in the early years, or dining at Mama Leone's, Carmine's or Ollie's Noodles like we did later on. We also often had meals at Planet Hollywood, The Hard Rock Cafe or The All-Star Cafe. For my favorite food-related story, check out the Chinatown Chicken Head.
6. Several of the most memorable moments of our New York adventures were provided by the dynamic duo of Charles Freedle & Mike Mercadante from Springfield Friends Meeting. You can read 3 such tales by clicking here and checking out a great vintage post!

7. On my last trip in 2005 the group from Wesley Memorial UMC was waiting at LaGuardia airport. I convinced them we were waiting on a shuttle bus or van, when in fact I had pre-arranged limos. When they pulled up and the kids saw my name on the signs (see picture) they went nuts! 
8. When we first started going to NYC, Times Square was a terrible place full of hookers and drug dealers. By 2005 it was one of the safest, most tourist friendly places in the city.  Walking to the Virgin Megastore (and sticking those Virgin: $9.99 sale stickers on each other) became a very late night tradition. That and cheesecake at the Celebrity Deli located in our hotel.

9. Speaking of hotels, from the late 1980's on we stayed at the Milford Plaza in the heart of the Theater District- 45th & 8th. But before that I also had groups at the Hotel Tudor (42nd & 2nd) and the Madison Towers (38th & Madison). The Towers had phones in the bathrooms (that's me on that very phone in 1982, pictured), which we thought was the ultimate in luxury...
10. In the early years we used to go worship on Sunday morning at 15th Street Friends Meeting or Marble Collegiate Church. At 15 Street the "silent worship" often turned in to a political debate. One year at Marble Collegiate (despite the preaching of the legendary Norman Vincent Peale) we had a guy sitting near us who snored so loudly we couldn't help but laugh. Shorty afterward, we started doing our own worship...
11. Great stories from the Kissimmee years include the year we lost Jennifer Johns; the strange incident of the well-dressed African-American man photo-bombing our group picture at the UN; Angie Whalin carrying a gigantic stuffed animal all over town; Jacob Lupfer nearly being arrested for buying illegal t-shirts; Jerry Hanbery horrifying Teresa Reep on the stairs ou the Statue of Liberty; Jill Souther on crutches navigating NYC; and around 63 stories about Jocelyn Sessions! And who could forget the magical hot chocolate that started every day from Oh-La-La?  Great memories and great people!

There is so much more, including mission projects handing out sandwiches to the poorest of the poor in the depths of Grand Central Station and working in the coldest place anyone has ever been with Habitat for Humanity- but that's it for today! Great memories from some great years. But I will forever regret not staying just once for the Macy's Parade...maybe someday! Tomorrow's the big day! Enjoy and be blessed!!!

Because of Jesus,

Remembering the Right Things

Every year on September 11th I re-post this particular piece, if for no other reason than it speaks to me. I hope it speaks to you as well.

"The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it."  - Chinese Proverb

I confess that I dread days like this.  Things like marking the anniversary of the September 11th attacks are exactly the kinds of things that we USAmericans so often get so wrong.  We produce countless documentaries so that those who suffered the greatest losses can watch those planes and buildings blow up over and over again.  We profit from their pain, selling souvenirs disguised as remembrances.  And we focus on the wrong things.  Today is not about the terrorists, or conspiracy theories, or poorly thought out government responses, or military success.  Today is most certainly not about patriotism.  Today is about remembering those who through the most random of circumstances lost their lives 12 years ago today.  And today is about those who, that day and in the days that followed, stood with God and with great faith refused to allow the human spirit to be crushed by the events of that horrible morning.  This is my tribute to those people.

I watched that morning, completely stunned like the rest of the world.  I hear many people talk about how surreal it seemed to them.  It was very real to me almost immediately.  I was living in Chicagoland, and rumor spread quickly that the next target was the Sears Tower.  My wife Marilyn worked downtown, and almost immediately the evacuations began.  Panic and chaos were the words of the day.  As our church staff sat in our weekly staff meeting and tried to figure out some way to respond, we learned a local youth pastor had been on one of the planes.  It was all too real.  Three days later Marilyn was flying to Tampa to check out our new home.  Going to the airport and feeling the tension, being scared of something that had never scared us before, made it all too real.  As we watched for weeks as workers sacrificed, struggled and died in the hopes of finding even one person left alive in the aftermath, it seemed like life would never be the same again.  But eventually, we moved on.  We remembered, but we moved on.

In March of 2003 I took a group of youth from Wesley Memorial UMC in Tampa to NYC for a few days, and while there we headed over to Ground Zero.  We expected to be moved by the destruction, the lists of those who died, and the remembrances of the horror of the day.  And we were.  But those things were not what we really remember from that visit.  It was our stop at St. Paul's Chapel that changed us all.  The little church on Wall Street, which backed up to the devastation, had been an oasis of peace and rest in the midst of the tragedy. It had become a shrine to the human spirit and the love of God.  It honored the dead, but also honored those who had given so much as first responders. It honored those who came as volunteers from all over the country simply seeking to help.  Pews in the sanctuary were damaged by the heavy equipment many of the firefighters wore that day.  Flowers, signs and banners were everywhere in honor of those who had served.  As you read the log books. watched video interviews and walked around the building, you could not help but realize that this was not an USAmerican thing; this was a GOD thing!  It was the loving responses of the many that would not allow evil to claim victory on that site.  

So how will I mark this occasion today?  By remembering these things- when despair overwhelms us, evil wins.  When anger rules, evil wins.  When revenge is our motivation, evil wins.  When faith, hope and love are all we are left with, then God wins.  There is a story told that a volunteer from St. Paul's tells of how he overheard one of the exhausted rescue workers coming into the church for a meal and a break, and he was singing.  The song he was singing was a youth group favorite by Lost And Found- "Oh them lions they can eat my body but they can't swallow my soul..."  And that should be our lasting lesson from September 11, 2001.  It's also in the Gospel of John, chapter 1.  "The Light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it."  For me, that will always be the story of 9/11.  Today, do not waste energy hating those who are evil.  Remember the fallen and those who were heroic in their selfless, sacrificial, Christ-like response.  That is what this day should always be about. Let's remember the right things...

Because of Jesus,

The Creeping Evil of Starbucks

Yesterday was a tragic day for those who treasure the wonder of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.  The Main Street Bakery, long a fixture on Main Street USA, closed it's doors for the final time.  This thriving business which produced so many of the wonderful smells associated with that great walk down Main Street is a victim of corporate synergy and greed.  The Main Street Bakery is being replaced with a Starbucks.  It's the end of Walt Disney World as we know it...

I am not a Starbucks fan, but then again I am not much of a coffee drinker.  I am not opposed to progress, nor am I someone who always thinks the past was better than the future.  But I do have major problems with this particular change. They are putting Starbucks all over WDW, and to be honest putting them anywhere else in the parks doesn't bother me too much.  Main Street USA is one of the signature locations in all of WDW.  When you walk in through the tunnel and reach the MK, you are transported back to a much simpler era of American history.  The quaint barber shop, complete with barber shop quartet.  The old movie theater. The candy store.  And the incredible treats and aromas of the bakery.  Main Street sets the mood for the entire park with its theme and it ambiance. And now the bakery is gone, to be replaced by a Starbucks.  Starbucks may be a fixture in our modern world, but it is totally and completely out of place on Main Street. We are promised they will continue to serve some of he goodies from the bakery, but that is really beside the point.  I never ate there very often anyway.  The point is that there will be a Starbucks on Main Street USA, and that is just not right. It doesn't fit.  And I am very unhappy. Giant corporations are now doing to the wonderful make-believe world of Disney what they have already done to our real world- displacing small businesses and mom & pop shops with their one size fits all monopolies.  It just feels wrong.

As I lamented this occasion yesterday, I was reminded that this is not the first time Starbucks has done this to me.  In the 1990s I took youth groups to New York City nearly every year, and we stayed at the Milford Plaza Hotel on 45th and 8th.  Up half a block and across 45th was a little place called Oh-La-La (see picture). They had muffins, bagels and scones, as well as a variety of coffees.  But none of that really mattered, for Oh-La-La had the best hot chocolate in the history of the world!  Every morning I would arise before the group and go get a large hot chocolate. And every morning I would go back with the group and get another one!  It was simply amazing. So imagine my dismay in 2003 when I arrived in NYC only to discover that Oh-La-La has become a Starbucks.  I was devastated. I went in once- just to ask if perhaps Oh-La-La had moved, but it had simply been bought out.  The creeping evil of Starbucks had invaded the Broadway district. And now it has come to Walt Disney World...

My problem is not really with Starbucks.  It is that we are losing far too many people, places and things in our world that are unique. That have their own personalities and offer something different.  And in my humble opinion, we need to hold on to the uniqueness. A walk down Main Street USA is supposed to be a stroll through early 20th century America.  I am just not sure how I can maintain that illusion with a grande skinny mocha non-fat latte from 21st century Seattle.  I am sure I (and millions of others) will adjust. I am just not certain that I want to.  For today, just let me be a grumpy old man.

"Oh Them Lions..." (A Vintage Post)

"The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it."  - Chinese Proverb

I confess that I dread days like this.  Things like marking the anniversary of the September 11th attacks are exactly the kinds of things that we USAmericans so often get so wrong.  We produce countless documentaries so that those who suffered the greatest losses can watch those planes and buildings blow up over and over again.  We profit from their pain, selling souvenirs disguised as remembrances.  And we focus on the wrong things.  Today is not about the terrorists, or conspiracy theories, or poorly thought out government responses, or military success.  Today is most certainly not about patriotism.  Today is about remembering those who through the most random of circumstances lost their lives 11 years ago today.  And today is about those who, that day and in the days that followed, stood with God and with great faith refused to allow the human spirit to be crushed by the events of that horrible morning.  This is my tribute to those people.

I watched that morning, completely stunned like the rest of the world.  I hear many people talk about how surreal it seemed to them.  It was very real to me almost immediately.  I was living in Chicagoland, and rumor spread quickly that the next target was the Sears Tower.  My wife Marilyn worked downtown, and almost immediately the evacuations began.  Panic and chaos were the words of the day.  As our church staff sat in our weekly staff meeting and tried to figure out some way to respond, we learned a local youth pastor had been on one of the planes.  It was all too real.  Three days later Marilyn was flying to Tampa to check out our new home.  Going to the airport and feeling the tension, being scared of something that had never scared us before, made it all too real.  As we watched for weeks as workers sacrificed, struggled and died in the hopes of finding even one person left alive in the aftermath, it seemed like life would never be the same again.  But eventually, we moved on.  We remembered, but we moved on.

In March of 2003 I took a group of youth from Wesley Memorial UMC in Tampa to NYC for a few days, and while there we headed over to Ground Zero.  We expected to be moved by the destruction, the lists of those who died, and the remembrances of the horror of the day.  And we were.  But those things were not what we really remember from that visit.  It was our stop at St. Paul's Chapel that changed us all.  The little church on Wall Street, which backed up to the devastation, had been an oasis of peace and rest in the midst of the tragedy. It had become a shrine to the human spirit and the love of God.  It honored the dead, but also honored those who had given so much as first responders. It honored those who came as volunteers from all over the country simply seeking to help.  Pews in the sanctuary were damaged by the heavy equipment many of the firefighters wore that day.  Flowers, signs and banners were everywhere in honor of those who had served.  As you read the log books. watched video interviews and walked around the building, you could not help but realize that this was not an USAmerican thing; this was a GOD thing!  It was the loving responses of the many that would not allow evil to claim victory on that site.  

So how will I mark this occasion today?  By remembering these things- when despair overwhelms us, evil wins.  When anger rules, evil wins.  When revenge is our motivation, evil wins.  When faith, hope and love are all we are left with, then God wins.  There is a story told that a volunteer from St. Paul's tells of how he overheard one of the exhausted rescue workers coming into the church for a meal and a break, and he was singing.  The song he was singing was a youth group favorite by Lost And Found- "Oh them lions they can eat my body but they can't swallow my soul..."  And that should be our lasting lesson from September 11, 2001.  It's also in the Gospel of John, chapter 1.  "The Light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it."  For me, that will always be the story of 9/11.  Today, do not waste energy hating those who are evil.  Remember the fallen and those who were heroic in their selfless, sacrificial, Christ-like response.  That is what this day should always be about.

Because of Jesus,

A Carnegie Hall Update

Last little over a week ago I reported that my son Will was in New York with his high school band, preparing to play Carnegie Hall- the opportunity of a lifetime!  They returned to Tampa feeling like they had accomplished exactly what they set out to do- giving the performance of a lifetime in the venue of their dreams!  Will had been told for months that his crash cymbol solo in their final piece would make or break it, and by all accounts he nailed it.  His director was thrilled! As Will said upon his return, "We may not have played the best of any band at the festival (they actually didn't get to see the other bands perform) but we played the best we have ever played."  What else can you ask for? Other than the really cool official certificate you see at the top, that is!


They also got to see many of the sights of the city, although they didn't get to really see very many of them.  The stopped by Liberty Island for a brief visit before spending time on Ellis Island.  They walked through Chinatown and had some pizza in Little Italy.  They walked past the Empire State Building and St. Patrick's Cathedral.  They saw Times Square.  They spent an afternoon at the Museum of Natural History.  They stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel near Grand Central Station and they rode the subway on several occasions. They ate lots of pizza and hot dogs, and he had a gyro from a street vendor.  People tried to sell them fake Oakley's and bogus watches.  And Will loved every minute of it!


Aside from being on stage at Carnegie Hall, there were a couple of other things that my son has been unable to quite talking about.  Part of the group saw Phantom of the Opera, and Will just fell in love with that show.  He had been to national touring company performances of shows like Spamalot and Beauty and the Beast, but there is just something special about Broadway.  He was also thrilled to visit Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon in Central Park near the spot where he was killed.  Will knows his rock music and pop culture history, and understand the significance of the Beatles.  He also told me a funny story.  One of his classmates, upon hearing that they were going to Strawberry Fields, was a bit perplexed.  It seems he had already seem some strawberry fields in Florida...


Will loved his experience in NYC, and he loved the city itself.  He cannot wait to go back.  Which is good news for me! You may recall that I was worried he would see everything without me. It turns out nothing could be further from the truth..  We still have lots to see, do and eat when my time to go back rolls around.  How much is left to do?  My son just spent 4 days in New York and never had a piece of cheesecake.  The Padawan still has much to learn.  But I am so thankful he was able to have such an amazing trip with so many of his best friends.  Thank you all for your prayers.  God is good all the time...


Because of Jesus,

Big Apple Flashbacks

My son being in New York this weekend has me flashing back to some of the amazing times I spent in the city, so today's Saturday Shout Outs! are taking a little different form. Beginning as a part time chaperone on a Friends United Meeting United Nation Seminar experience in 1978 and ending with a trip from Wesley Memorial UMC in 2005, I spent many years taking hundreds of teenagers to NYC.  With help from a few readers and lots of old files, I would like to share with you today some of my favorite memories from those trips.  Some of these stories I have shared before here on the blog. For even more stories, click here to read about some of my earliest trips with New Garden Friends Meeting,  click here to see my live retro blog of the 1998 trip we made  from FUMC-Kissimmee, here to read about our 2003 trip from Wesley Memorial,  and here to read the legendary stories of Mike Mercadante and Charles Freedle (from Springfield Friends Meeting) in the Big Apple!  Here we go:

1. On one of the earliest UN Seminars (1978 or '79) we were discussing the concept of bringing peace to the Middle East.  Due to a scheduling conflict, the representative for the Palestine Liberation Organization (the PLO was a radical Arab group) and the representative from Israel were, for a few moments, in the same room.  We almost got to see what war looked like up close and personal...
2. On the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty in 1982 a group of us turned our Paul Newman look-alike leader Wallace Sills into an instant celebrity with Asian tourists.  That's also the same place where Alan Brown and I sat on Liberty Island watching mentally defective seagulls crash into the rocks off the island while diving for fish.  That inspired another Brown/Jones unreleased classic song, Watching the Seagulls Crash!

3. Over the years we saw many of the greatest shows that Broadway had to offer, including Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, Cats, A Chorus Line and Rent.  We also saw lesser known shows like Shenandoah, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Movin' Out!, Good Vibrations, The Scarlet Pimpernel, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Beauty and the Beast and Once Upon A Mattress.  And with the exception of Cats they were all wonderful...
4. We also saw the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular a number of times.  Almost every person who sends me their memories of these trips mentions the living nativity in that show, complete with live animals- including camels.  Very moving and truly spectacular!

5. The food was always memorable, whether it was eating at pizza places, Chinatown, tiny deli/stores or from street corner carts like we did in the early years, or dining at Mama Leone's, Carmine's or Ollie's Noodles like we did later on.  We also often had meals at Planet Hollywood, The Hard Rock Cafe or The All-Star Cafe.  And The Stage Deli.  Biggest sandwiches in history!  For my favorite food-related story, check out the Chinatown Chicken Head.
6. One year a group of us went for ice cream late at night to the only place we knew was open, the Howard Johnson's Restaurant on 7th Ave.  While there we encountered a homeless man who asked us for money, and we bought him some food. When we left the restaurant he followed us back to our hotel, where he walked in with us.  Turned out that his plan was just follow us in and then find a hall to sleep in to avoid the cold.  Obviously the folks at the Milford Plaza would not allow this. Another time we were walking along in sub-zero temps and came across a man playing a saxophone on the street- with no shoes.  One of our students remarked "he could get a job if he wanted to."  I pointed out that losing his toes to frostbite was probably NOT his choice.  New York was a great lesson in the desperation of the homeless.

7. On my last trip in 2005 the group from Wesley Memorial UMC was waiting at LaGuardia airport.  I convinced them we were waiting on a shuttle bus or van, when in fact I had pre-arranged limos.  When they pulled up and the kids saw my name on the signs (see picture) they went nuts! 
8. When we first started going to NYC, Times Square was a terrible place full of hookers and drug dealers.  By 2005 it was one of the safest, most tourist friendly places in the city.  Walking to the Virgin Megastore (and sticking those "Virgin: $9.99" sale stickers on each other) became a very late night tradition.  That and cheesecake at the Celebrity Deli located in our hotel.

9. Speaking of hotels, from the late 1980's on we stayed at the Milford Plaza (The Lullaby of Broadway) in the heart of theTheater District- 45th & 8th.  But before that I also had groups at the Hotel Tudor (42nd & 2nd) and the Madison Towers (38th & Madison).  The Towers had phones in the bathrooms (that's me on that very phone in 1982, pictured), which we thought was the ultimate in luxury...
10. So many random moments from so many trips.  Losing Jennifer Johns.  Meeting the cast of Saved By the Bell.  Touring the NBC Studios and seeing Julius (Dr.J) Erving and Studio 8H, home of SNL.  Teresa Reep in her banana yellow jacket and Jill Souther doing NYC on crutches. The scarf.  Heather Beggs crying her way through Les Miz.  The late Randy Cockerham making us laugh at Mama Leone's.  The random man who got in our group picture at the UN.  Lisa Jewett & Stephanie Greife riding the ferris wheel in Toys'R'Us.  Pole dancing on the subway with Amber Herrick. Watching Tim Harding and Jeff Byrd carry a keyboard across Manhattan.  Doing the Carl Shuffle. Watching the faces of students as they see Times Square, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty for the first time.  And of course, thinking that Jacob Lupfer had just been arrested for buying illegal Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts as presents for his family.  Good times...

There are so many more memories, including mission projects handing out sandwiches to the poorest of the poor in the depths of Grand Central Station, worshiping at 15th Street Friends Meeting, and ice skating at 30 Rock. But I guess I have to stop for now.  Come back tomorrow and share in an Easter tradition here on "I'd Laugh..."


Because of Jesus,

How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?

Today is the April edition of #CommentDay.  Read all the blogs you can, and leave a comment on each one you read.  Since you are already here, what a great place to start!  :)


"Start spreading the news..."  This morning my son and his friends from the Sickles High School band boarded a plane for New York City.  They will spend 4 days in the city, seeing the sights and exploring Manhattan. And then on Saturday night they will perform at Carnegie Hall as part of a high school band festival.  For a musician, playing Carnegie Hall is like a baseball player playing at Wrigley Field, a chef cooking in Paris or a youth pastor being asked to give the invocation at the Silver Spurs Rodeo (youth pastors have very small dreams...)!  What an amazing opportunity- an opportunity they have worked extremely hard to get.  You know the old joke, right?  How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice!!!  And they are ready.  New Yorkers will be paying $50 a pop to see my son play the crash cymbals and the snare drum.  It is possible, I suppose, that they may notice some of the other musicians as well.  But just look at him all fancy in his tux.  He is bound to steal the spotlight!


I know that Will is going to have an amazing time. I know this because I led nearly 20 trips to NYC during my time as a youth pastor, and I LOVE the city.  The fact that Will is going for his first time without me is a bit depressing.  It is a reminder that despite the amazing grace given to us by Jesus, sin has consequences.  This is one of mine.  I cannot be part of Will's first NYC trip as I was for literally hundreds of students his age over the years.   But I praise God that we have been given the resources and the opportunity to send Will and his friends and to know that they will experience the joys of a weekend in New York.  Teresa Tysinger reminded me yesterday that there will be other trips, and that there will still be many first memories to be made. He will still need to stay at the Milford Plaza.  He will still need to eat at Carmine's.  He will still need to see Les Miz.  He will still need to experience the parts of the city I can show him that this trip will not.  As my dear friend Lisa Jewett is quick to point out (over and over and over) I owe her a NYC trip, so we are going back!  So today I need to focus on the blessings- both of the day, and of the future, and simply pray for Will and his friends to have the very best trip possible.  Join me in that prayer.  And since it is #CommentDay, if you have a special memory of a NYC trip, share it!  And to see a slide show of pictures from my many trips, check out my New York State of Mind video.  Blessings to you all!


Because of Jesus,

A Story Worth Telling Twice

Today is Comment Day.  Read all the blogs you can.  Comment on each blog you read.  Encourage the writers- and feel free to start here!


The other night I was sitting at Tijuana Flats enjoying Taco Tuesday with Marilyn and our dear friend Lisa Jewett, and as often happens we began to talk about New York trips.  I never come out looking good in these conversations.  In 2002 Lisa accompanied myself and a group from Wesley Memorial UMC to the city, and while there we saw the musical Moving Out on Broadway.  Marilyn was not with us for this trip, and seeing as how she is one of the world's biggest Billy Joel fans it did not go over well that we saw it without her.  She still has never seen the show, and I am still in trouble.  Two years later Marilyn got to go but Lisa did not, after I messed up and told Lisa her son was too young to go and then let another young man the same age go with his Mom on the trip.  Lisa reminds me constantly that I still owe her a trip.  Again, I am in trouble.  But I digress.  The point is that we were talking about New York trips when I discovered Lisa had never heard the tale of the great shower escapade.  As I told the story and she laughed hysterically, I realized that while some stories get told too often, others can never be told enough.  I related this episode on this blog back on January 4, 2010- along with a few other stories from that trip.  Today I tell it again.  Because it is definitely a story worth telling twice...

Charles & Mike show off their artistic side
at The Museum of Modern Art, NYC

Mike Mercadante and Charles Freedle were among the great characters I ever had in any of my youth groups.  They joined us on one of our New York trips in the early 199o'sn and I knew before we ever left that having those 2 in NYC would me memorable.  Among the many other unique people on this trip was a young man from Yadkinville, NC named Josh.  Yadkinville is a small, rural town in the foothills of NC, and Josh was a stereotypical citizen.  He spoke "Yadkinese" (a dialect that even the rest of us with southern accents have trouble interpreting!), was a little shy, and was a family oriented young man (read Mama's Boy!).  We discovered on the long bus ride to NYC that he was a huge fan of TV, and that is his humble opinion Full House was the best show ever and one of its characters, Kimmy Gibler, was the most beautiful woman on TV.  Josh was ready to go home before we ever got out of the Lincoln Tunnel; New York scared him to death.  He was about to get the most terrifying news of all- he was rooming with Mike and Charles at the Milford Plaza Hotel!  The story you are about to read is true, because quite frankly I couldn't make up anything this good.

Our days started early on those trips, and the first morning our shy, frightened young Josh was first in the shower.  He took quite a long shower, and it began to be close to time for everyone to meet in the lobby to head out for the day. After asking Josh to come out on a couple of occasions, my guys began to get frustrated.   Finally, Charles could take no more.  The tall, string-bean skinny country boy grabbed a towel, stripped naked, entered the bathroom, pulled back the shower curtain and announced to Josh, "You can stay or you can go, but I'm coming in!"  Josh left, of course, and within minutes I had a call from a woman from his church saying Josh wanted to go home, or at least get a new room.  I calmed her down, and (laughing hysterically as she told me the story) kept them together all week.  The event did nothing to ease Josh's fears of life in the big city, and he stayed close to the adults the rest of the week.  Mike and Charles went on to share many other adventures with myself and our ministry.  I heard many years later that Josh was the Mayor of Yadkinville (or some small town in that same county).  Charles now spends most of his time in southeast Asia running an import/export business.  And Mike is a hotshot business man in High Point.  I guess students do survive these crazy adventures and move on with their lives.  But for me, they will always be connected through that trip and one very funny moment in the shower!


Because of Jesus,