I also valued some in-depth interface with Nick Waite and Mike Stern.

I was whisked away from the youngsters at night in a valiant attempt to bag-breathe me into a state of sufficient restedness to be able to function through the travails of travel and music-making which challenged me each day anew.

The students are a dream, basically: so considerate and so kind.  Can they crank up and get loud?  You bet!  Do I love ‘em?  Without a doubt!

John B

I also want to let you know a little bit about the history of the tour blog so you can understand what I’m about to tell you. In 2004 I had the opportunity to travel to Slovakia with Eagle’s Wings. I took my video camera and spent the remainder of that summer editing a two disc DVD set of video and pictures that I mass-produced and distributed one-per-family for everyone that went on that tour. I did that because I wanted to be able to share that wonderful memory and have something that our group could remember the tour by. However… it was a large pain in my patootie and I vowed never to take on something of that size again. When I started going on tours as a chaperone again in 2008, I started the tour blog. At that point it was on blogspot and quite rudimentary… but it was a start. For the last two years, the tour blog has been at this URL (www.oslcministrytour.com) where it will stay as long as I’m in charge of it, which will hopefully be for awhile.

I tell you that story to tell you this… I will not be giving out custom CD’s or DVD’s of pictures or video from any more tours. I understand that some people have elderly relatives that are not on facebook and that would want a DVD of this stuff. But I do not have the man-power to take on a project of that magnitude. It is a slippery slope and if I do it for one person… I’ve opened up a can of worms. So… all these posts, pictures and videos will be archived right here on this blog. There are “Categories” to the right. If you want to view posts from past tours… just click on the category from that tour. It’ll all be there! The pictures are going to stay on my facebook page, because that is the best way for the kids to comment and interact with each other about them. The videos will be posted to my YouTube page (which is available to view for free) and embedded in post(s) on this blog.

The blog is available to everyone… so when you visit elderly relatives or other family that might not be “up on this technology” you can show them the blog.

Thank you for understanding that I cannot make DVD’s of concerts and give you all individual CD’s of pictures. They’re all online… where they will stay!

Monarch Landing concert > Boarding the Bus > Laurel Grove Assisted Living Facility – Manitowoc, WI > Grace Congregational Church – Two Rivers, WI

Photo Album #2

Impromptu Concert – Two Rivers, WI > Wisconsin Maritime Museum – Manitowoc, WI > Badger Carferry >

Photo Album #3

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church – Guelph, Ontario > Host Home > Sunday worship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church – Guelph, Ontario > Bus Ride

Photo Album #4

Concert & Tour: Basilique Notre-Dame – Montreal, Quebec > Old Montreal > St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church – Montreal, Quebec

Photo Album #5

Good News Garage – Burlington, VT / Puppets in Education > Rock Point Conference Center

Photo Album #6

Backyard BBQ > Good Shepherd Lutheran Church – Jericho, VT >

Photo Album #7

Morning at Rock Point Conference Center > Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church – Rochester, NY >

Photo Album #8

Niagara Falls > Lutheran Memorial Home – Sandusky, OH

Photo Album #9

Tour Crowns / Gifts > Homecoming Concert

THE HECKESES UHMM TORIS MIMI AND PAPA and all my other friends at home
Buenos Noches

Kara Ashley

Just in case you don’t know, senior vespers is a night where the choir, puppet team, and mentors honor and recall significant memories about the graduated seniors. It’s always a most-looked-forward-to night by some, while for us, the ones leaving this year, it was completely dreaded. In fact, Billy Michael, another senior, made up a spur-of-the-moment talent show act just to put off the beginning of vespers. However, like all things, it began eventually, around 10:30, and lasted a grand total of 2 hours and 41 minutes.

Throughout this seemingly long period of time, many feelings were expressed – tears ran down everyone’s (including Dan Beirne’s) face one minute, and the next, as a favorite funny memory was shared, we erupted in laughter. It was the first time that students and mentors stood up individually to share their feelings, which shows how much respect we have for one another. Boundaries between freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors were dissolved and our love enveloped us all as one monstrous family. The juniors did an amazing job characterizing the seniors and our time spent in Eagle’s Wings, and other contributions that followed by underclassmen were also extremely heartfelt. They made us feel so loved and appreciated, making our goodbye even harder.

Although some of the tears spent were because we’d no longer get to see each other every Wednesday night or go on a kick-butt week-long tour every summer, most of our emotion came from the realization that we were no longer an active member of Eagle’s Wings. This year especially, the seniors have a gift for praising God through music, and we speak for the rest of the 2010 graduates in saying that we will truly miss bringing smiles to the faces of the Our Saviour’s congregation as we sing for the Lord.

For us, church truly is our second family. The bonds we have developed over the past four years will undoubtedly last a lifetime, simply because we have the strongest being holding our group together – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It has been the greatest blessing to be a part of this ministry, and we ask for your prayers as we continue on our faith journey and search for another group as strong as this one. Eagle’s Wings will forever hold a place in our hearts and we are so grateful for the amazing times its brought us.

Don’t worry – we’ll be back for more.

Love you all

Tori Tanaka and Lindsey Heckes

Rachel Harvey

Taylor Musial here to tell you about the amazing time I’ve had on tour this year.

On Ministry tour we’ve been given opportunities to meet new people and have times when we’ve had to go out of our comfort zone to meet others who have been impacted by God. Every church that we’ve sung at has welcomed us with open arms and given us a place to stay. There have been a couple times that I wondered, how could we give back and help others just like the host homes and the people we’ve met on tour. So when I heard on Tuesday that we would be doing a service project I was really excited! We found out that we would be helping at a garage that gave people who were less fortunate the opportunity to have things like a car, bike, etc. Good News Garage was a success with the choir because we worked together to get things done. It felt good giving back to people who really needed it. Sometimes living in such a good area we tend to forget that life is not so easy for some and we take for granted the gifts we get from our parents. This service project was worth all the dirt and grime that I got into because I knew that it was worth every ounce of work. Especially when we got onto the bus to leave, I saw a family of 3 little kids picking up bikes with big smiles on their faces. It felt good to know that with a little effort you really can impact someone’s life. Times like these are the ones that I’ll miss the most when I go to college in the fall. Eagles Wings has become another family to me and has changed how I appreciate a lot of things. Each tour is a life-changing experience that really makes you stop and think about what is really important in life.

Peace Out! See you soon!!!

-Taylor