Since we are on the coast, our town tends to have festivals that celebrate things of the sea, like fish, fishermen, crab, seafood, etc. This time it was the humble commercial fishermen that were being festive. And they managed to invite Graham Kerr to the party (he now has a home in Washington state, so he's not too far away). Today and tomorrow, he's doing something with fish - filleting, perhaps. But on Friday, he held a seminar in our local theatre.
He was older, of course, but still a vibrant, funny man. He talked about making healthy lifestyle changes, helping out the community and reaching out to those less fortunate. He connected all this and if you want more info, he has a website. Our family already does a lot of what he spoke of - good to see someone giving talks like this. And judging from the audience, most who attended could use a healthier lifestyle (our town has it's issues, like most of America I'm sure).
But the greatest thing to me was that he told us that he was a Christian, and he actually prayed for the audience at the end of his talk. You could just see that he really wanted to reach these people. This was not a spiritual meeting, but he wanted to bring God into the picture and he did it in non-threatening way. Todd and I, of course, were totally fine with him praying and I thought it was awesome. We live in a very secular town - these people needed the prayer.
I loved hearing some of his history. How he met his wife when they were 10 years old. They celebrated their 50th (I believe) anniversary this weekend. How they were living in New Zealand when they first started his cooking show. Apparently, there were only 15 TVs in New Zealand at the time and he said that not many shows can boast 100% viewing - all 15 TVs watched his show! His wife decided a change was needed in his show and began directing the program. That's when he began displaying his outgoing personality on TV. My Mom and sisters watched his show with me when I was very young. We thought he was so funny and wondered what it would be like to be in the audience. Didn't he always invite someone (usually a female) from his audience to dine with him at the end? Seeing him brought back a lot of childhood memories. Our family was big on charades and The Galloping Gourmet was always an easy one to act out. I'll let you think about that for a bit ...
It was fun to have a little date with my husband, sitting together and holding hands. We were home by 7:30 pm, which was good. In typical Kate fashion, the night was not without its mishaps. I had sent a check for the tickets (by donation only, the proceeds going to the festival by Mr. Kerr's request) and was told by phone that our tickets would be held at the box office. Calling the box office on the day of the event was useless - there's not always someone there to get the phone (small town, remember?) That night, there were no tickets there for us at the theatre. But after earnest explaining, they let us in. When Todd and I were walking down an aisle to get to the front, I nearly ran over an older lady. I apologized and continued on my way. You guessed it ... I found out a few minutes later that I had nearly knocked over Mrs. Kerr!! When Graham introduced his wife to the audience, I nearly died of embarrassment. Fortunately, she couldn't see me from where she was sitting and she was so nice, I'm sure she forgave me. Still.
They really seem like a terrific couple. I'm so glad they came to our town this weekend. I wish our weather had been nicer but they're used to rain, living in WA. It has been raining for days. I think the term "muggy" must have been invented in this place.
Oh, thanks for praying for my blog friend on HSB. I really appreciate it.
1 comment:
This sounds like such a great night for you both - mishaps and all :-)
Post a Comment