On Sunday night, January 3^rd, as the rest of America was ending their holiday vacations and getting ready to start the first workweek of the new year, finally get past 2020, the final NFL game of the year was held in Philadelphia (https://www.nfl.com).  The Eagles hosted the Washington Football Team.  For any fans who watched the game, there were some coaching decisions which certainly have drawn national attention and not for a good reason…

    Typically, when a sports team is playing their final game of the season without any post season to play for, you watch them just go through the motions to get to the end of the game and the beginning of the offseason.  The Eagles who were finished after last night could have done that but chose not to. If they lost, Washington was the division winner. If they won, the NY Giants who played earlier and won, would win the division. So, as you can see, the play of the Eagles would affect the playoffs and  two fan bases. As someone who is not an Eagles or Giants fan, I found myself oddly rooting last night for the Eagles. Right from the beginning of the game, the team clearly showed that they were passionate about the game and were not just playing to get it over with. At the half, the Eagles trailed 17-14 in what was a very competitive game.  With nothing to play for, the Eagles showed that they cared and wanted to win.

    During the 3^rd quarter, Philadelphia had a chance to tie the game at 17 with a relatively close field goal attempt. Rather than attempting the almost sure kick on 4^th down, the coach strangely elected to go for it. They did not make the 1^st down. The head scratcher move was a prelude for what has become a national story in the sports world and one of fan betrayal. It is always enjoyable to watch a game when players play hard and you could feel the passion within. I felt that with the Eagles for 2 1/2 quarters. They seemed energized to win and might have.

    Then, for reasons not known to any of us at the time, the coach decided to bench the starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, in favor of 3^rd string back up Nate Sudfeld who had not played all season. Hurts is a rookie and has played well in the last 4 games. His timely plays and hustle certainly kept Philly in the game.  As you can expect, putting in a quarterback who had not played all season was certainly going to change the impact of the game. It did and they ended up losing 20-14. As I watched the game and saw the stunned faces of the players, the impact of the decision became very apparent, the coaching staff didn’t care about winning.  With an Eagles loss, their standing in the spring collegiate player draft would be 3 spots higher than if they’d won. (https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft/news) I feel that the organization valued the higher pick over a win.

   The debate will rage on whether it was the coach, general manager or owner who ultimately made the call to remove the starter. But, NY Giant fans aside, I, and the many who expressed their views on the radio this morning, can’t help to cringe at the national disgrace expressed throughout the sports world over these decisions. If the team started the backup right from the beginning, you would know it is highly unlikely that they would win, but, they will give it a shot. To be coaching a team that is fighting hard and then just give up on them when the game is well within reach, to me, is ethically bankrupt. To say, “well, at least we have our draft pick 3 spots higher” is not worth quitting on your fans, which are loyal in good times and bad.

    The season was not good for the Eagles (4-11-1) but they had a chance to go out honorably and were fighting hard doing that. Perhaps even win the game. (https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com). But, to hear the coach today say that he put in a 3rd stringer in a tight game because he wanted him to get some “snaps” because he has not played insults not just Eagles fans, but all sports fans. Philly fans do not always have the best reputation and hear about it regularly. But, they didn’t deserve that. I sat there and said to myself, wow, I just wasted my time watching this knowing that, on a nationally televised game, leadership more or less said to all of us, winning tonight is not worth it.

  On social media last night, I could sense the feel of betrayal by this organization to their fans. Leadership failed their players and more importantly, their life-blood, which is their fan base. This can easily be compared to soldiers in a battle. Think about this-Your unit may be outmanned but is fighting hard in battle. Then, when the outcome seems close, the commanding officer removes key artillery pieces making the unit vulnerable to the other side ultimately resulting in defeat.  I know there are obvious differences between professional football and fighting in battle, but, both require competent leadership to survive and win.  It was a shame to see leadership give up on the game. Since last night it has become painfully obvious that this decision has struck a nerve throughout the country and on most of the sports talk shows.

   The choices made last night should not happen in sports or any form of competition or life.  Whether it’s a game or gig, you play and lead to the end. You should NEVER take your fans or supporters for granted..

I was very fortunate to grow up with a father who was a Veteran.  My dad served in WWII and was part of the 76^th Infantry Division where he served both as a soldier and also a musician.  As a kid, I spent a good amount of time around WWII Vets, as a lot of his friends served.  He was also involved in the local American Legion Post as well as later in his life working for a veterans in need organization.  So, needless to say, my education of the importance of our military and those who served was instilled in me at a young age.

When I was in the sixth grade at the Alpha Public School, I began playing Taps for military funerals.  At that time, the American Legion Post #446 of Alpha, NJ had a color guard detail that would attend funerals to provide the military honors for a veteran.  It was around that time that I was beginning to play in the Alpha Legion Band, which my dad directed. So, when it came time to play Taps, I would bring my uniform to school and when my dad came to sign me out, I would change and be on the way.  This opportunity continued throughout my high school years.  If my class schedule permitted, it was important to me to go and play.   To this day, if called, I will try to accommodate the request if I possibly can.

Although the summer of 2020 will forever be known as the “Summer of Covid,” it did provide me with a great opportunity to pair the love I have for the Battle of Gettysburg and The Civil War with the honor and duty of performing Taps. The Lincoln Fellowship, in partnership with Taps for Veterans, and the Gettysburg National Military Park, presented a nightly program called 100 Nights of Taps every evening from Memorial Day through Labor Day at the Soldier’s Monument in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The event is open to anyone.  To be considered to perform, one must submit an application to the committee who makes the decision on who is selected to perform.  This year, buglers representing 17 states were selected to come to Gettysburg. I had the honor of performing on July 31^st and again on September 4^th .

The Gettysburg National Cemetery was created shortly after the battle. After 3 days of fighting in the tiny town on July 1-3, 1863, the result of the conflict would forever change the landscape and importance of the community.  The aftermath of the battle left carnage and destruction throughout the town. Most of the farms were decimated and many farmers lost everything. With over 7000 Union and Confederate deaths in just three days of fighting, prominent Gettysburg attorney David Wills led a group to acquire land and establish a national cemetery for the battle on what is known as Cemetery Hill.  With a unified effort throughout the North, the creation of the cemetery happened very quickly. The official dedication occurred on November 19, 1863, which featured President Abraham Lincoln and the delivery of the immortal Gettysburg Address.  The centerpiece of the cemetery would be the soldier’s monument, which would not be completed until 1865.  The impressive 60 foot tall monument was designed as an allegory, which would tell a story of peace and plenty following a historic struggle. There are over 3500 Union soldiers buried here as well as other veterans from the Civil War to Vietnam.

For the nightly program, the buglers stand on the base of the monument to play.  It is awe inspiring to be standing on such an important and solemn location for our American history.  To honor those who served in the turning point battle of the Civil War, a war, which forever changed our country to make all men equal is a proud moment for me. The grounds of the cemetery played an important role in the battle, one that you can feel upon entering the cemetery. 

I was thankful to have been chosen for this honor.  It was a very special and significant moment in my life, one, which I will never forget.  I was overjoyed to be able to go out for a second opportunity in September.  I look forward to applying again in 2021 and a hope to have an opportunity to once again pay respect to those who served…

As you can see in the photos, this section features wall shelves that used to be part of garage storage.  When the garage was revamped, I decided to make little dioramas on each shelf either of themes I liked or items that I knew would look nice. As you can see on the bottom level, I always liked the history and property of the old Bethlehem Steel.  So, I chose to model that using buildings and scenery that I  could weather and make it appear like it was part of the Steel plant.  The coolest part of the whole shelf is the train coming out of the wall, into the shelf and right to the center.  I wanted to have a train be a part of this and to just have it only be in the shelf just did not fit with my vision. So, with a few cuts and a bridge design, the effect is really cool and fitting of the mill.

The two shelves above it are a bit simpler in their design. Due to site issues, I had to have larger buildings on the highest shelf with little detail or else you wouldn’t see it.  So, I took a few larger scale structures and trees and created an old fashioned town square.  The center shelf features a more utilitarian design with oil tanks and an electrical power station.

The other shelf is quite personal and also features a ‘N’ scale layout on top of the filing cabinet.  The top shelf represents my Italian heritage with a tribute to “Little Italy”. The one building is met with a little light humor as it is called the Motion Lounge Social Club.  This was the actual mob hangout name in real life from the movie Donnie Brasco.  There is also a Carlo’s Bakery and a Connie’s Pizza named after my mom.  I wanted to have a neighborhood feel and added the red, white, and green lighting for this shelf. This was fun to build and I think the background cityscape paper adds a nice dimension to it.

The middle shelf represents my love of the Civil War and specifically, the Gettysburg Campaign. This models the final battle on July 3, 1861, Pickett’s Charge where the confederates suffered a tremendous defeat which forced them to retreat to the south.  Since this design represented actual historical events, it had to be as realistic as possible.  The problem with this shelf was since it features a lot of detail, especially with tiny soldiers, horses, and tents, I needed a way to bring the detail to those not over 6 feet tall. So, after a while of thinking about it, I found a mirror and was able to angle it so everything can be seen from below.

I always liked the smaller ‘N’ scale. Since I had a few ‘N’ buildings and scenery on hand and the smaller area above the cabinet from which to model, it was a perfect fit.  I am very proud of the back mountain scene. The 3 pieces are a combination of basic foam and pieces of an old bridge. I designed and glued it all to fit in this area and then worked on creating a real life mountain look with trees, grass, and stone.  I am very proud the way this turned out.  The town feel is relaxed and almost resembles the Delaware Water Gap area.

I never knew until 2014 just how much model railroading and the artistry that goes into every design was inside me.  The chance to realize what I had for many years as a kid was too good to resist. When I was a kid, I always assisted my dad with the layout. I have enjoyed developing my technique and artistry with this hobby.  I hope to share this with others and hopefully someone will get the “bug” to enjoy a little model railroading.

The summer of 2018 has been one of unique opportunity for me.  For as long as I can remember, every summer would present itself with various concerts, festivals and outdoor gigs to play. The setting of dusk underneath the bright moon with the warm breeze of the hot summer night is very typical for all the summer gigs I play.  Of course, with the many days of extreme heat this summer, an out-door concert posed to be a bit more challenging!  Nonetheless, the summer concert season was made a little different with a few unique and personal opportunities for me.

In June, my wedding band, Generations (www.vposwing.com) had the privilege of being hired to play for the wedding of Ronnie Lord and Cassy Vash. If you didn’t already know, Cassy was a former student of mine who is currently living in Texas working as an engineer within the highway department system of Texas. She is doing very well and I am very proud of her.  Generations also played for her sister Helen’s wedding in 2014. So, it was a great honor for me to have the chance to play for a family that I am very close with.  As you can see in the photos, her wedding was held at the Loft at Jacks Barn (www.jacksbarn.com) in Hackettstown, NJ. The theme was very rustic and tailored to be very personal to both Cassy and Ronnie.  Since Cassy lives in Texas and is not able to travel to New Jersey that often, the day was even that much more special for the family and everyone involved.  We were part of both the ceremony and reception.  Everyone had a great time and the band had everyone dancing throughout. I am very thankful to Cassy, Ron and their family for allowing us to be a part of their most special day.

If you’ve read any of my past blogs, you maybe aware of the Ken Brader Holiday Brass Quartet that I play with have been playing the national anthem at various events. (www.facebook.com/groups/659018100807942/)  This summer, we were chosen to play at a home game for the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen Bank Park in Philadelphia on June 26.  The chance to play at a major league stadium regardless of who the home team is, presents a great opportunity. But, there is definitely more pressure upon us as 40,000 fans, players, and workers are standing at attention as we play on the field with cameras in our faces as it is being displayed on the big stadium screen. We were blessed with great weather that day and I want to humbly say that we hit a homerun with our performance.  This video was taken by the Phillies staff and they did a great job. (www.phillies.com)

We had two more nice opportunities to play the anthem this summer.  On Friday and Saturday, Aug. 3-4, we were asked to perform for the Drum Corps International semifinal performance at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, PA.  Drum Corps, or DCI for short (www.dci.org) is marching band for those serious students between ages 18-21. They work and travel all over the country all summer long leading up to the finals and championships in mid August.  Those in attendance are musicians and fans of brass music. So, this was a nice chance to play to a crowd who truly enjoy what we do. We also had a chance to again play for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on August 27^th for their final home game before the playoffs begin.  Although not the size of the Phillies stadium, it still is a great place to play and we enjoy every chance we have to play there.  This year, the Iron Pigs had the best record in the league and will be playing Scranton beginning September 5^th in the playoffs. It is a best of 5 series. If they go to a 4^th game, that will be Saturday, September 8^th and we will again be playing for that important game.

I finished up the summer by joining the band once again to be a part of Gloria’s Miami Sound, the best Gloria Estefan Tribute Band in America. (www.facebook.com/gloriasmiamisound/)  Led by the husband and wife team of Nikki Torres and Bill Ciamarelli, this band is awesome and a pleasure to play with. The show was held at the Cold Spring Country Club in Long Island, New York.  A top- notch band comprised of the best New York has to offer, I always enjoy meeting and performing with these musicians. I always look forward to working with Bill and Nikki in this band or their other very popular band New York Minute  (www.facebook.com/NYMinuteBand/) (see photo)

For me, these opportunities paved the way for a nice summer of music and gigs.  I am always glad to play and enjoy the life, but, it adds a special touch when you have some new events to perform helping those you know to share a beautiful moment in their life.  Plus, to be able to share the stage with talented musicians is always a great experience.

In the Fall of 2014 I decided to thoroughly clean out my garage and re-design how it was organized. I got tired of it being messy and knew that I could throw a lot out and make much better use of the space I had.  As this process was happening, I kept seeing the layout in the closet in the garage.  I think the little kid in me woke up again as suddenly an urge was rising to do something with it. At that point, the hobby was re-born within me. Once the garage was ready, I had a place and set-up the layout.  I began learning again about the hobby and the amazing amount of things that had changed in the hobby over the past 20 years. It was fun to go to shows, and see layouts running and feel like a kid again. However, what also had changed in that time was how expensive things could be! Wow!  I had no idea engines could be $300-400! The old recognizable brands of Tyco, Bachmann and Life-Like to name a few had been replaced by Walthers, MTH and Kato.  The inexpensive family sets were now costing upwards of $200.  What hit me right away was there is no way that many families can have it as a hobby to play with anymore.  What family of 4 or 5 can go out and spend $500 for supplies to run a train set or 2 with a nice display and scenery? Hardly anyone. Maybe the brands of the past weren’t the best, but as a kid, you just enjoyed watching the trains run and didn’t care about the brand, you just looked at the painting and decoration on the cars and engines.

What became very apparent to me was that the hobby is time consuming. In today’s society of everything happening fast and needing it now, I don’t see trains as a big draw to kids or millennials.  It doesn’t move fast enough and actually takes artistry and work to make a nice display.  What I did learn was that if you wanted to get more supplies, the most affordable way was to keep an eye out for garage sales or auctions. I discovered www.auctionzip.com for train auctions in my area.  This has actually been a great help.  The past 3 years I have been able to go to a lot of auctions and sales and pick up many great trains, scenery items and displays for a fraction of the cost of buying new.  What I also noticed is that I was probably one of the youngest buyers of trains in these auctions.  I learned that the market for trains was those mid 40’s and up and if you saw a kid at an auction, he probably was there as a tag a long with his grandfather.  The realization that this is no longer a family hobby was very evident. It was more for older men who could absorb the costs because they don’t have to worry about car payments, mortgages or college tuition!

Since 2014, I have enjoyed re-learning the hobby and expanding it with artistry and design. As a creative person, it certainly allows me the chance to develop and expand my creativity to be as expansive as you would like.  The photos here show my layout from many years ago. There is even one from when I was in the newspaper as my layout had been featured since it was so unique.  Over the next weeks, I will be exploring with you in more blog posts my layout and what I changed and re-built along with showing you more photos and video.  Stay tuned… More to come from Vince’s Railroad Depot!

The success of the first coffee house in October made one thing very clear for the church. They liked the idea of new events and a time for fellowship. It was in January that myself, Connie Sabatine and Jeff Barrows sat down with the pastor and proposed our plan to hold a concert in June and follow it with an Italian dinner. Calling it “Italian Night” we would be able to entertain our guests and then provide a delicious home cooked Italian meal.  I knew this combination would be a great fit.

Building off of our success with the Interfaith Choral Festival in November, I had searched for an opportunity for the choir besides the coffee house and singing in church on selected Sunday mornings.   I believe if you want your ensemble to grow and become more mature, you need to find new outlets to perform in and a new audience to sing for.  Stretching yourself out of your comfort zone will definitely do that.  Since we have never sung more than two sections in a row, this opportunity to perform a full concert can only help us become a better choir.  I can now select literature of varying styles ranging from secular to Sacred as well as material that is better suited for a concert as opposed to just a Sunday service.  This is exactly what I did. I chose several songs including “Cantate Domino” which is partially sung in Latin. Although not terribly difficult, it is a good concert song that allows me to teach more advanced musical concepts as well as introducing Latin to our members.

In addition to Cantate Domino, we are performing Instrument of Peace, A Thousandfold, An Irish Blessing, Joshua, Make a Joyful Noise, A Mighty Fortress is our God and The Christ Child is Born will be our Sacred selections.  But, we also have a few non Sacred songs to provide a little fun and they include Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, Stand By Me and the traditional college song Vive L’Amour.  There will also be a special selection sung by Jeff Barrows.

I am definitely proud of the choir and the work they have put in so far to make this concert a success.  Like other church choirs, our membership has a varied level of musical talent with some having music and choral experience to those who this is the first time they have ever sung in a choir.  But, they are developing nicely and working towards my high expectations of them.

The dinner part just fit so nicely into the plans. It does provide a night out for our guests with dinner included.  Plus, it is all for free.  Where can you go in our society today that you can get a good concert and a full dinner all for free?  I am excited to know that many of our guests are not just going to be regular members of the congregation.  We will have family and friends from out of town, those from other churches, and even those who don’t go to church at all.  This is a nice opportunity for anyone who has never been inside our church to meet our members, have a chance to walk through the church and get a feel for who we are and what we stand for.  If opening up our church can even change one persons life for the better, than it is all worth it.

After the concert, I will be the disc jockey for the dinner.  I will be playing many of the great Italian favorites and dinner classics associated with the great country of Italy.  It stands to be a beautiful night for everyone.

I do need to tell you that entrance to both the concert and dinner is by ticket only. You will be only able to get into the dinner by having a ticket. Right now we have very few seats left. If you are interested, please call me and I will try to save you one.  However, if you don’t care about the dinner and just want to come and hear the concert, you can do that.  Just come on in!

If you have any questions or would like to inquire if we still have tickets remaining, please call me at 908-619-4502 and I can give you more information.

As you may have read from my other blog posts, the quartet has performed the past 2 years at a home game of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, which are the AAA affiliate of the Phillies.  That is always a special experience and, even though it is minor league baseball, is still a cool thing to be on the field by home plate to play.  When we performed in September 2017, I inquired to the events coordinator who booked us, what would we need to do to be selected to perform for the major league team.  He instructed me to wait until January and then check out their website for info about it.  Well, I found the site and it required me to fill out an application and more importantly, include several videos of us performing.  Well, considering we had a good video of playing in the previous September, I felt our chances would be ok.  To my surprise, on February 16^th I received an email from the Phillies congratulating us on being selected to perform.  I had figured this might be political and you more or less needed a connection or had to know someone to be asked to perform.  But, that was not the case.  They had liked our arrangement and sound and wanted us to be there.  Now, we needed to review the schedule and select find a date to play.

The Phillies required you to visit the schedule and select 5 dates. From these dates they would select your day and you would have to play for that game.  You couldn’t just send in one date and that was it. As I checked the schedule, I realized that this was the year that the Yankees would be going to Philly for a three game set (June 25-27).  So, I quickly selected our five dates with June 26^th being a favorite and replied.  A few days later I was pleasantly surprised to read the email that they gave us June 26^th to perform.  As you can probably assume, I was thrilled.  It has been probably 5-6 years since I have been to a major league baseball game let alone a Yankee game.  Going to the Bronx for a Yankees home game really isn’t an ideal situation. The travel to the Bronx, parking, food, etc. is just really costly and something I didn’t feel is worth the money to spend.  But, now it is much easier to travel to Philadelphia and as a perk, we are given preferred parking for free! We do have to buy our tickets, but, the parking alone is worth it. So, to have a chance to go see the Yankees in person but not have to deal with the cost and travel to go to New York is something I am extremely looking forward to.

It will definitely be a great experience for us.  I can remember being in high school when each year the band played the national anthem in the outfield at the old Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia.  But, that was always on a hot Sunday afternoon and our tickets were usually in the 700 level high up in the outfield’s nose bleed section.  We were told that most likely the anthem would not be live on television, only showed on the ballpark screens. But, we would be able to have a copy for ourselves. Who knows if we may be on TV at all or maybe even partially. But, it is still a great experience to perform as well as knowing that once that is over, I can sit back and enjoy watching Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorious, Gary Sanchez and the rest of the New York Yankees all thanks to the Phillies!!

Spring Coffee House

A BIG Hit!!

On Saturday, April 28^th, the Bethel Memorial Baptist Church held their second annual Coffee House event in our downstairs multipurpose room.  I am very pleased to say that it was an awesome night and was attended by 150 people!  It far exceeded the amount we had at our initial event in October and I am very happy and thankful for a great night for the church.

As head of the coffee house committee, I am in charge of or have to be a part of just about everything.  But, I welcome the opportunity and am happy with how well everything turned out.  The night featured a diverse line up of entertainment from sacred to secular and even a little rhythm and blues.  Featuring members of our church as well as a few guests, the audience was Blessed with such wonderful talent. I had the privilege of directing the Victory Voices once again as we sang Instrument of Peace and Stand By Me.  Both went well and I am so thankful to the men for giving of their time and talent. We also had a few acts where the musicians took the time to talk about a funny story in their life or to speak about the love of their spouse.  Crooner Joe DeMaio, dedicated the song “Longer”  by Dan Fogelberg to his wife.  However, she was unaware that he was going to sing this as well as walk towards her as he was singing ending with the lyric “I’m so in love, with you” followed by a kiss! How romantic!! Then we had Sam Bodder who grew up with his grandfather singing the very funny song “Pretty Little Dear “ from 1927, which spoke of a gentlemen’s girlfriend who had a very healthy appetite! Considering it was humor of the 20’s, the way he told the story was classic and well loved by the audience.

The highlight of the night was how we ended it.  Advertising in the program as “guests from Chicago” we featured Jeff Barrows and Jerry Crivellaro teaming up to be Jake and Elwood Blues of the Blues Brothers to sing Soul Man. Of course, the lyrics were changed a bit to reflect the term Soul Man and to tie-it in with our church. Since no one had any idea this was going to happen, it was a surprise and by far the best moment of the evening. To see two husky guys over 6ft tall moving and dancing around like their fellow mentors was hilarious and awesome.  The fact that this was so unexpected is what really made their act. Yes, they sang well, but, here you have two Board of Trustee Members in a role that you would not expect.  It was priceless.

Similar to our first event, we had plenty of food for everyone. From hoagies and chicken sandwiches to hot pretzels and desserts, there was something for everyone and plenty to go around.  What we did have this year which was really neat was a red carpet style photo booth in our lobby.  Anyone who came in could have their picture taken in front of a classy screen well lit by photography lighting.  We also had plenty of props, both serious and fun, if you wanted to pick up a fake mustache or a pair of funny glasses. Many photos were taken ranging from nice family pics to humorous outtakes.  It was really a nice addition to our event and everyone seemed generally happy to oblige.

It was always my vision to offer an event for the church that can bring people in and create a sense of togetherness, outreach and community all while keeping the focus on the Lord.  I really feel this event accomplished that.  I have seen where some groups will focus solely on witnessing for the Lord to guests before they have even made a connection with them.  For some, this method may work. However, my desire is to bring everyone in to have a fun night and allow them to feel comfortable and at home in our church.  I don’t want anyone to feel like we only wanted them there because we thought we could get them to become members. Not the case at all. If we don’t make personal connections and relationships first, none of that can really happen anyway.  With the entertainment, food, photo booth and general enjoyment of the night, our church is experiencing two things. We are seeing great attendance at our newly discovered social events as well as inviting others and sharing our building, family and fellowship with others.  Since the church never had anything like this, both events have proven that people will come out to socialize with their friends all while realizing we are in church and it is because of the Lord that we are all there!

Hopefully we can keep this moving forward and maybe we can see you at the next one!

I am excited to invite you to Bethel’s spring coffee house, which is going to be held on Saturday, April 28th at 6pm in the multi-purpose room of the church. The event is FREE and open to ANYONE! I encourage you to bring a friend and share with them a great night of fellowship, entertainment, food and love. As you may know, our first coffee house was held in October 2017 and was a huge hit bigger than we could have ever expected. We were hoping for maybe 100 people and figured if we came close to that, we could call it a successful night. Well, we were VERY Blessed to smash that figure and had 132 people in attendance. It was a great night and probably one of the largest turnouts for a non-service event the church has had. We have made plans to increase our set up and are ready to host 150 people this time.

The church has decided that they would like us to produce two events a year, one in October and another in the Spring. Well, we have been working very hard getting our April event ready and I think you are really going to like it. Doors will open at 5:30pm and we will begin to serve food and drink shortly after. We expect to begin with the entertainment shortly after 6pm. Like our first event, we will be providing light food and refreshments including hoagies, mini-chicken sandwiches and delicious hot pretzels. Of course, this is in addition to delicious coffee, tea, cold drinks and home made desserts!

The highlight of the night is our wonderful entertainment. We have several acts returning from last time as well as a few new ones to entertain you. There is a great deal of diversity within the music that you will never be bored. From Sacred to Secular, there is a little something for everyone. For me, I am proud to have an opportunity to again direct our 13 pc. men’s choir, Victory Voices, in two selections, Instrument of Peace and Stand By Me. Instrument of Peace, by Greg Gilpin, is a beautiful song written for men’s choir that speaks to the need for peace in our lives and that spirit which needs to live in all our spirit. During the song there is a beautiful solo song by tenor vocalist Nick Cornelius. To lighten the mood, our other selection is the great Stand By Me by Ben E. King. The men are doing a great job and this is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

For our other entertainment, we are pleased to announce that the following will be performing: Pastor Brent Robinson, Sam Bodder, Joe DeMaio, Jeff Barrows, Karen Barrows, Jerry Crivellaro, Ray LaBarre, Leah Tielmann, Kemie Adedoyin, Keith Schifano, Linda Pettinelli, Laura Stauffer, Laura Carlson, Shawn Isaacs, and Mark Campbell. There is a lot of talent with all of these voices and performers. Our closing number will even be a surprise that might shock some of the church members!! A surprise that I am sure will be well worth it!

Although the event looks to be a great night, it takes several months of work, meetings, many phone calls and communication to put everything together. I would like to thank my committee for doing a great job assisting and leading on several fronts. Our committee includes: myself, Connie Sabatine, Jeff Barrows, Melinda Scheel and Joe DeMaio. Everyone has graciously donated their time to build this event. So far, the excitement is growing as we are getting closer and I am encouraged by the turn out we are expecting. This is an outreach event geared to bring others into our church regardless of their religious affiliations. To be able to share a time of fellowship, food and entertainment with them is a gift of peace and an opportunity to get to know our community.

We also are VERY THANKFUL to ShopRite, Wegman’s, Weis Market, Giant Market, Philly Pretzel Company, Sam’s Club, Chick-Fil-A (Phillipsburg Location) for making wonderful contributions to our night.

The event should last until about 8:30pm. We will have an intermission between sets and at that time will again host the popular trivia contest like we did last time. A mixture of tv/movie and pop culture, our trivia contest was a hit, and for some, a great blast from the past. Prizes will be awarded to those 3 with the most correct.

The night is shaping up to be very special. I encourage you all to come. The room is set up in a very relaxed and warm atmosphere almost resembling a dinner theater. Plus, it is free! If you have any questions or need directions, please call me at (908)-619-4502.

After a cancellation and a postponement due to weather, our new Sacred Band finally debuted on Sunday, March 4th at the Christ Lutheran Church in Hellertown, Pa. What began a long time ago as a vision finally came to fruition as we performed for the wonderful congregation of the Christ Lutheran Church. Like I said in my previous blog, our 17pc. big band that plays in churches is AWESOME, but, the size and logistics of programming that can be an issue and very difficult to schedule. So, when the interest came from Christ Lutheran to book sacred music, we felt the need to move in a different direction. A direction that would feature a smaller band which is easier to adapt and book for a wide variety of churches and their facilities. The new 7pc. band features vocals, piano, bass, drums, trumpet, sax, and trombone.

Although I am the leader of the band, the featured instrument is the vocalist, which is very capably handled by my sister Linda. Whether singing solo or leading the congregation in song, her energy and praise of the Lord is unmistakable. Although we were dealing with the winter blues from the recent rash of storms which left many without power, she wiped that away and got many up on their feet to worship the Lord in Praise! Backing up Linda was a driving rhythm section featuring Steve Wysocki, Tom Mondschein and Mark Marina. Steve, who is the Minister of Music for the church, played keyboard and did a great job. This band was new for him and his excitement was contagious to all of us. Tom played Bass and has been with the big band for many years. Sitting behind the drums, Mark kept the feel and drive throughout.

On the other side of the band was the horn section that added pop and sizzle to the songs. The section consisted of myself on trumpet, Ricky Paetzell on saxophones and Dustin Hartman on Trombone. The three of us have played together for many years in the big band and it was a pleasure to join these two well-trained musicians in the section once again. The band jelled together on so many levels. You could definitely feel the sense of joy and satisfaction as this project, which has been in the works for quite a while, finally happened.

One neat aspect about this band is that we have an eclectic playlist of music. We play revered standard hymns, contemporary praise and worship songs and even jazz influenced hymns. We began the service with a beautiful quartet arrangement of It is Well With My Soul. Led by the flugelhorn, this arrangement was a perfect vehicle to calm the mind and to be able to mentally prepare for the service. We then had the congregation join us on Stand Up and Bless the Lord and All Hail The Power of Jesus Name. These 2 are great for anyone to join in as it combines a fun newer contemporary song with one of the most all-time favorite hymns.

After the sermon, we had a chance to stretch our chops a bit as we were featured on Oh, Happy Day! This was performed in the style of the song as heard in the movie Sister Act 2. This bluesy rock feel was fun to play and easily a crowd favorite. They couldn’t help but to clap along and move in their seats to this song. We then had chance to play for their communion. We chose Christ is Reaching Out. A really pretty jazz ballad by David Arivet, Linda did a great job capturing the feel and style of the song backed by a solid arrangement. We finished off the morning with a nice version of Crown Him With Many Crowns and reprised Stand Up and Bless the Lord as our postlude.

I can’t say enough how gracious and generous Steve, Pastor Phil and the rest of the members of CLC were to us. They are very welcoming and I am glad we were able to debut with them. We are very thankful to them for all they did for us. We hope we can do this again with them in the future.

So, where do we go from here? We have photos, a video and are now ready to begin seeking opportunities. We want to spread our music and our vision with as many churches as we can. Whether it is during a service or for an evening show featuring the band, we welcome a chance to share the praise at a church near you. Please call me at 908-619-4502 or visit www.vposwing.com or www.vincepettinelli.com to bring our band to your church.