A really fun recent appearance was the IHOP Pancake Day -the day when calories don’t count because they are for charity (perfect justification, right?)! I visited a few IHOP Restaurants that day to promote and raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. At one of the restaurants, I had a pancake-stacking contest with a little boy from Gillette and he beat me fair and square! I’m pretty sure it was all the sugar in the pancakes and syrup he had that morning before 8am! The following week, I had the opportunity to burn off some calories (many from the previous week of pancake eating!) again in promotion of CMNH when I participated in a Bike-a-thon at Cottage Grove Middle School. The school raises around $10,000 each year in a single week devoted to biking; it’s pretty incredible to see the kids so passionate about helping out! As for me, I was happy to hop on a bike and sign autographs at the same time…taking multi-tasking to the next level!
Next up was a St. Patrick’s Day celebration through the “O’ Gong Show.” I had the unique opportunity to judge the Carmichael Lynch ‘talent competition’ where I hit a big gong to exile a person if I didn’t like their talent! Those who didn’t get gonged received a score 1-10. This experience definitely gave me faith in MAO and the very talented young women who participate…but, if you happen to be in need of a talent, check out the picture of a dapper young man playing the recorder with his nose! I saw many unusual talents to say the least, but it was all in good fun and quite entertaining!
From one music event to the next…I do love these appearances that involve music! This past Saturday, I was at the Mall of America for the Music Link Foundation. Their mission is to give any child music lessons regardless of financial circumstances. So this weekend they held their annual ‘play-a-thon’ to help raise funds to continue their mission. I emceed the event and also performed some of my original pieces. Check out their website at www.musiclinkfoundation.org where you can volunteer to teach or make a donation. Being a piano teacher myself, I find such pleasure in seeing so many students devoted to music. I truly feel like I was given the gift of teaching and I can honestly say it doesn’t even feel like ‘work’ because I enjoy it so much! Plus, it is always a thrill when one of my piano students wins the State Contest, which happened this year along with four of my other students being chosen as alternate winners.
This brings me to the recent publicity I’ve had with my own music! WCCO (channel 4) did a very nice story on my piano compositions, which made me quite excited to begin school again and finish my composition degree. If you didn’t catch it, CLICK HERE to watch! Many thanks to Kerry McNally for taking interest in me!
You can still order my Blessed Beyond Measure cd at whohasinspiredyou.com. All proceeds still benefit the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. And stay tuned for more information on my two upcoming Night of Inspiration Concerts in April and May!
