My students' juggling team, LOL, had two shows on Wednesday.  One was a rescheduling of our January show due to a snow day.  Therefore, the students were out of class all day.  No one complained.

Actually, the day started with a visit to St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Biddeford.  This was not for a show; We were there to look at some of the beautiful artwork: stained glass windows, tapestries, architecture, sculpture. This happens to be the church Sue and I were married in, which made it all the more special.  We had a brief break before we had to go to our first gig in Portland, so we had an impromptu visit to my mother-in-law's house, who lives across the street.   One of my students, Tanner, said repeatedly afterwards, "I don't know why you joke about her, Mr. H.  She's a peach."  Well said, Tanner.

Our first show was for chapel at Greater Portland Christian School.  This is much bigger than our school, and I estimate there were 200 people there.  This was the best show LOL has had all year.  Matt did a terrific diabolo solo, Tanner juggled machetes for the first time, and Makayla, normally very demur, truly became an actress in this show.  GPCS students and staff loved the show.

But the best was yet to come.  We had a 3:30 gig at the Root Cellar.  This is an inner city mission in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood.  It has gotten national attention for reaching out through adult ed., a dental clinic, youth groups, citizenship classes, and an after school program, which is who we were ministering to.  Although the show wasn't quite as good as the earlier one, the kids were still very good.  It was Seth's turn to do a diabolo solo, and it was well executed.  Since LOL and the Supreme Court Jesters both go to the Root Cellar each year, many of the kids were familiar with some of our routines, and they were quick to tell us so.  Nonetheless, LOL kept a professional demeanor the whole time.

But it wasn't really about the show.  Afterwards, we got to play with their kids in their game room.  Brandon, who is Cambodian-American, really connected with a Cambodian immigrant child.  Lucy had a whole flock of children swarming to her.  R-Lo was mauled by a flying hug from a little girl.  When it was time to go, the Root Cellar kids begged that we stay, and the LOL kids wished we could.  

  This was a true cross cultural experience, as most of the Root Cellar kids are Somali, Rwandan and Sudanese immigrants.  Munjoy Hill is one of Maine's few truly ghetto neighborhoods, and LOL  came away with an experience they'll never forget.

Visit the Root Cellar here:  http://www.therootcellar.org/