We spent two days in Lenoir working with Chris Summer and the crew at the Broyhill Civic Center. We all arrived on Tuesday night and the day started very early on Wednesday morning. I had the opportunity to work with some very special children at the Hudson Elementary School in Lenoir. For those of you who read my blog, you know the magic therapy program is one of my passions. I believe it can make such a huge impact in the lives of those who participate and I try to at least expose education specialists and therapists to the concepts any chance I can.
I was able to observe the children in their educational environment and even got to participate in their physical education class with them. After the class, they went back to their classrooms. I visited with three different groups of children, taught them some magic tricks, and watched them smile, laugh and come to life! It’s more than just learning magic tricks – it’s helping children with memory skills, concentration, task follow-through, frustration tolerance, and communication skills.
The next day – Thursday, Jan 30 – was our performance at the Broyhill Civic Center. The crew met us at the loading dock and the day began. The stage is large and the crew had it fairly clear for all of our cases. We were loaded in quickly and the set up day was off!
We were expecting a good crowd and they did not disappoint us! The audience was enthusiastic and made us feel very welcome in Lenoir. There were also several local/area magicians in the crowd that night. I had the opportunity to meet a couple of them after the show in the lobby. We always appreciate the support of the local guys.
Once the show was over, we had to tear down and get our of there fast. And, thanks to a great crew, we made for a record tear down and load out. We had to drive after the show in order to get closer to Cullowhee, the town for our next performance. J.T., one of the crew guys, was kind enough to let us follow him back to Morganton where we would pick up Interstate 40 West. We had reservations to stay in Asheville but the drive took much longer than anticipated. We ran into some very nasty weather as we climbed higher into the mountains. The rain turned to ice and sleet and we saw cars lose control on the interstate. We practically crawled in those last few miles to the hotel. We were in bed around 1:30am and morning was rushing at us quickly!