the show must go on

This weekend was Oklahoma Fine Arts!!!! I have been involved in Fine Arts since I was a teenager and every year is fun but every year is oh so different. In the past I have competed, coached, judged and most recently I've taken on even more behind the scenes responsibility. This year was a bit of a combo where I did some judging and also did other odd jobs throughout the weekend. My little niece, Elia, hung out with me for much of the weekend and even helped out with some judging! Well, she thought she was judging anyway. She spent her time drawing the teams she liked little pictures. During this session she drew the team a lollipop! But she said it was a small lollipop because they just didn't a little bit good! Ha!! I see a little fine arts prodigy in the making!!

In about 15 years of being involved in Fine Arts, we had a first this year!! Right before, literally RIGHT BEFORE, the closing ceremonies were scheduled to begin the lights throughout the entire church went out!! At first, we were hopeful that they would come back on but after we learned that the lights were out on the entire block we had to make a decision. In the end, the powers that be decided to move forward with the ceremony. They opened the doors spaced across the back of the sanctuary to let in what little sunlight would come in and the show went on!! The sunshine provided a little light but I took this pic from on the platform where we were handing out trophies and, as you can see, the light didn't quite reach that far. Plus, we had no microphones or sound system so the presenter had to yell from the platform who won and then we used flashlights to locate the correct trophy and hand it to the winner! It was a bit chaotic and definitely nothing we could have planned for but it made for a fun memory!

Fine Arts weekend is one of those events that you look forward to ALL year long but by the time you're in the midst of it you are definitely ready for a break! It's a long, tiring and stressful weekend but when it's all said and done it truly is alot of fun!! All of the participants I got to watch did so good and our church did awesome too! Now, only two days out, I'm still enjoying no Fine Arts in my life but I'm sure by the end of summer I'll be dreaming of human videos and dramas all over again!!