Coach was dancing!

[Randy]

Saturday night I had the honor to sit in with Steve and Nancy Blain's group, 50/50. I had lunch with Coach (Mark Kedrowski) that day and he ended up driving over to New Richmond, Wisconsin. We often talk about 'riding the moment', meeting the surprise of what's around the corner. Yesterday, taking a group down the St. Croix on paddle boards, we met a wide variety of weather conditions and the group embraced the surprise. They were an amazing group. Yet, my highlight moment was looking over Saturday night and watching Nancy shine on keys and looking to the dance floor to see Coach shaking it out. I've had a lot of ride experiences, but looking at the faith and courage these two have shown through some extremely challenging surprises, it may have touched the pinnacle. Hats off to those who got out late Saturday to meet the surprise of a great clearing wind. The forecasters were pretty much off the mark most of the weekend. I like that. I like the mystery and the resilience. So glad to have open minded friends ready to meet the surprise of the next moment.

BTW, if you haven't had a chance to hear 50/50, you're missing something. My forecast would be you'd hit the dance floor ready to rig down.

[steveb]

It was a HUGE surprise to see Coach and a delight. Cudos should also go to Mike Bares and Mike Green who also carried the Lakawa flag on Saturday night. Superb to see you all.
Always a gas when Randy plays with us , sparks huge moments of Wow. Watching a huge crowd on the dance floor all staring at Randy so they don't miss their cues to sing , the glowing anticipation on their faces and the joy of the moment is really something.
My baby sister is visiting from England, she got yacking with Mark along with another very cute young woman called Laura. Mark may have redesigned himself a little but he didn't damage his chick-o-meter, that's fully operational. Next thing I know Marks on the dance floor working very tasty moves with both these women. You just can't keep a good man down.
Nancy was in her 10 rest period between chemo's , she'd rested for 2 days so she'd have the energy to play this gig, she was so excited seeing everyone, Randy playing with us , and the energy of the people at Brady's. She crashed as soon as she got home but....had a huge grin all day Sunday reliving the moments.
Back in her first chemo cycle this week, we had some great news her CA 125 numbers were really down, almost to a level that could be called normal ,so she's responding very well to her treatment.
Loads and I mean loads of you have contacted us, sent cards, e mails, love and personal notes, you'll never know how much the support of all of you has meant. I'll never be able to thank you all properly, please know your words have helped Nancy deal with this trial. Luck and wind to all. Steve

[JRN]

IT IS SO GOOD, to hear Nancy's positive results. It is almost miraculous, the reports of Coach on the dance floor, nonetheless. I thought about him as we were kiting beyond the rock pile off Ramsey on Wednesday. Back on shore, ran into Mary G. who won the women's division at many midwest sailboard races. Our remarks harkened back to the days when the rigging area would be
loaded with boards & sails on any windy day, & the bay full of windsurfers. How many lifelong friendships resulted can only be imagined, and it continues as we venture into kiting, paddleboards, with a whole new batch of people in the mix. Thanks for sharing the good news!