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P&P 1998-5 – Interviews – Tape
For many of you these stories will mean much to you. You had to be there to experience. For the rest of us they bring back many memories. We did some interviews in 1998 as we prepared for the 25 Anniversary of Pitch & Praise. Many of these stories and testimonies were from those interviews.
Denis Bell – Greg Shantz – I think that God has done some very interesting things, and there are a couple of moments I want to recall. There have been kids that have come to Pitch & Praise that are no longer alive. One fellow that I want to mention is Greg Shantz. Greg was a teenager here at Pitch & Praise, played a Harmonica, and was part of one of our opening bands back in the early 80s. I don’t know what Pitch & Praise personally meant to Greg, but I remember him distinctly being who he was and him ministering to the kids here. I remember being in a prayer meeting with John Fisher and Pam Mark Hall that year, up in the little room beside the auditorium. We were praying for the meeting, and all of a sudden Greg started playing his harmonica, and we just burst out laughing. Here we were at Pitch & Praise having this stuff happen, and it was ministry, and it was real.
The next summer, Greg was in an industrial accident and died on the Labour Day weekend. He’s with the Lord now, but he’s a kid I remember. He’s a kid that came to Pitch & Praise. So that means a lot to me.
Denis Bell – Jerry Lewis – The Dead Dry Grass of Home – One of the funniest things that I remember was Jerry Lewis singing the Green, Green Grass of Home but he changed the words to the “Dead Dry Grass of Home”. He sang it with a grave-yard type feel. That was pretty wild.
Denis Bell – Randy Buck – He sang a song about all those Missionary (Church) Girls to the tune of the song “California Girls”. He wished They All Could Be Missionary Girls.
Denis Bell – William Tell’s Overture – The first few years of Pitch we played the William Tell’s Overture, the theme song for the Lone Ranger TV Western show, to wake the kids up each morning. The whole town of Stayner heard it. A farmer that lived about 2 miles from town heard the wakeup call while he was milking his cows.
Denis Bell – Got A Bag On My Head – Another very funny memory was my brother, Brian, doing a little skit with a paper bag on his head singing “I’ve got a Bag in My Head”. People remembered that for a long time.
P&P 1998-33 – Interviews – Tape 3
Denis Bell – I’ll tell you a story about water balloons. One year, we had this major water balloon fight between Stouffville and Gormley. These are two rival churches. It got wild. These guys were throwing water balloons all the time. On a Saturday night, I had to get up, and I told them that I had a dream. In the dream, I had this 35-foot round water balloon coming at me, and I drowned, and I really felt sad. So I asked them not to throw water balloons anymore because I was sure I was going to drown. It was really bad. It was a really hot weekend. Everybody was sweating their buns off. You needed a little water to cool down. But now you’ve got the pump guns that they can take five gallons with. It’s a lot better. We had to institute the “Pick-up-the-Garbage” trick at the end of Pitch & Praise because the ground was littered with water balloons. It would take three weeks to pick up all the water balloons, and they’re not biodegradable. You paid a deposit of $10 and you couldn’t leave the grounds until you cleaned up your campsite and had it inspected. It worked pretty well.
The weather was very unpredictable in May. Some years were very cold and some years terribly hot.
Denis Bell – There was one year when it was so cold that you couldn’t go to sleep.
We brought construction heaters into the tabernacle to try and warm it up enough so that we could stay in there for the sessions. Ken Burn Construction in Collingwood had those industrial propane burners. And of course everybody’s worried about us burning the place down because these were like… You couldn’t sit any closer than about 10 or 12 feet because you’d get roasted. But when you only had 400 to 500 kids in the auditorium that seats about 1,000 there’s a lot of cold air in there. Now you don’t need them because we’ve got 1,000 plus in there. And it just heats up automatically.
John Quanz – There was one year Randy Grainger and I were sleeping in one of the backrooms of the tabernacle just to the side of the stage. It was so cold that all night long we’d wake up about every hour on the hour and we’d have to stick the hair dryer down inside the sleeping bag to warm us up then pass it to the other. Then we could go back to sleep for an hour. It was bitterly cold.
Denis Bell – The third Pitch & Praise we did back in 78, I slept in that cabin right over there. That used to be called the DS’s (District Superintendant) cabin. I remember John Yates, Brian Bell and myself sleeping in there. And it was so hot we didn’t need sleeping bags. And nobody would go to sleep. I mean, you couldn’t even go to sleep it was so hot. People would just come walking around the grounds. And it was hot.
Denis Bell – The song “Flies on us”. Ain’t no flies on us is pretty funny. Oh, that was great. That was year number four. And we sang a song “There Ain’t No Flies On Us” in sort of a round. One half of the audience claimed there were no flies on them. And the other half claimed more loudly that there were no flies on them. And this went on back and forth for about 15 minutes. We had people in the rafters claiming the same thing, right? Back and forth.
P&P 1998-32 – Interviews – Tape 2
Colette Warner – from Markham Missionary Church in Markham. I started coming to Pitch & Praise as a camp back when it was just starting. Then in 1998 she was at Pitch as a sponsor and her daughter was now coming as a camper and enjoying the same thing.
Over the years, Pitch & Praise has been a wonderful introduction to many new musical instrumentalists, different musicians, and different styles than what we’ve been accustomed to and that’s always been a highlight,
Pitch & Praise has continued to minister to kids, to teens, to their sponsors who have brought them to Pitch & Praise. I don’t think anybody who is involved and who sits through any of the sessions could leave without the Lord speaking to them and the Lord showing them something new each and every weekend.
Nicole Warner – I think this year has been the most memorable, with Hocus Pick. I just love them. And I’ve seen them before in concert, and I really enjoyed it. They’re really nice guys. I was surprised when they came out here, and all the kids were singing. It’s good music.
Anonymous – Pitch & Praise always is nice to meet nice Christian fellows.
Dan Whitham – from Markham Missionary Church. I started coming to Pitch & Praise about 24 years ago, first as a teen and now as a sponsor. And it’s neat to see my son come to Pitch & Praise now, and we can compare stories.
Ryan Whitham – The most memorable moment of Pitch & Praise. Egg on the car. Not egg on the car. Water ballooning people. Stuff like that. That’s always fun. Plus the speakers are really good. They always end up with really good speakers and bands and stuff.
Dan Whitham – I can’t think of one particular memorable one thing, but I do have a lot of really good impressions about my early years at Pitch & Praise and how important they were to me as a young person and to really see God move in so many people’s lives. And such a large group of teenage Christians all together in one place is a real high. To come and see that and to know that just not your little youth group that you’re back with your church, but across the entire province, there is a real strong movement of Christian people. And kids your own age that are off working for the Lord.
So I really feel it was always a high point for me as a teen to come to Pitch & Praise. And it’s really fun to come back now as a sponsor and relive some of those memories. And still enjoy and get a lot out of the speakers and out of the music. I can still enjoy the music even after 24 years.
Ryan Whitham – The importance of Pitch & Praise to me has been I suppose part of my experience as a young person in general. As a teenager that was a turning point in my life to becoming a Christian. Coming to Pitch & Praise was a high point of the year every year. Coming to Pitch & Praise really sort of solidified my commitment to being a Christian. With school and all the negative influences at school, Pitch & Praise usually gives a spiritual boost every year. And it’s a lot of fun too. It’s a good balance between the two.
Heather McCurley – from Country Hills Missionary Church, Kitchener. I think Pitch & Praise is a really awesome event and it really helps a lot of people get a lot closer to God and brings people to God and I think it really teaches us to be able to talk to our friends about God and just be able to do an awesome job of witnessing to others. I think it’s really cool.
Rachel LaGrosse – from Country Hills Missionary Church, Kitchener. This is my first year at Pitch & Praise and it’s like the best. It makes you all fired up for Jesus and it’s really cool with all the activities and the sessions are really good and the speakers.
The speaker, Billy Richards, really makes you think a lot. And it just gives you the opportunity to think about your life and examine your own Christian life and if you have to like grow a bit further or just have a set of purpose or whatever for you. So I think it’s dig deeper.
Laura Wallace – from Country Hills Missionary Church, Kitchener. I really enjoy Pitch& Praise because it’s a chance to meet new people especially and catch up with other people that I haven’t seen in a long time. And I really enjoy coming here to learn about God, especially this time of the year because school is like such a pain at this time of year and it’s just a neat break and to get closer to God in the stress and pressure of the time. Oh, and the music. We all love the music. The music is great.
Lori Abrams – I think my relationship with the Lord deepened and maybe even awakened my emotions to Christianity.
Lori Abrams – As a camper, we had lots of fun. I remember being rained out in our whole church – soaking wet, the sleeping bags, tents, everything. And we were given permission to sleep in the tabernacle. So we got to sleep on the platform. And so that was quite fun. So rain was very much a part of our Pitch & Praise experiences. The weather has never been terribly predictable. You never know whether it’s going to be cold or warm. It’s been great the last few years. Last year was pretty cool but this year is wonderful.
Lori Abrams – 1984 was a change for me for Pitch & Praise. That’s when I was actually approached to be on the youth team for the Ontario Missionary Youth. And that actually changed my life. So ever since 84, then I became a leader and a staff person up at Pitch & Praise and took on a totally different focus. It was great. And then Brian Bell and I did those silly talent nights with the church youth. And boy, did they come up with some really weird stuff. We fashioned a swing from the ceiling or the railings there and I was on the swing and Brian was on the stage. It was just doing really goofy stuff. And we had judges dressed up in the Cooking Monster outfits. And, you know, weird stuff.
Lori Abrams – Did you ever help Brian with the communion… Yes, I have, actually. Services that he helped organize or played a part in preparing. I always found them touching for me because of the very different way he brought visual images into the service. I thought it was quite remarkable. The way that you can be visually and experientially be involved in the communion time. It was really a nice time. It was quiet. People were allowed to… almost become one-to-one with God through those sessions and services.
John Quanz – Communion on Monday Morning – Brian Bell organized the communion starting with a few bread-makers baking fresh bread in the Tabernacle before we arrived for the General Session. The fresh loaves were passed around with each person breaking off the small piece they would eat. It was a very special way to experience a very quiet communion with God.
Lori Abrams – One most memorable thing was when Lori Salerno spoke at Pitch. In many ways because she was a leader. She was a female. She spoke very much from her heart. I think I was struggling with being a leader, a female leader. And to see in front of all these kids and their reaction and the way that she was able to share God in a way that touched kids’ lives really impacted me and gave me this thought that I could still do that with kids too.
I think that was more of a personal thing in my ministry than anything else.
Lori Abrams – One of the funniest things was when we, The Youth Team, were on the stage and we slam-dunked Gavin in the face with those pie plates full of whipped cream. That was funny. I remember that well because that’s the only time in 25 years we’ve come close to damaging equipment because one of those shaving cream pies went right down the throat of the monitor speaker’s horn. Well, I guess it wasn’t so funny then, was it? It wasn’t at the moment, but after it dried out and it worked, it was funny. It was great. I guess you had to be… It certainly looked funny from the audience.
Lori Abrams – Well, I think Pitch & Praise was an incredible gift from God.
And I admire Denis and Linda for their diligent efforts in continuing this ministry. And I don’t think… I’m really proud to be a part of a church that honours youth in such a way that would go to the extent of doing crazy, silly stuff. And through the thick and thin of this weather stuff to reach kids for Christ. And I think although kids get hyped and then they come down, they’ll never forget, and God has touched them when they’re here. So I just really am honored to be a part of this whole process and touching kids’ lives. And I think that Pitch & Praise does that and uses all sorts of the forms and arts and media as we need.
There’s certainly been a lot of kids’ lives touched over the years here. And if nothing else, each year becomes a little bit of a course correction for the kids to steer them back to follow the Lord.
Lori Abrams – I think a transition began, too, with Becky Tirabasi. And she was a powerful speaker, I think, because she came from a background of alcohol and wanting to do life her own way. And I think that for me, when I look back, this began a process, even preparing kids’ hearts and things. And I’m really impressed with the speaker (Billy Richards) this year. I think they’re addressing the issues of sexuality, pornography, in a very powerful way. And I really think that God leads the right people to be the speakers for the year.
Lori Abrams – And the branch off into JR Pitch, that’s wonderful. We’re not only affecting the 1,100, 1,200, 1,300 kids here now, but in September, another 500 kids, and it’s growing every year. I think it’s great too, the relationships between people, between the kids, the Christian friends that our children gather as they come to a place like Pitch & Praise, and the strengthening that that brings about because of the contact and the friendships. And it’s all across the province, the whole area. And I know watching our kids, they make good friends all over the place, and they love getting together with them. Sometimes we only see these friends here at Pitch.
Lori Abrams – The creative expression, the freedom for a lot of these young people in the bands to play their music. Not everybody likes all these bands and the way they sing and the way they play, but this (Pitch & Praise) is an avenue that they are able to play in. And if you don’t want to listen, you can walk away, but they have that opportunity. So I think even for the youth themselves to be able to express their talents, most of it has been musical, some of it drama, but I think that gives a message to them as well, that we support them and what they’re doing. And so that’s… I think there’s so many ways that Pitch & Praise affects their lives.
P&P 1998-33 – Interviews – Tape 3
Marian Mills – from Wilmot Center. When I was a teenager I attended Banfield Church. And I remember the first year that Banfield came up as a youth group to Trail of the Pines to have a Pitch & Praise type of weekend. Because of what Pitch & Praise meant after that, it grew and other churches came. And at my age now I am constantly running into people that I knew as teens that had their lives changed because of Pitch & Praise. And their kids are serving the Lord, they’re active, they’re in their churches, they’re making a difference.
Marian Mills – from Wilmot Center. And if there’s anything that I think Pitch & Praise does, is it energizes youth to get out there, to make a difference, and to get really serious with God in the midst of all the fun that they have. And if anything I’d say Pitch & Praise needs to keep on, keep on changing, keep on getting better, and keep on energizing youth to serve God.
Lisa Froese – from Elmer EM Missionary, EMC. What does Pitch & Praise mean to me? Friends, and fun, and it’s cool because everyone has God in common, so you can all go up to them and meet them. And even though you’re totally not alike, you can just be like, okay, because you all have that in common.
Teen Chapman – I came with EMC. Okay, what does this camp mean to me? This is the first time I’ve ever been to this camp. I just met a few of these people just now, and they’re awesome. It’s just great because you just get to come out and chill. You could be talking about Jesus, and they’ll just totally understand. It’s not like other camps where you have to prove your point to people. Don’t do that stuff, guys.
No, this is awesome. The services have been great. Some of the music’s kind of crazy, but hey, we got to do a whole bunch of awesome stuff. Yeah, I hope it’s cool. If you ever want to come here, it would be a good choice because this is the funnest weekend I’ve had in, like, honestly, forever. Forever and a day.
Tyler Farkson – from Ayer, Ontario. I don’t know, it’s mad fun because it’s really relaxed.
And we just loaf around all day, and they don’t make you go. We go to the services because we want to, but they don’t make you. So it’s relaxing, and we’re not being pushed around or anything. And it’s like, I don’t know, we just have so much fun because we just sit around all day. And like, I don’t know, it’s a lot of fun. But there’s not really anything you want to do. Yeah, and there’s tons of stuff to do if you want to go and do it, but you don’t have to. There are just people everywhere, and you just say hi and loaf around, and it’s great. It’s all time.
How has it changed your lifestyle? Um, for me? Because, um, I don’t know, it’s fun to come and have a big dose of Jesus. Because, like, yeah. Because, I don’t know, it’s a lot of fun because you get to learn a lot of things you didn’t know. And it’s really spiritual, and it’s really, like, healthy. Healthy stuff.
Diane Weeb – Springfield, Ontario. And I was just going to say that I like the speaker, Billy. He was pretty good. Even though some of the things he said, it was like, whoa, kind of thing. Like, most, some people were, yeah, Godzilla nurse and stuff. Some people were offended and stuff. But I like the way he doesn’t really care, he gets his point across.
And he’s not afraid to share, like, intimate experiences. Like yesterday with that story on the airplane. Anyways, yeah. And he really challenged us, and that’s really good. How has it changed my life? It made me think. A lot.
John Quanz – from Markham Missionary Church. Technical – “Pitch & Praise for me was the start of my year, the start of my summer. It just kind of brought out a new beginning as I got ready for the summer. Of course, planning and getting all of the equipment ready to bring up to Pitch & Praise was something that started back in the winter as we started planning what facilities we need for Pitch & Praise each year.
We started off with very basic technical equipment. We had a mixer with a whole 6 mic channels and one speaker. This was amazing for its time and for the style of music we had. As music styles changed, as more instruments were added so did our technical needs. We used larger mixers and bigger speaker systems. Then we expanded into lighting and we brought in a lot of video equipment. We brought professionals in to do the sound. We had a technical crew of volunteers of about 25 at the peak.
The music groups/bands would tell us what we needed and we would never get quite what they wanted but they worked with us anyway. The needs of some of the bands outgrew what we had and some groups like Servant in 1986 needed big systems. Servant brought a trailer load of equipment.
At that point the electrical power feeding the building became a problem for us. To get enough power for the one evening we had to go around the grounds turning off lights, heaters, coffee makers and even the hand-dryers in the washrooms to get enough power to run the concert. We just made it. We had to bring in a larger power service for the building and we provided a direct connection for the bands to connect to so their equipment would function properly.
We started using video in 1986. It became an important part of the technology we used as we dealt with the growth of the attendance and we couldn’t seat everyone in the tabernacle. We were very fortunate to be able to use video equipment loaned to us by CBC and Sony because of John being employed there. Sony was exceptionally good to us graciously loaning us the equipment.
We had guys like Shawn Dittmer working on the Tech Team. Shawn first came to Pitch & Praise when he was 12 as a teenage camper with the New Dundee Youth Group. He quickly joined the Tech Crew and was there every year for almost 30 years. He also led the Tech Team for Jr. Pitch for the first several years. His electrical knowledge and skills as an electrician helped us with the lighting. This became even more important after we moved into the Big Top and we had to provide our own generator to have enough power.
We had other technical support by friends like Jeff Bowman, Tyler Murphy, John Frieson, Peter Mitchell, Matt Brownlow and so many others who made everything work. They learned new skill ranging from how to coil mic cables to how to frame camera shots for the big screens.
As skill requirements grew we brought in professionals in to help. Companies like David Wettlaufer of Horizon Audio, Trevor Belec from Yake Engineered Systems, Peter Kaups from Cosmo Music, and The Sound Box. It took a lot of stress off of by having someone doing the sound mix for us.
In 2009 Jim Lambert took over as Technical Director and took us to the next level of technology by bringing in Sound Box as the Tech Supplier. They supplied large LED Display screens for image support for the Big Top and an integrated video system they used for all their events. They added our Tech Crew as setup technicians and operators. John kept in contact with his old crewmates by providing them with their meals.
The Tech Crew started to land in on Wednesday and Thursday to start setting up. We were mostly ready by the time the first session started on Friday night at 10pm although it was sometimes tight. Except for the Youth Team we were usually the last to leave on Monday evening after tear-down.
Some say we didn’t need all this equipment, but it certainly showed that Christians don’t have to be boring.
Like so many of the volunteers they enjoyed being with all the kids and enjoyed the excitement that all the kids see when they see us put a big production on like this. It was a way for us techies to serve. It’s just amazing. It added to the joy of the weekend.
John Quanz – Even back in 1998 it was kind of interesting that we had children attending whose parents attended as campers. So we had a second generation now going through Pitch & Praise.
Denis Bell & John Quanz – Denis and John made a pact that they going to continue coming until our youngest kids are 18. They missed that mark by 25 years.
John Quanz – “I always found it quite a treat on the Mondays, when we had the testimony time, to see these kids get up and give their testimony in front of this large crowd. And when you know how God has impacted their lives and the things that He has done through their lives, within their families, it was wonderful to hear.
Tech Crew – Big Mo – In the mid-90s we put together a package of equipment that consisted of a camera, wireless mics, intercom and power that was easy to take to areas around the Tabernacle to connect to the stage live in the General Session. This was used to bridge from the General Session to the next event. The MCs onstage could talk live with those at the far end of the link. Sony had sold us two long video camera cables (total of 400 feet) that we used for this link. The remote end was mounted on a baby carriage and a storage case. It was our mobile TV Production Mobile. We called it Big Mo.
Tech Crew – during Pitch one year the hockey playoffs were being finished during Pitch & Praise time. Tyler Murphy and Shawn Dittmer went up onto the roof to mount a TV antenna on the bell tower of the tabernacle so we could play the games on the big screens. The game ending of one game ran into the start time of a General Session. We didn’t have the courage to cut the game off on everyone watching so we delayed the start of the session. Loll
Jeff Bowman – A few years later we played a hockey game on the screens in the Big Top. While we prepared for that a sponsor asked to borrow an antenna cable to watch the hockey game on his little TV. I responded “yes, or you can watch the game on satellite in the big tent”. He chose my suggestion. Ephesians 3:20 came to mind and what we ask God. NLT: “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” God often gives us so much more than we ask for.
Jeff Bowman – Myself and another tech, Tyler Murphy, maxed out our credit cards renting a few pieces of gear on our way to Pitch. When we got to our last stop we identified ourselves as being sent by one of their employees. We were told we could take as much as we could load into the vehicle. John 15:16 comes to mind in that case. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
Jeff Bowman – Going down memory lane: John Quanz and I decided to check out Breaside the spring Pitch and Praise moved from Stayner Bible Conference Grounds. The maintenance people offered to put a stove plug in to power the tent. John calmly replied: Don’t bother, we’ve already arranged for a generator. We got back into the vehicle and said to each other: “They have no idea what is coming”.
John Quanz – They sure didn’t. As we drove on in our vehicle we used your GPS to measure how big an area the tent would cover. Afterwards I did like hearing their comments that we generally left the grounds cleaner than when we got there. I think we were their first event of the year.
P&P 1998 2 Interviews Tape 2B
Denis Bell & John Quanz – We’ve been doing video for about 12 years now. I remember we had a video camera kicking around here, likely in about 1982, but we didn’t video the sessions. We just did some videoing over in the fellowship hall and maybe around the grounds a little bit.
And then when James Ward came, I know we videoed him, but we didn’t do big screen. Why didn’t we do big screen? That was about 11 years ago when we started bringing in big screen projectors.
John is employed by Sony. Sony had been exceptionally good to us. They’ve actually lent us. Is that the word? That’s it. Sony lent us the equipment for this Pitch & Praise, and this year we’ve got three cameras? We’ve got three cameras this year, two projectors, full production video system, and they just loan it to us each year. What’s the commercial value of the equipment we have here this year? The video side is about $150,000, $175,000, from Sony and then we add in about $75,000 to $100,000 worth of various types of audio gear that we have from various other sources rented and loaned. That’s amazing. So we want to take this moment to thank Mr. Sony. He’s been very good to us.
And did we ever have CBC equipment here? John worked previously for CBC. I think there was a little bit back in the first year that we did video. I brought in a few pieces, but that equipment wasn’t quite as transportable. That was in the old days. So we want to thank you CBC for your help.
What else have we done, John? For the first couple years of Pitch & Praise we brought in an outdoor PA system to help keep the program and events flowing. The first year, we mounted two very large horns on top of the dining hall, and that’s when we were playing William Tell’s Overture to wake the kids up in the morning. So at 7.30 in the morning, we’d turn on William Tell, and the theme of the Lone Ranger was heard throughout Stayner. In fact, we had comments from farmers that were one to two miles away from here. As they were milking the cows in the morning, they would hear William Tell’s Overture. But it did get the kids up. It got the kids up, yeah.
It’s been a very careful balancing act between the sound levels we need and the offensiveness of that sound to all the neighbours. And we still have the occasional complaint, but it’s a pretty good balance now. The ones who complain the most, they just go away for the weekend now. They had been pretty patient with us.
I think it’s been a pretty special time having Pitch and Praise here and having this group of kids together. It’s always been well managed. We have had very little damage done by any of the kids here, most of it just by mistake, nothing malicious. In the 25 years we’ve been doing this, I have never lost a piece of equipment. That’s amazing. Either through damage or theft, we’ve never lost a thing.
I always find it quite a treat on the Sundays and especially the Mondays when we have the testimony time to see these kids get up and give their testimony in front of this large crowd. And when you know how God has impacted their life and the things that he has done through their lives, within their families, it’s wonderful to hear. It’s amazing. It’s really amazing, you know.
I think it’s absolutely amazing the way that Pitch and Praise comes together organizationally. It was a pattern that you set back when you were running it and you drew together a lot of volunteers to help to do it. We have only one full-time staff member doing this. And all the volunteers come together. They all seem to know what they need to do. And when everyone lands in here for the weekend, it changes from an empty, quiet grounds into almost a mini city. And it works.
Gavin Wark – Events that happened at Pitching Praise. Well, one of the notable events was the Servant Concert back in 1986. We got a lot of flack about that from some of the leaders that were shocked at the beginning of the weekend. Many of them changed their minds by the end of the weekend when they saw the results and the lives of the kids who responded. There were a lot of kids that became Christians that year. In fact, a number of our pastors talk about becoming a Christian or meeting the Lord that year.
Another one I remember was the Barrel of Laughs mass event, probably about 1983 or so, with about 200 barrels that we had out in the fields doing stuff.
And there was the Great Tuberoo where we had 100 or so inner tubes that we set the massive end-up around. That was a fun year.
This is before I was directing, but I remember the year when Stouffville and Gormley used to go at it. They were the big groups, and they were at war with each other. And I think Stouffville rained coleslaw on Gormley during their barbecue lunch, because we used to serve coleslaw on those little tubs in those days. And so Stouffville surrounded their campsite, and they all threw their coleslaw onto Gormley’s barbecue side at the same time. So Gormley came back at the end of the weekend, and they told Stouffville that they wanted to take their picture. And Stouffville was vain enough to believe that somebody would actually want to take their picture. So they lined them all up along the side of the auditorium here with their cameras, and just when they were about to click, they all pulled water balloons out, and there was no place for Stouffville to go because they were up against the wall, and they just plastered them.
Gavin Wark – I came to the very first one for part of the afternoon on Sunday. I was with the Hanover youth group. I was one of the kids in the group. And I drove up with the Wideman boys on Sunday afternoon, and we saw some concerts going on staged on the flat-top truck outside. And we drove home the same day. But the next year I came back when Ken Medema was music and Jack French was speaker, and I’ve been here every year since.
So I missed part of the first one, but I’ve been at all the others. Lots of good memories. I would say we hear lots of testimonies immediately afterwards, but what is really encouraging is repeatedly, several years after the event, we’re seeing students come through both licensing and ordination and Emmanuel Bible College who write right on the reference forms, you know, my life was touched and impacted as a teen at Pitch & Praise.
That’s been really encouraging. Just a few weeks ago I got a note from the academic dean at Emmanuel Bible College, and he said, he had just had this student that talked about her experience at Pitch & Praise and how instrumental that was in her following the Lord. And he dropped that on my desk one day and said, he thought this would be encouraging to me.
And so those constantly come. As I say, they’re often four or five or six or seven years later that you realize how much of a long-term influence the ministry that goes on here at Pitch & Praise has had in the lives of kids.
How many years will I stay involved in Pitch & Praise? As long as you do, John. As long as I get toys to play with, I’ll be here. As long as John’s got new toys to play with, we’ll be here. I wouldn’t want to miss it. I keep coming back to see what new gizmos you’re going to bring next year. Yeah.
Yeah. I’ve really enjoyed working with Derek and Dean and Paul, too. Those guys have done a lot to make our sessions fun and interesting, just with their little clips, their pre-taped stuff. Those guys are natural actors and comedians. Yeah. They’re great.
Tim Rosenberger – my home church is Breslau Evangelical Missionary Church. Pitch & Praise has been a really meaningful thing in my life. When I was young, I remember the youth group being able to go up to Pitch & Praise, and I was waiting for that grand time when I’d be allowed to go to Pitch & Praise and enjoy the fun, the fellowship, the speakers, the music.
It was just something that I really looked forward to. When I finally was able to come, none of my expectations were disappointed. It was a really great time getting together with some people that I had met at camp and to meet a lot of people that I hadn’t known before and had become good friends over the years.
It’s been a good way of celebrating the May 24th weekend, I found, and it’s been a good time for learning, too. The speakers that have been up here have been, over the years, since, I guess, 1985 was the first year I came up. The speakers have been amazing.
I’ve learned so many things on the importance of devotional times, how to do them, on evangelism, on outreach, on just taking my own life and really grabbing a hold of God’s goodness, and not just His goodness but Himself too, His love, His forgiveness, His grace. It’s been a really significant thing for me. In terms of the impact that Pitch & Praise has had on my life, it’s hard to put it all into words.
With it and other things, it’s really kind of integrated and the things that I’ve taken away from Pitch & Praise have really worked their way into almost all my life. So, yeah, that’s a little about me and Pitch & Praise without giving too many of the nitty-gritty little details of about 14 years of being around.
P&P 1998 4 Interviews Tape 4B
Lenny Fonstock – I’m from Vineland Missionary Church. And I would have to say that what Pitch & Praise has come to mean to me is a time where our young people can have a great, exciting time, but also really get to know God in a fresh way.
Some of the most exciting memories that I have of Pitch & Praise over the past 20 years is doing the Super Dave video with Cam Howie, and I still have that video. Play it back every once in a while to remember Cam. And I would also say that I remember Duffy Robbins.
I can still remember his message, God has a plan, man has a problem, and the choice is up to you. And so I think Pitch & Praise is great and everyone does a great job putting it on.
The funniest thing I remember about Pitch & Praise was when Cam and I were doing the Super Dave video. We had come up with several different spots that we were going to do, and the one was the takeoff. It was the year of the Olympics, and that year of the Olympics the arrow was going to be shot through the flame, and that’s how the flame was being lit.
And so we took our lead from that, and when I shot my arrow I was supposed to take the apple out of Cam’s mouth, and of course it missed and went supposedly right through his head. And when I ran up, we did not have this rehearsed at all, but he was supposed to, he was going to say that you’re supposed to be so good, you know, you shot, you were going to shoot the arrow for the Olympics, and impromptu I said, I did shoot the arrow for the Olympics, and he said you did not, and I said yes I did. The Special Olympics in Stouffville, and so we both laughed so hard we were both on the ground at that point.
Great. Any other comments? Just that I appreciate how much work goes into it every year, and you know it’s a little thing for us to bring our groups up, and the work that we do doesn’t even compare to the work that is done up here for us, and it’s deeply appreciated.
Louise Leonard – My connection with Pitch & Praise has originally been Stouffville Missionary Church, but right now I’m a missionary living in Halliburton and serving there.
I guess my connection with Pitch & Praise happened 17 years ago when the Missionary Church was still relatively new to me because I came from another denomination and had been trained in industrial cooking at a camp there, and news came to me through Stouffville Missionary Church and through some family members that there was a need of some help in the kitchen, so I was invited to come. I think it was 1982 or 83 was the first year that I was here, and joined the kitchen staff and have been there ever since. I think within Pitch & Praise there’s another community which exists which is the kitchen.
We don’t get out to chapels, and we don’t get to activities to see what’s going on, so often it’s another world that we’re involved in there. I think what stands out in my mind probably most is when the Newsboys were here a few years ago. I can remember them coming into the kitchen and not just stopping to get their food at the counter, of course they were always late because they were setting up for a concert or they were visiting with kids afterwards, but they come into the kitchen and just say hi to us and how are you guys doing, this is really great to be here, and then they would just sometimes bring their plates and sit around the counter that we have in the kitchen and eat with us there, and we saw those guys talking to kids throughout the day in the dining hall and outside. It was just really neat to know that we were in a sense serving them who were then able to go and serve the kids that were here.
When I think about the people that I’ve worked with over the past 16 years, and I said to my husband before I came, I’m not going to Pitch & Praise because it’s a lot of fun to do, I’m going to Pitch & Praise because of the friendship base that we have here, and I think of the ministers and the wives that we’ve had come as teams to work over the years in the kitchen. These are people who have given their lives to full-time service and yet they find a holiday weekend, which a lot of us could be doing something else, but we’ve put aside the demands of our everyday ministry and have instead chosen to be here, because hopefully, number one, we like to be here, and secondly, we enjoy serving the kids and watching them, and thirdly, because we’re serving God and just simply making coleslaw and ripping salad and stirring chili, that’s ultimately why we’re here.
Okay, what was one of the funniest things that you remember over the years? Things that happened in the… Oh, it’s just a lot of klutzy stuff, that’s the thing, like you’re working with big pots and stuff, you’re just klutzy. The kitchen isn’t a place for a lot of smooth moves, and I think I’ve earned the nickname over the past few years of being the queen of the klutz in there, and I know there’s been time when there’s been, you know, meat on the floor and potatoes on the floor and water on the floor, and it’s usually me that gets blamed for it, and that’s just fine. Fortunately, this year, someone else has taken that title from me, so that one’s now gone, but when you’re dealing with, you know, hundreds of pounds of food and the expectation on 1,200 faces of people out there that are waiting for what’s being prepared, the last thing you want to do is have something burn or scorch or drop on the floor, but it happens yearly, and we just laugh together and know that God will cover all the mistakes and we’ll all get fed regardless.
You talked about some of the relationships, some of the friendships that you must have made over those years here has linked you all across the province with all the churches, and relationships like that, that’s gold. That’s absolutely wonderful. I’m not in a Missionary Church now, so I often don’t see Wilson and Carol or any of the others from year to year except at Pitch & Praise, but yet when we connect, even this year was really neat because I missed last year because of a ministry conference I had to be at in British Columbia, but one of the first things that one of the women who came into the church and said to me, remember two years ago you were here and your son was having some problems with his health, and I thought back, and yes he was, and that was a very tumultuous time in our lives because about a week and a half after I left Pitch & Praise, a growth on his neck had escalated to the point where he had to have a tumor taken off, and that was a very scary time for us, but to just think that the people that I work with and I only talk to three days out of a whole year remember that incident and mentioned to bring it up and said that we remembered to pray for you, and that’s what our world in the kitchen is, in caring for each other in those small ways so that the friendship base and just the relationship that we have and the Lord carries with us from year to year.
Anne Nicholson – I came to Pitch & Praise 23 years ago as a sponsor. I attend the Aylmer Evangelical Missionary Church. The first year that I came has to be the most exciting because it was so new and so different to me. I was a fairly new Christian myself of just two years, so coming here and seeing all the young people and their enthusiasm for the Lord just is something that you’ll never forget, it’s just something that stays in your mind as a real memorable time. We brought up several carloads of children or young people that year, and Denis, no, it was Brian Bell was one of the Youth Builders here at the time, and he used to sing this song, I Have a Bang on My Head. That sticks out in my mind so much. We would get up in the tabernacle, and “There’s no flies on you guys, or There’s no flies on us, and they would just climb the rafters in there. They were just all over in there, so that kind of stuck out in my mind too.
Also, having communion here for the first time, we used hotdog buns, and we sat in all circles in the tabernacle and had our juice out of one cup, and that was the first time I’d ever had communion with a hotdog bun and out of one cup, so that was kind of neat too, I thought. But I’ve had years too where I come up and I’ve had to send kids home because of, should I say that, because of their behavior, which is kind of sad because, you know, they come up here to have a good time, and yet they really didn’t. They come up to fool around in town more, so that was sad, but those things do happen. And the discipline is something that we have to deal with. Yeah, we do deal with discipline here, which is good. I’ve always been surprised with the number of kids that we have here. We don’t have many problems at all. No, no, we don’t. It’s really been good.
And I think it’s just encouraging to me to see this many young people here, and the sharing time when they used to get up and share in the microphones, was just wonderful to me. I just would sit and cry because just hearing these young people serving the Lord would just, you know, it just sends tingles up and down your spine and makes you feel like you should go home and do a lot more too. So I was, I don’t know how long I was a youth sponsor, probably 10 years, and then I started cooking in the kitchen.
I don’t know the years, I just can’t remember, but I started being a cook in the kitchen and I’ve been coming up and doing that for the last several years anyway. I do several camps here, not just Pitch & Praise, but I do, I’ve done family camp and Jr. Pitch in the fall and Advance, I do that too. So seeing these young people come up and now serving in the kitchen, it’s really amazing to me.
I think of Helen, she’s in there and I met her this year. She was on the Youth Builders Team, which was the first one that went out. So it’s been really neat to meet her again and see what she’s doing in her life. And also meeting everyone in the kitchen has just been a real joy for me over the years and all the great friends and working with Carol has just been a real pleasure and this will be my last year, so that’s what I have to say.
Oh, I’ll come up for the 25th, but I’m going to be working next year. I’ll come to celebrate. That’s the way, yes, yes.
Yeah, it’s always on, like I’m just letting it run. Any funny instances that you remember in particular? You mentioned about the testimonies. That was something that always was a treat to me too, to hear them talk about what they were going through in their young lives and how God was meeting their needs and it was just, as you said, to tingle through it’s really an encouraging time.
Anne Nicholson – I think the one funniest things that happened, didn’t happen in the tabernacle. It happened in our campsite one year, I think it was the second year, my husband came up with me and some other people from our church as sponsors and we all slept in one trailer and the one girl started talking in her sleep. So we thought, well, we’ll just ask her what she thinks of us, the rest of us. So we asked her, what do you think of Don, my husband? She says, oh, he won’t be killed for his beauty and we still laugh about that today at home in our own church. That was just so funny the way she came out with that. So we didn’t think we’d better ask her anymore. So the sponsors can have a good time up here too.
Richard DeYoung and David DeYoung, his brother and friend. We’re from the Shoe Flies in Toronto. Well, being in a band, that’s what we do here with the Shoe Flies. To me, Pitch & Praise is about getting the gospel of Jesus Christ across to the teens through music and through fun. Pitch & Praise is like that one weekend in the year where so many of these kids look forward to every year. And it’s on the May 24, which to most kids around, at least Canada, that means a lot of negative partying and stuff like that.
And Pitch & Praise is the positive alternative. And it’s such an encouragement to be a part of something where you know you’re just helping and you’re guiding the kids into sort of that, you know, the narrow road, the positive way of life. And that’s just being here and praising God all weekend long. And to be a part of that, we couldn’t have asked for a better vehicle to do it than just sing some funny songs and some gospel songs.
Next question. Um, how has Pitch & Praise impacted your life personally? Or perhaps how has God changed your life through Pitch & Praise? Well, actually there’s a bit of a genesis of the Shoe Flies at Pitch & Praise. When I was leaving a different band I was in, which was a complete secular band, and decided to go full-time Christian, it was kind of here at Pitch with Rich where I said, hey, you know, like this is where it’s at. This is where our calling is. It’s about God and it’s about doing the music for that. And so I guess Pitch & Praise has changed my life personally like that. Saying, yes, there is a big audience out there. There are people that are hungry for the word and hungry for the word through music and good music.
So that’s definitely how Pitch & Praise has affected and changed my life. One of the really neat things about Pitch & Praise for me is that I get to see 1,000, 1,500 kids who are generally really on fire for God. And some of the places where we go, you know, we don’t see that. We see a lot of negativity. And I’m not trying to say that every kid that comes here is a super happy-go-lucky kid. But, you know, there are some very sad people who come and they are hurting. But there’s such a support. There’s such a positive support here. And I’m encouraged when I see kids in that barn jumping up and down, screaming and just praising God.
And it’s kind of an encouragement for us to know that, yeah, it’s a lost world out there. But these people are going out and hopefully they’re going to be witnesses to their friends and schools. And together, everybody doing their part, we’re going to get the name Jesus out there.
Richard DeYoung, David DeYoung – Any particular funny instance. I have to say the phenomenon of the rubber chicken song is probably the weirdest thing we’ve ever experienced. Pitch & Praise people are from all over the place. And they have spread out. And we have heard from Montreal. We have heard from Saskatchewan. And we’ve heard from many places where the rubber chicken song has found its way. And we don’t understand why, because it’s probably the stupidest song we’ve ever written. But for some reason, it’s one of those things where we just can’t let go of it. And kids hang on to silliness like that.
David, anything you can think of? The silliest thing I can think of? Well, I know that being at Pitch & Praise and praising God and staying up late and having a good time with fellow Christians can end up, you know, be a bit taxing in terms of fatigue. And our drummer from the band, he’s just been so wiped out by it all that two nights ago, he was on the top bunk of his bed sleeping. And in the middle of the night, I heard a really loud thud. He had in fact rolled over off the top bunk, landed on the concrete with nothing more than a scrape on his arm. And he was still in a sleeping bag. But he got back up. He said, I need my sleep for tomorrow. Got back into bed and no problems there. I guess he had an angel help him on the way down.
Well, Pitch & Praise. Happy anniversary, Pitch & Praise. And on behalf of the Shoe Flies, we thank everyone involved, Gavin and everyone. We know there’s a lot of people behind the scenes and the Shoe Flies are extremely appreciative to be a part of this event. So thank you very much.
P&P 1998 2 Interview Wayne & Dayle Domm
Wayne & Dayle Domm – I think for our family it has been phenomenal. We’ve been coming since 1986 probably when we were in Bright’s Grove. And what it has meant to our own children and their lives has just been unbelievable. When we came in 1986 we brought a group from Bright’s Grove and on the way up we thought, oh, they were a real rowdy bunch. And that was the year Servant was here and so many of them made first-time commitments, so many of the kids within our youth group.
It was just so exciting to see how the Lord worked in their lives that weekend and turned them around. And we are still hearing from these, well, they’re not teenagers anymore now, they’re 25, 27 years old. And to see how that weekend impacted their lives has been really great.
Yeah, because I remember when we were driving up I had no idea what we were getting into. I was so thankful that because we were far enough away that we would have a cabin to sleep in instead of tents. And getting up into here and then seeing this massive group of kids and recognizing the overwhelming organization that takes place, I just was almost blown away that weekend with just the phenomenal part of the organization.
And then when I discovered that Sunday night and watching the kids almost jumping over pews to get to the front to make that commitment, that was special. And a note. It was really great too.
The band would sit and talk to the kids at lunchtime, intermingled, and shared their testimonies, how they had come to know the Lord, the band, and just spent so much time during that weekend with the kids. And I know it meant so much to each one of them. It was really a special, it was different.
That band was loud. And I thought, how is this going to work together? But it did, and it was really phenomenal to see what the Lord did in the lives of the kids that weekend. And it was because of that weekend that we decided from then on that we would be here every Victoria Day weekend.
And once our kids were bigger and they were off in university and able to do some other things and helping, we just thought, well, what could we do to help? And I don’t know, somebody asked us, do you want to help in the kitchen? And we said, sure. That was about seven years ago. We probably have been in the kitchen working now for about six or seven years.
And our own children still come up. Mark and his wife Leanne were doing sports, and Steve was helping out too there. And Jeff and Julie do tuck. And this year they even brought their little granddaughters back, so they’re starting them out at Pitch & Praise, the right way. And it’s been really great for us as a family. It’s been just super.
So you have all three generations at pitch and praise. Yes, yes, that’s right, we did. That’s astounding. Yes, Brooklyn and Katie came yesterday. They were three months old. We took pictures in front of the tabernacle, in front of the dining hall, so they look back, someday they’ll be. We said, oh, this was your first Pitch & Praise. No, we just cannot get over the impact that this has made on kids that we’ve had contact with, both in Bright’s Grove, then in New Dundee, and now in Wilmot Centre, and to see the effect that the Lord has made on people’s lives as a result of all of this. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.
It’s a hard weekend working in the kitchen, but really, really rewarding. And to see the kids as they pass through the lunch line, and to see how they’ve grown from year to year, and to see how precious it is to them, and this is where they want to be on the long weekend.
You know what’s so neat? Here I am working in the kitchen this year, and Tony Zimmerman is in there helping me with dishes, and Dale and I, when Tony and his brother, Mark. They were in the children’s ministry at Stayner Family Camp when we were looking after children’s ministry there, and little Tony and little Mark, and now here’s Tony in here helping me do dishes, and he said to me just this weekend, he says, you know, I still remember when you were teaching us over in the Fellowship Hall with the children’s ministry, and that’s kind of the exciting thing about growing older.
You see the ongoing impact that has been made, and it’s just so obvious that the Lord is faithful in producing the fruit that comes by just faithfulness year after year. And then, John, we must say too, where would all this be if it wasn’t for all this equipment that you bring from?
Yes, and it is always so well run, and Gavin just has to put so much work into it each year, and it shows. It is so worthwhile, he and Peggy, and together they work so well as a team, and we just praise the Lord for both of them. They are really precious.
And we love to come and have fun. Yes, and we do have that in the kitchen. It gets a little loud in the kitchen, but we just have so much fun. That’s part of the weekend is the balance between the fun, the ministry, the changing of lives. All of this together is Pitch & Praise. That’s it exactly. For sure. And to think that it has spread.
I remember the year that they went for a JR Pitch to try to cut down the numbers, and here we are back up to the top again. I think we were about 1,250 this year feeding, and probably yesterday, Sunday noon, our Sunday evening meal was about 1,300, I think, so that’s really phenomenal. And I’ve never seen so many pots and pans all my life. Oh, it’s been special. It has been, yeah.
Wayne & Dayle Domm – Is there any one funny incident? The cake dropping? We’ve already mentioned that yesterday. Maybe I should tell you what my wife did. We were here five minutes on Friday night, five minutes, and Dale walked into the cooler. And pulled a big bag of lettuce out. We were going to do the romaine lettuce for the Caesar salad, and somehow another bag got pushed up against the nozzle on the juice tub. I closed the cooler door, and pretty soon someone said, look at running out the door. There was a big flood of juice all over the floor. Sticky juice all over the floor. I’d only been here five minutes.
It’s always funny about two hours afterwards. You know, at the time, no. But that’s just the kind. And when something like that happens, we just all, oh, well, we get embarrassed, and we say, well, so much for that, and then we take the ribbing for the rest of the weekend, and maybe for, I don’t know how many years now. Oh, it’s been really super. It has.
Wayne & Dayle Domm – It’s been a great time. And then another thing, when we look after the Max’s breakfast over there each morning, we’ve gotten into some pretty special meetings, because we don’t have time to get into any of the other sessions. Because we start at 6.30 in the morning, and we get done at 8 o’clock at night, and that may not be any, well, we may have a half an hour, if we’re fortunate in the afternoon, just to get away for a bit.
But that didn’t even happen this year. No, no. But in the morning, in Max’s, they have the Sponsors’ Breakfast, and then they have the speaker come and speak to the sponsors.
And we’ve always looked forward to that. And then yesterday they were interviewing Hokus Pick, the singing group. And I thought maybe it was Hocus Pocus, but no, it’s Hokus Pick. And just to hear these guys share, and the leaders would come and share their testimonies. So we would catch that side of it over there. And that was always a special deal for us.
Lori Abrams – Well, I think Pitch & Praise was an incredible gift from God.
And I admire Denis and Linda for their diligent efforts in continuing this ministry. And I don’t think… I’m really proud to be a part of a church that honours youth in such a way that would go to the extent of doing crazy, silly stuff. And through the thick and thin of this weather stuff to reach kids for Christ. And I think although kids get hyped and then they come down, they’ll never forget, and God has touched them when they’re here. So I just really am honored to be a part of this whole process and touching kids’ lives. And I think that Pitch & Praise does that and uses all sorts of the forms and arts and media as we need.
There’s certainly been a lot of kids’ lives touched over the years here. And if nothing else, each year becomes a little bit of a course correction for the kids to steer them back to follow the Lord.
— PnP —
