Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation, Art Erickson
well, the big evening was a huge success!
this was truly a night to remember!
the grand opening of the colin powell youth
leadership center and cristo rey~jesuit high school.
i worked it like a wedding...getting ready,
details, ceremony, reception, formals.
after the local media had some time with
General Powell, i stepped in and soon
after rode the elevator down with he, his wife
and staff...pretty cool. sorry, really cool!
we hung out in a holding area and then on
to greet some students currently enrolled there
then we popped outside and I jockeyed for
position amongst the media and guests for
the ribbon cutting (which was actually a
puzzle assembly). many folks that i'm certain
you'll recognize were in attendance like
minneapolis mayor, r.t. rybak
minnesota governor, tim pawlenty
general powell's wife, alma, spoke on behalf of
"america's promise"
a vip reception was in place on the 3rd floor where
jacquie called a play on how she was going to go and
introduce herself to colin powell and i was to quick
get a photo! nice covert ops, huh!? so stealth! ;)
some of the students were there serving up
citykid java coffee and they were hilarious!
bryant would not let me have his t-shirt!
so i gave him a business card and told him to
contact me when he had one available! thanks bryant!
now it was time to head into the gymnasium.
this 4-full court gym had been transformed
from basketball to ballroom. it was done so
elegantly and love filled, complete with a
giant, colorful stage with larger than life images
(compliments of white house custom colour! my lab!)
but even more impressively...shot by my very good
friend, jacquie boyer, who is also a board
member for urban ventures.
after everyone was seated we were all treated
to one of the most amazing singing voices i've
ever had the privilege of being in the presence of.
wintley phipps has this james earl jones voice and
when he sings you can see angels!
he was born in trinidad & tobago and is an ordained,
7th day adventist minister. he spoke of a young (26 or so)
woman that came up to him after a concert where he
was performing and she said that she felt compelled
to come and introduce herself and that he looked like
someone she could talk to...they spoke and prayed
together about her direction in life and where God was
to lead her...that young woman? was oprah winfrey.
colin powell took the stage again and spoke
of the spark that is in these kids eyes and how it
is our responsibility to make sure it stays there!
i am most certain that this is not the last event
that i will cover for urban ventures.
thank you jenifer siegle of urban ventures and
thank you jacquie, my friend. i am so proud of you!
God bless this organization and all who come in contact
with it...this can begin to change the world.
(oh, and lastly a shout out to prom catering out of oakdale, mn.
they served 1300 people hot salmon & filet mignon!
an amazing job!)
2 comments:
Hi Susan! You sat with my husband, Michael, one of the teachers at the center during dinner. I'm a photographer as well. Nice Shots! How do you get them so blue and bright? Do you have it in your settings or is it done in post? I'll talk to you more at the Pug meeting next week. BUt I am really frustrated with my flash situation. Anyway, looking forward to talking with you. Elena Melling
Sue,
Looks like you did an AWESOME job at this event! I'm so bummed I couldn't be there :( See you Tuesday!
Stacey
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