Round, round, get around, I get around...

On July 14th, my friend, Randy Christensen, invited me to perform at Sonshine MusicFest in Willmar, MN. On the bill were Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, Toby Mac and about 30 other bands.


Over in the Kid's Tent, Randy did a few shows, his son, Ben did a few shows, and I did one show. But it was great. I met up with some other Christian friends that I haven't seen in years, as well as met a few more that live close to Mora.


Here's a few photos:

Ring Juggling...and on a unicycle!


A view inside the tent


During the message


What a crowd!



Kelly, Corey, Kaisha, Shane, Ben, Don, Karen, Randy
(not pictured, Brooke)




Don with Curious George

Some photos from California

Back in June, while I was in California, Nicole & Romulus Portwood took a lot of photos from my show on June 12th. Here are a few of my favorites:

5 Rings

The Egg - - - - - - - -Jonah inside the whale

Timmy...going wild! - - - - - - ball juggling

Before Jenny Craig....and after Jenny Craig

Going right up to the edge of the stage

..

If anyone reading this newsletter has any fun pictures from one of my shows, I'd love to see it/them. Drop me an email at

donb@donbministries.com

Take care, DonB!

DonB! describes the last KLove Cruise

I was online today, and found that my comments describing the cruise last January are posted for all to see. Click HERE to see them with the posted picture in their original place (scan down towards the bottom of the page), or look below to read just the comments without the pictures.

The Comments

“This was our first cruise, either as a performer or a guest, and nothing disappointed us at all! It is the first real vacation I've had with my wife in 13 years. It was great.

‘That's a BIG ship!’, a window room, hanging out with Bibleman and his family, wonderful hospitality hosts, Newsong in concert, lobster AND shrimp (in the same meal!), melted ice cream as an appetizer, escargot (ick), dinners with Bibleman and his family, getting lost 3 or 4 times on the ship each day, snorkeling on the coral reef, SONICFLOOd (how does the drummer NOT get a headache?), meeting Rick Heil at dinner, 24-hour ice cream, spending time with Bibleman, Carnival cameras everywhere, juggling at the autograph session, the amazing service of all the ship's staff, standing at the front of the ship on Windy Thursday and being blown across the deck, the great families that brought their kids (we'll bring ours next time too), food everywhere, towel animals each day, riding the unicycles on a swaying ship, John Glenn's space capsule, the ice dragon, dinner with David Dean, running around the ship with Bibleman, and being surrounded by so many great Christians!!! What a blast!!!” – Don B!

Maybe you can join us on a Christian cruise in the future. Click HERE to go see the other upcoming Christian cruises that I'll be on.

Take care. -DonB!

I Love a Parade

Back on June 23rd, our family rode unicycles in our first parade since we all learned to ride.

In the picture, you see Logan Arend (a friend from our church) riding his unicycle and pushing some handlebars, Dale riding his trials unicycle (made for bouncing and hopping), Debbie on her Miyata, me on my 6-footer and Deanna on her brand new unicycle.

We are one of the few families that ALL members ride unicycles. I know of others that MOST members ride, but not all of them. Believe it...or not!

Segue into other things

On June 26th, I walked my stilts at Nicollet Island in Minneapolis for a corporate party for General Mills employees. One of the other "displays" they had there were Segways, 2-wheeled personal transportation vehicles. I so badly wanted to try one with my stilts on, but they politely declined my offer by saying that "their insurance wouldn't cover someone on stilts". Whatever. Do YOU see anything wrong with that picture?!?

I then went over to Grindstone Lake Bible Camp in Sandstone, MN. It was a group of about 150 people, and the part that made me the most nervous was that 1/2 of the audience was made up of teens. They did great, I did great, and we all lived happily ever after.

The next day, my daughter, Deanna, and I attended a workshop for Mannequin in Motion/Osprey Productions. Both Deanna & I already have our first bookings as "human Mannequins". It looks like I will be at the MN State Fair, and Deanna will be a human flower for a trade show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Stay tuned for more developments with Mannequin in Motion as the year goes on. I wonder how long I can actually stand still without falling asleep. Hmm...

On July 3rd, I returned to one of my favorite places to perform, Camp Lebanon, in Upsala, Minnesota. Way back in 1989, when Debbie & I started utilizing our shows in ministry work, Camp Lebanon, and its director, Bill Abeler, gave us the opportunity to do our various shows at the camp. Well, 18 years later, I think I have performed at Camp Lebanon more than any other place. I believe I am somewhere around 40 shows for them! 40 shows, and "Bobber Bill" has seen them all! Strange thing is: he still laughs at the show.

If your family is looking for a quiet place to spend some time, be sure to look into Camp Lebanon. Tell them DonB! sent you.

Last weekend I flew to Salisbury, North Carolina, to perform and share the Gospel for the opening night of Vacation Bible School for Calvary Baptist Church. Misty Sells, the director of VBS, found my name while searching the Internet. She called, we talked, and then booked the event.

Kirby Sells picked me up at the airport, and drove me all over the place while I was there. The program went really well. I presented the Gospel for the approximately 220 people in attendance, many from the neighborhood. I wasn't asked to do an invitation, but the teachers are doing one each night in their classroom time. Kids really are the way to get new people into church. Calvary is doing it the right way.

The day I was to leave, the pastor, Dr. Rick Cockerham took me to the famous North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. It has the largest roundhouse in the world: 37 stalls. It was a treat to see some of the local sites other than just the airport. Thanks Pastor Rick.

I flew back to Minnesota on July 9th, my 19th wedding anniversary! Take a look at that wedding photo from 1988. Look how much hair I had! Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Last, if you live in the East Central part of Minnesota, and Curious George (the monkey) is coming to your library, please stop and say "hi" to him. You see, he's being played by someone very close to me, someone that has been married the exact same amount of time I've been. Here's a hint: look at the photo to the right. Curious George is on the left. What a beauty.