River View Hospital in Augusta, Maine, has been a mainstay on our ministry schedule since 1987, until the covid-19 pandemic, that is.  When my wife and I first started doing our show there it was called Agusta Mental Health Institute, we had no children, and the chaplain was Sue's former parish priest.  Now it is three adult kids later, and three chaplains later for the renamed hospital.  However, the schedule was not without interuption thanks to the covid-19 pandemic.  Sue and I had not been there from 2020 until this last summer.  The new chaplain, Chaplain Kevan, seems like a great guy, and the audience was very welcoming.  I brought up the possibility of bringing my class (LOL ministry) in for a special service once school started again, and Chaplain Kevan was all over the idea.  That leads us to this week, when the team and I, and one parent chaperone, headed up I95 to Augusta.

I was not optimistic going into the show, as two of my best jugglers were absent.  With a team of only ten this year, that was a 20% absentee rate.  Then, just as we entered the Augusta city limits, one of the kids on the van got car sick...everywhere.  Tim, my parent chaperone, was a huge help getting things cleaned up, but it set our ETA off by close to half an hour.  It would still be possible to be set up on time, but we'd have to REALLY hustle!  And we did.

In fact, we were actually ready to go a few minutes before our 10:30 scheduled time!  We certainly missed Elsa and Sunny, but the others rose to the occaision.  Claire performed clubs for the first time ever (She is new to LOL this year!) Lana, who has a good bit of theatre experience under her belt, filled in brilliantly for Sunny in a couple skits, and Toby was his consistent self as both juggler and actor.  While Haddie had some trouble with the dove pan, it was the fault of the prop and not the magician.  Eamon nailed his part in "Wise and Foolish Builders", which had not been the case in rehearsal.  I made an impromtu appearance 'crowd juggling' with the kids to Fred Shapiro's "Jesus is Victor".

The Gospel was clearly shared, the patients were blessed, and Chaplain Kevan has asked us to keep the hospital as part of our annual schedule - and for Sue and me to keep it as part of our own annual summer schedule.  Covid may have won a battle or two, but it did not win the war!