(In which we continue the thread of Tuesday and Wednesday’s posts about my involvement in Excel International de Colores.)
This post is 3rd in a series of posts. Post 1 is here, and Post 2 is here.
In my earlier two posts, I was a little uncertain about some of the dates. The “Emergency ATG” was indeed held in Houston, however it was in February 1999. The Atlanta ATG was in September 1999. Also, the mother I wrote about was Trudie’s mother, not Rays! (My apologies to my friends Trudie & Ray.)
The Executive Committee met twice per year over a long weekend (Thursday night through Sunday morning.) I believe they most frequently met in the Houston area, but there were exceptions. Our first meeting after the Atlanta ATG when I was elected to the EC and then appointed its Chair, was held in Palm Springs, CA, at the home of the MCC Pastor there, Rev. Pelletier.
This venue had been selected because an old Excel team, the team in the Los Angeles/Southern California area, was being reformed. It’s name, once approved, would be Excel in the Southlands (verify accuracy). They needed some “Suitcase Team” assistance, and they needed an evaluation team. Who better than the EC to provide both these elements?
Let me explain those two terms. Excel provides an “Exercise in Christian Community Living”, a three day “retreat/exercise” in the format and tradition of the Roman Catholic Cursillo movement, or the “Walk to Emmaus” programs. Each exercise is conducted by a team of volunteers that prepare for up to a year prior to each exercise. Most of these teams are comprised of people local to the community in which the exercise is offered. Each has a name. For instance, the team in the Omaha area when I first got involved was called Excel of the Midlands. There’s Excel of the Armadillo, based in Houston, Excel of the Rainbow Zebra in the south (I think it’s okay to say it’s based in Atlanta, though it has a much broader regional base than just Atlanta – many members come from Birmingham, and I believe the weekends are actually held in Alabama.)
When new teams are formed, they must be “approved” by the Executive Committee. So, someone from the EC attends the first exercise weekend of the new team in training, and reports back to the EC. The EC then, based on that report, either approves or disapproves the full formation of the team.
And of course, there are times when the local team just can’t quite get enough people to do each of the 9 talks, or perform other functions of the weekend. When this occurs, the team puts out a request to the EC, who then recruits around the country from existing teams for members to travel to the location where the weekend is being held to help out.
So, back to our story! This first “Spring” EC Meeting after I was elected was held in January of 2000. With two of us based in the Omaha area, and of course, I would not leave Scott home alone to miss the fun, we decided to drive to California. Initially, the plan called for us to rent an RV, however the cost proved prohibitive and we decided to drive Scott’s and my new Grand Caravan, instead.
The day of our departure coincided with a major snow storm, so we initially had to change our route. Instead of driving to Colorado on Interstate 80, then south along Interstate 25, we chose to drive down to Kansas along US75, then take Interstate 70 to Denver. There we were to stay with an old friend of mine, Lois Francine Smith. Or, perhaps it was Francine Lois Smith. Once again, time takes it’s toll, and while she was a good friend, I always just called her Lois. It is one of my regrets that we lost contact with each other!
Our second day on the road was from Denver south on I25 to Albuquerque (with a stop in Raton… a drive-by, really, more than a stop to see where Scott had attended High School). We had brought along apples for snacking on the road, and this proved a major problem for one of us! The problem, as I recall it, was that poor Karla had just had oral surgery, and as a result her teeth and gums were extremely sore. Confronted with an apple, all she could do was look on helplessly as Scott and I munched in! Fortunately, we were able to find a cheap plastic knife, and over the course of the next 2-3 hours, Karla painstakingly carved out small bites of apple, then gingerly chewed them until she could swallow them!
From Albuquerque, we drove west on Interstate 40 to Kingman, Arizona, where we spent night number two. Our third day we dropped off the interstate system, and stopped in Lake Havasu, AZ, because I wanted to visit the London Bridge. Yes. THE London Bridge, made famous by oh, you name it! It was transported block by block from London, England, to the middle of NOWHERE Arizona and erected over a segment of the lake there!
Then, we crossed over through Southern California on Highway 62, through the desert regions and 29 Palms, Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley, then back east a little to Palm Springs. I remember us just chatting away, as we came out of Parker, CA (or AZ?) flying along at probably 75 to 80 mph on this little 2 lane highway… and then AIRBORNE!
There is a segment of this highway that undulates like waves on an ocean! Totally unaware of this, I, as driver, was caught completely by surprise as we hit the first of these little dips and became airborne as we crested the rise only to find another dip and rise on the other side. I’m truly amazed we didn’t rip the bottom out of the van hitting these at such high speed, but eventually I managed to slow it down!
The next week we spent in meetings and attending the weekend hosted by Excel in the Southland. There was just time in between these two events for Scott, Karla & I to make one other side-road trip… from Palm Springs to West Hollywood to the Mecca of MCC Churches in those days, the Fellowship’s HQ and “Mother Church”. I have to confess the church was under renovation so there wasn’t a lot to see, and even the headquarters was a little underwhelming! But it was good to visit nonetheless. While there we bought several books, as I recall… and one tape series. “The Erotic Contemplative” by Michael Bernard Kelly. This would have an unforeseen repercussions!
