In spite of all the hysteria, 63 brave souls managed to make it down to Cincinnati for an “old normal” weekend of good food, good friends, and good times. The internationals, sadly, had to cancel, but we hope to have them with us next year!
As usual, we started out Friday night with Mass followed by dinner, and then s’mores around the bonfire for dessert. Both locals and out-of-towners brought instruments, so we enjoyed some music and campfire songs as well.
Saturday started bright and early with an 8:30 am Mass followed by a hearty brunch. Bishop Dolan gave an inspiring talk about “just doing it” in the face of the odds of today, building off of his topic from last year.
Then it was out to the volleyball net and basketball court to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL day – many thanks to the Infant of Prague! – while others played board and card games indoors. The YAGermeister got a sunburn nonetheless, but the weather was almost too good to be true for Cincinnati in July.
We were happy to have 4 of our engaged couples join us – we are looking forward to doubling our tally of YAG weddings by February! A few more couples seemed to be taking some interest as well, but time will tell.
Saturday evening we had an early dinner followed by a Rosary Procession on the SGG grounds, and then we went on to the main event – the square dance! Several families of parishioners brought their children, who made a good go at it. The Virginia Reel was particularly popular, and the YAGers even managed to pull off the tricky right-and-left-grand that gave us so much trouble last year.
The night closed out around 11 pm with ice cream for all.
Sunday saw a good attendance at the 9 am High Mass; we moseyed on back to Helfta Hall for some breakfast to tide us over until bowling, and in the meantime we listened to an entertaining talk from Mr. Steve Weigand about, among other things, the patron saint of cell phones.
Bowling was the big question mark this year due to all the regulations, but our group was large enough that we were able to sail past most of them and still have a rousing good time.
Most of us wandered back to the church afterward to finish up the ice cream, which is becoming such a popular tradition that the YAGermeister is considering buying more next year (you know, to have leftovers on purpose).
God bless, and consider coming to the YAG yourself next year!
