In memory of a Friend and a Brother

"Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.  Amen."

In Memory of Ebitari Tekenah. Aged 27 yrs

My Manchester Experience

It was a bright Sunday morning in August 2010 (yes I know, Manchester?), the 10am mass at St Edwards had just finished and I decided to stay back to go through the messages on the bulletin before I went home. I came across an advert, requesting volunteers to assist with the running of an internet radio during the papal visit. The idea of helping to put out the catholic message during the papal visit in anyway appealed to me and I decided to call the contact phone contained in the advert to explore the possibility of volunteering the next day.

After about a 15 minutes conversation (I think) with Mr Gerry Coates and later with Jill

(Those of you who have been involved with the station would have come across her in one way or the other) I made a commitment to do assist the station in the best way I could.

It was agreed that I would conduct some interviews with the religious within the Diocese of Salford (which includes the Manchester area) including its Bishop, while also assisting to edit and in deed help in presenting some programmes.

Equipping my self with audio editing software (audacity), file sharing tool (box.net) and a dictaphone, I was fully prepared to meet my commitment using my laptop and some spare time.

I edited quite a number of programmes into broadcast-able format and conducted three interviews; with Bishop Terrance Brian (Bishop of Salford), Fr. Tom Connolly Parish Priest (St Kentigen) and Fr. Simon Stamp, (the Bishop’s Private Secretary).  All of which I found very interesting and fascinating.
I was also able to record a 10 am Sunday mass from St Edwards, Manchester.

I did experience some challenges and disappointment during my experience. First was a solemn service organised the Holy Name of Jesus Christ Catholic Church, Oxford Road Manchester, in honour of Blessed John Henry Newman just before the papal visit, which was quite interesting. I tried to record it for the station but faced two problems; the recording turned out to be inaudible (due to my placing of the dictaphone in a poor spot). The second problem was that because professionals performed the hymns during the service, I needed to obtain permission from them in order for it to be broadcast. The permission never came in time (it did not matter any way as my recording of the service turned out to be poor and inaudible). My second disappointment was the fascinating interview I conducted with Fr. Pat Deegan, who was the spiritual director of the Legion of Mary Praesidium I was a member of, at the time. There was severe interference from a fish tank in the room where the interview took place that made the recording inaudible.
In all, it was quite a fulfilling experience; I learnt a lot and enjoyed every bit of it.Don’t forget the roadshow starts tomorrow in Birmingham; you can get more details here.

3 Days to go

HGUH Internet Radio RoadShow
As Promised in my previous blog, I continue with my count down to the road show. It is three days now to the very first road show in Birmingham, at St Anne’s Parish Centre, Alcester Street, B12 0PB. Tickets can be obtained at most venues, http://hguhroadshow.co.uk/schedule.aspx or at www.eventbrite.com. As I have also hinted in my previous blog, the idea behind this is to publicize the radio station, raise money for its long term operation, and continue to showcase Catholic artistic talent and to have fun.  The road show will visit 20 cities from 14th May, to 25th June, 2011 (dates are available here http://hguhroadshow.co.uk/schedule.aspx).

Each show promises to be a lot of fun and exciting. It starts of with a mass followed by the opening of a Free Catholic Art/Icon/Photo Exhibition and Free Vatican Stamp Exhibition that will run all day. The Free art Exhibition will consist of over 350 works of art, including artists coming from the Society of Catholic Artists, icons from the British Association of Iconographers, the St Vincent de Paul Annual Art Competition Display and various other artists.  Also on display are Darren Snape’s images of the Papal Visit and 3-D Photographs by Tony Arpino entitled ‘Beauty of God’s World’.  There shall also be a small exhibit of Church Hangings and Vatican Stamps.  So there really is something for everyone. Over 200 of the 350 works of Art have been produced by young catholic students from several schools (If you consider yourself to be an artistic talent, take a picture of your best works and forward it to gerrycoates@blueyonder.co.uk. Please make sure you include your name and also, if relevant, your school).

During the afternoon session there will be a lot of free seminars in the parish on “Helping your Priests and Parishioners” including topics such as Debt Counseling; How to Run a Soup Kitchen; 12 steps to fulfill the potential of the Parish Repository and Parish Events.
There will be refreshments available during the day and several Catholic Charities will be having stalls in the Main Hall.  There will also be a stall where Catholic Books, CDs and other Religious items will be on-sale.  A Free souvenir newspaper will be available (A copy is available here).

Certainly the highlights of the shows will be the two hours Gala concert on each night offering Catholic Music in all styles and genre. Acts already confirmed include:

Bobby Jo, Charley Pinfold , Crossbeam , Debbie Dew , Don Maclean , Edwin Fawcett , Fr Stan Fortuna (the rapping friar all the way from New York), Gerry Coates ,Jo Walkden ,Louise Orfila, Martin Brown, Monica Luz , Ooberfuse ,Paul Dempsey , Pete Walkden ,Teresa Brown. There will be a Pre concert Reception giving everyone an opportunity to meet the artists and Roadshow team which will include wine and cheese. Ticket prices for the concert are as follows: Concert only = £8 Concession = £5 Pre concert Reception (inc Concert and Wine & Cheese) = £12 So be part of the whole fun as show is coming to a venue near you and get your ticket now!

4 Days to go

Support Heart Gives unto Heart Internet Radio

It’s been a while coming but I have finally l got around to writing this blog. A lot of things has conspired to cause the delay, but as they always say its better late than never.
An internet radio station heartgivesuntoheart.co.uk is being setup to provide young Catholics a platform and an avenue to display their creative talents, from different spheres, to the world while also serving to contribute to the work of evangelization (a call the Holy Father has repeated made in recent times).

The Station is scheduled to commence full daily broadcasting towards the end of 2011 and it was able to show a glimpse of what is to come when it successfully carried out a test run during the hugely impressive visit of his holiness, Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland and England for the beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman (whose motor was cor ad cor loquitur which is Latin for "Heart speaks unto Heart" which was also the theme for the papal visit; call it a deliberate coincidence). For about 7 days (14th – 20th September, 2010) during the papal visit and with the help of talented young Catholics, it was able bring the news, views, photos and interviews from many of the Papal Visit events. An enormous range of other programmes were broadcast, highlighting the good that Catholics do within the community.
Masses and prayers were broadcast daily, recorded from a variety of churches across 13 dioceses in England and Scotland. There were prayers for the sick on request, a vote for your favorite hymn and a Music Makers Competition. As part of my countdown to the road show, my third blog in this series will be on my experience assisting Heart Gives unto Heart Internet Radio during the papal visit from my base in Manchester at the time, the interviews I conducted and the programmes I recorded, edited and presented.

Now for the station to achieve its ambition of going live later this year it needs a lot of help, financially and other forms of support, which brings me to the road show. The road show has been organized to be able to generate some funds for the station launch. The road show will visit 20 cities and towns starting in Birmingham on 14th May, 2011 and ending in London on 25th June, 2011. Each road show will have a lot of exciting events which I will be writing about in my next blog (don’t miss it!). Support the station by attending a road show near you, dates/ venues for each show and tickets are available at this website http://hguhroadshow.co.uk/schedule.aspx. It promises to be exciting and a lot of fun. As part of my countdown to the road show and also during the shows, I will be writing a blog each day about several things connected to it, including acts that are scheduled to perform during the gala concerts and each specific road show city by city, so don’t fail to be a part of it.

You can also be a part of it in any way by contacting Mr. Gerry Coates who is the Heart Gives unto Heart Internet Radio station project director through the follow media; Tel 020 8974 6590 Mobile 07906 073376 gerrycoates@blueyonder.co.uk. The project is supported by the “Heart Gives Unto Heart” Internet Radio Committee chaired by the Bishop of Southwark, Bishop Paul Hendricks, other members of the committee include:

John Toryusen : Catholic Youth Services Southwark
Maureen Todd : Southwark Schools Commission
Louise Perry : School Chaplain St Anselm’s School Canterbury
Steve Hall : School Media Director
Drew Downing : Broadcasts and Recordings
Barbara Mack : Visual Project Development Director
Gerry Coates : Project Director