Blown Away! That was the theme and it was a nice way to describe my experience among the 600 or so teens who attended this event. Pat Finan is the diocesan coordinator of youth ministry.

I was really impressed with the DYMC, their leadership group of teens and adults. There is a group of 6 adults: Michelle, Pat, Chris, Anna, Donna and Carol. You can tell these parish youth workers are committed not only to their parishes but to pitching in to make the diocesan gatherings a success.

The teens on DYMC were a lot of fun. I loved their opening skit (a take on the wizard of Oz). It was cool to meet many of them as the day progressed. I was really impressed with the handful of teens that stayed to the end, loading the bungee bull on the truck.

It was great to see the assembly acknowledge their diocesan award winners. The adult winner was Joe Dvorak, the former diocesan director and Kate Fisher, the president of the DYMC.

The teens who came were so into things…they participated well. The house band, “Widow’s Coin” had people singing and that is always cool for me to see.

I enjoyed seeing the cornfields of Iowa and the really neat Catholic teens and adults who are also bearing a rich harvest. Over 500 of them will be going to NCYC in Atlanta at the end of the month. Muy cool!