Wrap Up: Campfire Jim

I'm almost ready to close up this Christmas Event Blogging. To do that, I'll share you with the closing act of our afternoon, Sunday:

I was informed late in the afternoon that songwriter/comedian Jim Kates was on his way over. Jim, who entertains under the name Campfire Jim, had heard of our event late Saturday night, while performing at Memphis on Main,* in downtown Champaign.

He has written a special song called "An Untitled Song for an Unknown Soldier," inspired by his uncle, who served in Viet Nam. Jim and his wife Candy spent Sunday frenziedly burning CDs of this song and putting them in cases with labels, and raced over with a huge stack of them to put in our boxes. He also had his guitar in tow, and offered to sing for us.

We were so honored to have Jim and his family show up, and to have him perform this song for us. It was a perfect way to wrap up the day, and a touching reminder of why we'd been working so hard all afternoon, and will continue to forge ahead with our projects.



Bravo. While we sat wiping our eyes after listening to his song, someone teased him "Ok, how a bit of comedy for levity?" He joked about searching his brain for a piece that was family-appropriate, but came up with this one:





That's Campfire Jim: www.campfirejim.com. Check out his schedule, if you're from around here, and go watch him perform.

Jim will send a copy of Untitled Song for an Unknown Soldier to any soldier that requests a copy. All of the CDs he donated to us were distributed—I even opened sealed boxes to make sure they were all sent out.

Thanks Jim, for the touching closing to our day!


*The contributions of Memphis on Main, downtown Champaign, are not to be overlooked. They have supported every single one of our endeavors, posting our flyers, and taking up collections. The manager, Angela, showed up on Sunday with bags full of goodies, and envelope full of cash, and promises to help us with any future endeavours. Special Thanks to the owner, Kelly, and all of the crew at Memphis!