By Calvin Palmer

Police in Wisconsin are a searching for a “person of interest” in connection with four fatal shootings of two women and two young girls last night.

Madison Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said Tyrone Adair, 38, had a relationship with both women found dead Thursday but declined to say if he had any connection with the girls.

“We believe these are somewhat domestic in nature,” DeSpain said.

Court records show Adair had paternity cases with two women and a criminal record in Dane County, including convictions for battery and bail jumping.

Police were called to a home on Madison’s southwest side around 6:00 p.m. and discovered a mother and her daughter shot to death inside a vehicle in the garage.

Around 8:30 p.m., Madison police asked officers in nearby Middleton to locate a vehicle that eventually was found in a parking lot with the bodies of a woman and a girl in the trunk.

Middleton Police Lt Noel Kakuske said both appeared to have been shot.

The victims’ names and ages have not yet been released.

Kakuse said the relationship between the woman and the child found in Middleton has not been established. The girl may have been two or three years old, he said.

Investigators believe they were killed elsewhere and the car abandoned in Middleton.

“It’s possible it was just a random location to leave the vehicle,” Kakuske said.

In 2008, Adair and Tracy Graser, of Middleton, reached a court settlement acknowledging that Adair was the father of a child named Deja Adair, who was born on Christmas Day, 2007. A family court commissioner ordered Graser and Adair to share custody of the child because they were living together in Middleton at the time.

Court documents also show that a woman sought a restraining order in 2006 against a Tyrone Adair after she said he stalked and threatened her for months.

The woman said Adair slashed her tires, broke into her apartment, destroyed her computer, phone and television, and repeatedly made threatening phone calls to her.

Dane County Circuit Judge James Martin granted the restraining order in July 2006, prohibiting Adair from contacting the woman or possessing a firearm until 2010.

At one point, she said she left her apartment because she was scared of him and went to live with friends.

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

This video is better than ours so … we don’t mind. Good work zackeke.

Later: Another great pic H/T OpenAcadia

Related : Middleton

And also related

With summer almost upon, on today’s show hosts Greg Moulton (CEO Brock Harcourts) and Greg Troughton (CEO REISA) and the panel discussed all you need to know about holiday rentals.

First up was occupancy rates and expected returns for holiday rentals. The panel also talked about what desirable features to look for in holiday rentals and what should renters expect.

In our Finance Wrap, Will Chapman talked about holiday rentals and investment lending.

The Area Wrap with Sue Brand was all about Victor Harbor in South Australia and surrounding areas.

You can now watch the show anytime.

Kayla & Robert are very fun folks, and I am so excited that they chose me to photograph their May wedding in Madison. But before that, they wanted engagement photos amidst the fall leaves. We were able to find a day without rain (difficult this year in Wisconsin) for photos at the pheasant branch reserve in Middleton. I can’t wait to photograph you two again in May!

Congress Passes Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension.

More than 400 people turned out for the first day of the Suffolk Herring Festival and enjoyed every minute. There were cooking demos, a wide range of herring dishes, and a considerable weight of freshly caught herring cooked on the barbecue. There was singing and poetry, herring art works and a multitude of knitted fish, displays on sustainable fishing and the health benefits of eating herring. On Sunday there will be more fun, a kipper brunch, and sunnier weather!

The emergence of the Civil Rights movement in the North of Ireland led to solidarity organisations being established in Britain, seeking through meetings, marches and strikes to highlight what was happening. The government used the prevention of Terrorism Act, passed in November 1974, to clamp down hard on campaigners.

The Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement in the North of Ireland

In May 1963 local Catholics in Dungannon established the Homeless Citizens’ League to campaign for better housing conditions. One of its leading members was Patricia McCluskey, wife of local doctor Conn McCluskey. In August 1963 thirty families squatted in condemned buildings and eventually embarrassed the Stormont government, after Doctor McCluskey had personally lobbied it, into announcing that some 64 new houses would be built in the town.

News of this victory quickly spread beyond Dungannon and the McCluskeys received letters from families across Northern Ireland, asking for advice on how to win similar concessions for their own towns from Stormont. This convinced them of the need for a more permanent pressure group and led them to establish the Campaign for Social Justice on 17th January 1964 “for the purpose of bringing the light of publicity to bear on the discrimination which exists in our community”. The CSJ sent out regular newsletters and produced five pamphlets which detailed the injustices happening in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formally established at a meeting of 100 delegates in the International Hotel, Belfast on 29th January 1967. On 5th October 1968 a Civil Rights march in Derry was brutally attacked by the RUC and sparked a wave of anger, leading to the formation by students of a radical group, People’s Democracy.

Bernadette Devlin rapidly emerged as one of its leading figures and in April 1969 was elected to the House of Commons on a Civil Rights ticket. She made her first appearance in the Commons two days later, rushing over to take part in a debate on Northern Ireland and looking like “anybody’s classless undergraduate daughter” as the Daily Mirror put it. She attacked Unionism and the Wilson government for forgetting what Socialism was and rejected attempts to label the Civil Rights movement as a narrow Catholic uprising, saying “We are not sectarian. We fight for the rights of both Catholics and Protestants”. She spoke at countless meetings in Britain and the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign was set up, including for a while a group in Manchester based in Gee Cross, Hyde. This organised a meeting under the title The Real Struggle in Northern Ireland at Chorlton Town Hall on 9th November 1969 at which Michael Farrell from People’s Democracy was the principal speaker

Solidarity in Britain with the Civil Rights Movement

Events in Northern Ireland were now being keenly followed by many in the Irish community in Britain. The day after the attack on the Civil Rights march in Derry The Observer carried a full and graphic report of the RUC’s violence, written by Mary Holland under the headline “Ulster Police Club Marchers”. She also wrote a long feature, carefully researched, entitled “John Bull’s White Ghettos”, which exposed the political gerrymandering in Derry. Her articles were very influential.

According to the Irish Democrat the Manchester branch of the Connolly Association was now meeting every 3rd Wednesday at The Crown & Anchor public house in Hilton Street and becoming active again under the direction of Joe McCrudden, a Belfast man. There was a Civil Rights meeting in Manchester at Chorlton Town Hall on 9th March 1969, at which the speakers were Desmond Greaves and Betty Sinclair, a trade unionist and Communist from Belfast.

College students in Manchester also set up a Civil Rights Committee. The most active members of this seem to have been those attending the Catholic De La Salle teacher training college, who held a mass meeting on 16th January 1969 and leafleted city centre pubs and clubs on events in Ireland, as a prelude to an all night vigil in support of the demand for Civil Rights in Albert Square. The weather was not on their side – there was fog and rain and only 30 students stayed the course. They were pictured next day in the Manchester Evening News, walking around the Albert Memorial and carrying banners which demanded (unironically) “One Man One Vote”. The chair of the Committee was 20 year-old Conal Harvey from Belfast who told the press, “We want to draw the unfair situation in Northern Ireland to the attention of the people in Manchester. We are planning more protests.”

The British Army goes in

In August 1969 there was a three day battle in Derry between the people of the Bogside and the RUC. Rioting then broke out in Belfast in which whole streets were burn out and people were killed. Finally James Callaghan, the Home Secretary, sent in the army.

Frank Gogarty, a leading member of NICRA in London, was reported in the press as saying that the Association proposed to call all Irish people in Britain out on a one-day strike as an expression of horror and indignation at the police brutality in Derry. The Guardian reported that on 14th August there had been sympathy strikes in Birmingham, Coventry and London with more than 500 people staying away from work and further strike action planned in the Midlands to bring out all Irish labour. This was followed on 20th August by a further strike by Irish workers in Birmingham whose co-ordinator Tom McDowell claimed that some 7,000 people in the area had answered the call with support from corporation bus workers, factories and building sites.

St Brendan’s Centre in Manchester was named in the press as a recruitment centre for volunteers wishing to go over to the north. Local organiser John Madden said that he hoped to get the first volunteers across to Ireland almost immediately and was planning to organise a demonstration in Albert Square and a walkout by Irish workers. The following day St Brendan’s publicly denied that it was being used as centre for volunteers as this would be against its constitution.

On 25th August 1969 there was a march in Manchester. Supporters of the Civil Rights movement gathered in Platt Fields and marched to Ardwick Green . A photograph of this march in The Guardian showed one marcher holding a placard which stated “Get The Troops Out.”

In October Manchester City Council (then Tory controlled) refused to allow the local branch of the Campaign for Social Justice to hire council-owned halls to hold public meetings on the situation in the North of Ireland and a planned meeting had to be called off. On 6th November the CSJ organised a torchlit procession in the city centre in protest. John Madden, who was originally from Dungannon and had lived in Manchester for 15 years, claimed that 99% of the Irish population were sympathetic to their cause. He told the Irish Democrat it was “the sort of thing I used to experience when I was a councillor in the worst place in Northern Ireland for discrimination. I did not expect to find it in Manchester.” There was a protest march to the Town Hall against the ban after the annual Manchester Martyrs procession.

The Manchester CSJ stepped up its activities by taking part in the national petition for a Bill of Rights and holding a meeting in Houldsworth Hall on 22nd March 1970 at which the speakers were Ivan Cooper MP, Betty Sinclair, Mark Carlisle MP and Stan Orme MP. On 4th April they held a folk concert in the Lesser Free Trade Hall featuring the Grehan Sisters.

In July 1970 the British army imposed a curfew and ransacked the Falls Road in Belfast, looking for weapons. Four people were killed. In February 1971 the IRA shot dead a British soldier. Daily gun battles were soon taking place as well as a bombing campaign. At 4.30am on 9th August 1971 the Stormont government re-introduced internment, leading to more gun battles and extensive rioting. Nationalist areas virtually seceded from the Northern Ireland state.

Bloody Sunday, January 1972

A NICRA march was held in Derry on Sunday 30th January 1972. British troops from the paratroop regiment prevented it getting out of the Bogside and the usual small riot developed involving local youth. Most of the marchers were listening to the speakers, who included Bernadette Devlin and veteran Labour MP Fenner Brockway, when the paratroopers charged into the Bogside shooting thirteen men dead. Another man died later of his wounds.

A hurricane of anger swept Ireland, North and South. There were strikes and marches as tens of thousands of Irish workers protested in Dundalk, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Dublin. Airport workers at Dublin and Shannon refused to handle British aircraft, grounding planes in Manchester and other British airports. Jack Lynch declared 2nd February, the day of the funerals, as a national day of mourning. The British Embassy in Dublin was burned down when a crowd estimated at 30,000 gathered outside it and threw petrol bombs. In the North rioting went for days in almost every Nationalist area. Bernadette Devlin told the Daily Mirror, “It was mass murder by the army . This was our Sharpeville and we shall never forget it. The troops shot up a peaceful meeting”. By contrast Brian Faulkner blamed the organisers of the march and the IRA for the killings.

In Britain Bloody Sunday provoked the most intense response by the Irish during whole the thirty years of the Troubles. In Manchester over 100 students from De La Salle College, Middleton held an emergency protest meeting at midnight followed by a mass meeting in the afternoon which voted to boycott lectures and hold three days of mourning. A number of the students then went to the statue of Queen Victoria in Piccadilly and, amidst a snowstorm, began a vigil and fast, setting up a makeshift black flag and a wooden cross bearing the words “Will they rest in peace – how many more?” Some bus-drivers and office and shop workers jeered and shouted abuse as they passed (postal workers at the South Manchester sorting office threatened to boycott all mail to Ireland except Forces Mail on the grounds that the soldiers were not getting a fair deal). Members of the James Steele branch of Provisional Sinn Fein in Manchester mounted a protest at the army recruiting office on Fountain Street with placards that read “Derry Bloody Sunday, 13 massacred by British army”. Their spokesperson Seamas O’Morain gave his name in Irish and told reporters that they were protesting peacefully against the British army’s campaign of murder in Ireland.

On Thursday the De La Salle students led a march of 2,000 from the Cathedral through Manchester city centre, passing the Army Recruitment Office which was heavily guarded by police, and finishing with a rally at the Mancunian Way. There was a further march in Manchester on Saturday organised by the Manchester Connolly Association attended by 1,500, which was addressed by Lennie Draper, Desmond Greaves and Ann Doherty from the Manchester Civil Rights Association. A meeting attended by 1,500 students at Manchester University banned all military recruiting on campus and denied union facilities to the British army Officer Training Corps. An attempt to close the University Student Union failed when Tory students obtained a court injunction preventing this.

The Irish Democrat produced a special four page supplement on Bloody Sunday to go with their usual February issue. Desmond Greaves called for the resignation of Maudling, suspension of the Commander in Chief of British forces in Northern Ireland, immediate withdrawal of all paratroops from Northern Ireland, withdrawal of all troops from streets where they had become a provocation, an immediate end of internment and negotiations to lead to a united Irish Republic. The Manchester Connolly Association sent a telegram to Edward Heath (signed by John Tocher, divisional organiser of the engineering union and others), condemning the massacre of civil rights demonstrators and calling for troops to be confined to barracks and for a Bill of Rights to be brought forward.

Irish Civil Rights Association

In the general election held in October 1974 six candidates stood in the British general election under the banner of the Irish Civil Rights Association, the first time that candidates had stood on a specifically Irish platform since the Anti-Partition League in 1951. Margaret O’Brien, secretary of ICRA in Britain, said that they called for higher pensions and lower mortgages. “We should achieve this by a commitment to a United Ireland instead of propping up a rotten little statelet that costs £700 million in year and makes her name the derision of the world”.

The ICRA candidates stood in constituencies with sizeable Irish populations. Neil Boyle stood in Moss Side, Manchester, gaining just 238 votes. According to his election leaflet he was aged 37, born in Donegal, married with four children, worked for British Rail and had been active in the Civil Rights movement since 1969. ICRA candidates called for the release of all internees and a general amnesty for all political prisoners; a commitment from Britain to the idea of a united Ireland and a phased withdrawal of all British troops from Ireland. ICRA attacked the Labour government for increasing the number of internees in Long Kesh and Armagh, for renewing the Emergency Provisions Act and for the death of Michael Gaughan on hunger strike. It was clear from the results that, whatever strong feelings that Irish people might have had about events in Ireland, most Irish people at this period continued to give their vote to the Labour Party.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act

On 21st November bombs exploded in two pubs in the centre of Birmingham, killing 21 people and wounding 162. There was widespread public outrage and fury, some of which was directed at Irish people in Britain (although a number of the victims had been Irish).

Within two days the government rushed through the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which became law on 29th November. Such was the public mood that not a single MP dared vote against. Desmond Greaves commented in later years that “the disastrous bomb outrage did the Irish movement in Britain more harm than a regiment of cavalry. The witch hunt that followed, which included anti-Irish marches, threw the Irish movement back decades.”

There were frequent police raids, arrests and exclusions from Britain. Many Irish solidarity organisations stopped meeting and it was not until the hunger strike campaign of 1981 and the emergence of new organisations such as the Irish in Britain representation Group that Irish people began to speak out again about what was happening in the North of Ireland.

Article by Michael Herbert

The East Anglian Daily Times joined children from Middleton Primary School on the beach at Walberswick yesterday, where the children learned something of Suffolk’s herring heritage. The story is available online EADT 24, but if you want to see a picture of the children with the shoals of silver darlings you’ll have to buy today’s edition. Hurry! It’s selling out fast.

This Autumn we have several new lines for you to try.

Here we have given a brief detail on each of these great new releases.

Sacred Gin

This small batch Gin is distilled in one of London’s 2 new micro-distilleries. The distillery in question is Ian Harts award winning premises and Sacred Gin was the overall winner at the 2009 Ginmasters.

Buy Now

Caorunn Small Batch Scottish Gin

Distilled by the Caorunn Gin Master at a working malt whisky distillery, Caorunn Gin is made from a perfectly balanced mix of eleven handpicked botanicals including the infusion of five Celtic botanicals.

Buy Now

Dalmore 12 Year Old

The classic Dalmore 12 Year Old returns with a refreshed style and image for 2009

Buy Now

Glenkinchie 12 Year Old

For those familiar with the 10 year old from Glenkinchie you’ll find this has a slightly fuller and more complex feel.

Buy Now

Balvenie Signature

The Balvenie Signature was launched in 2008 and replaced the ten year-old Founders Reserve.

Buy Now

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old

This characteristic bottle is emerald green with the helmsman emblazoned within a golden porthole on the front. It comes complete with a booklet and a black gift tube that the bottle fits snugly into.

Buy Now

Jack Daniels Gentleman Jack

Just like Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey and Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel, Gentleman Jack is Charcoal Mellowed before going into the barrel.

Buy Now

Bushmills 10 Year Old

Triple distilled form 100% malted barley and matured for a minimum of 10 years, mainly in bourbon seasoned barrels. It has aromas of honey, vanilla and milk chocolate.

Buy Now

Bushmills Black Bush

With an intriguing flavour and a name to match, Bushmills Black Bush Deluxe Whiskey is a special blend. Its secret lies in the generous proportion of malt whiskey matured in selected Oloroso Sherry casks, giving Bushmills Black Bush Deluxe Whiskey its deep amber tone, dried fruit aromas and intense character.

Buy Now

Bushmills Original

Bushmills Original is the cornerstone the family, a blend of triple distilled malt whiskey with a lighter Irish grain whiskey. It is a gentle whiskey with a rich, warming taste of fresh fruit, vanilla and honey.

Buy Now

Benchmark Bourbon

Macafee’s Benchmark Bourbon is a great example for a 5 year old Bourbon Whisky.

Buy Now

Midleton Very Rare

This is the true premier small batch blend thats from Ireland’s biggest distillery (home of Jameson) Midleton is usually released on an annual basis and to worldwide praise.

Buy Now

Ends

Copyright Emporium Drinks Limited 2009

We just returned from a weekend road trip to Julian, CA. We rode out on the harley on Friday afternoon, and arrived the same time as the clouds, about 3 pm. We had a few sprinkles of rain on the way. It did rain later in the evening. We were treated to a great sunset with all of the rain clouds. I’ve posted a set of the best photos at lenspov.com

We stayed at the Julian Gold Rush Hotel. It was fun staying on Main Street, great for people watching from the front porch. The hotel is very nice, quaint and immaculate. This is a bed-and-breakfast, and the food was excellent. They also serve tea in the late afternoon.

The reason behind out trip was to celebrate the wedding of our friends Belinda and Chris Middleton. They were married in Hawaii last July, and celebrated the occasion on Saturday night at the Pine Hills Lodge. The lodge is a nice rustic place that was very charming. The party was wonderful, lots of very nice family and friends to meet, eat, and dance with. We had an awesome time!

Middleton Athletic Ladies Football Club now play in the
Cheshire and Manchester Women’s Football League.

Pluease check out the link below to view their website for further information -

www.middletonathleticladiesfc.com

On Saturday, I unveiled the first line on the “All-Boards and Blades Team” featuring players who played for the Bruins from 1981-2009. Today, the second line rolls over the boards. Like the first, it is more of a skilled like with a playmaking center, a sniper on the right and a lightning-quick left winger.

Sergei Samsonov – Adam Oates – Rick Middleton

Adam Oates, whose primary role in a Bruins sweater was to feed pucks to Neely, is separated from his partner to center a second line with Middleton and Samsonov. Oates was unbelievable for the Bruins from his arrival in February of 1992. He accumulated 499 points, twice going over 100. In 1992-93, he finished with 142 points and 97 assists (points were third all-time behind two Espo seasons and assists second behind Orr.)  In that season, he had an assist in 18-straight games, dishing out 28 helpers in all. He was as gifted a playmaker as there was in the league at that time. Yes, it is difficult to split up him and Neely, but Oates could play with anyone, as evidenced by his 2000-01 and 01-02 seasons where he totaled 134 assists at age 38-39.

With that, Oates is paired with Rick Middleton. Nifty, in his pre-pastry days, was a prolific scorer. Only twice did he score less than 20 goals in a season (both cut short by injury at the end of his career) and he went over 40 five times for the Bruins. As a kid, I didn’t quite understand why the old guy with no helmet shared the ‘C’ with Ray Bourque. But it all makes sense when you look at two very important numbers. In his 12 season in Boston, only twice did he play less than 60 games. He played in 80 five times. A good part of leadership is being ready day in and day out. The other part is accountability. He went from a season in New York where he was a -38 to 12-straight seasons in the plus for Boston. In 1977-78, he was +40. This isn’t all Middleton brought. As capable as he was in his own end, he twice went over 100 points. He had 115 career power play goals. He scored 59 game-winners. In the playoffs, he had 100 points, including three game-winning goals in the 1988 run to the finals.

Samsonov was an interesting decision. He played 7+ seasons in Boston and was always teasing fans with his offensive creativity. The less-heralded of Boston’s two first-rounders in ’97, he went on to win the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year with 22-25-47 totals. He never scored more than 30 goals but was always in the 19-29 range.  Yet, whenever he head the puck on his stick in the neutral zone or weaving around the perimeter, the rumblings and anticipation from the fans would rise, waiting to see what he would do next.  The creative stylings of Oates, Samsonov and Nifty would be appointment viewing for Bruins fans.

Looking ahead, tomorrow we will bring you the final two forward lines. The third line is a two-way line that could shut down the other team’s best group while providing some offense of its own. The fourth line is a trio of 1980s agitators short on size, but long on truculence (copyright Brian Burke). On Wednesday, The defense and goalies will be revealed. As always, your thoughts and ideas are encouraged.

Three days to Opening Night.

I find it interesting that the most popular search on this blog (my personal, family blog) is, “Why did Drew Middleton leave Tenth Avenue North?”

Perhaps because we bragged about our friend when he came to Nashville this past spring to claim his BMI Songwriter’s award for his work on the hit, “Love is Here”. After all, I’ve known Drew since he and the boys led worship for our church’s college group in Florida. As the female mentor for the ministry, I enjoyed worshipping with and watching the guys grow in the Lord.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I really got to know Drew.  I learned that he and some of the other ‘kids’ that I served with were getting married! Not only were they getting married, but many now held positions within the church. That meant that their new brides would be graduating college, moving out on their own for the first time AND becoming a pastor’s wife in a sense. Being a recent newlywed myself (just four years prior), my heart became burdened for these precious women (most of whom I’d not yet met!) and started a group to mentor these newlyweds. I met with the girls, my husband met with the guys, and we’d regularly all come together as couples…and it was awesome.

So while I’ve known Mike D. and the Tenth Ave gang for about ten years, it wasn’t until the past three that I’ve had the pleasure of really getting to know Drew and his precious wife, Shannon. You can imagine my surprise when, on a blog where I normally discuss funny things my kids say and my wonderment at the world around me,  there were daily searches on Tenth Avenue North, Drew Middleton and more specifically, why Drew left the band.

So I finally asked him.

It’s amazing how little I really knew about how the band got its start. I learned that it did in fact get its name from the road in Lake Worth where a few of the guys lived back when there were in college. I learned that Drew was not one of the original members of the band (he joined when they were all in college at PBA, not too long after he came in second place to their first place finish at a Battle of the Bands on campus). And I finally learned that Drew left the band because he felt God tugging on his heart to return to ministry at his local church.

“Through college, it was a good time – nothing that demanded our full time attention – if someone asked for a show we’d go play.” After he graduated, most of the guys worked part time at the church in the fall and winter and then the band went on tour in the off times and during the summer. However, after all the guys had worked at Christ Fellowship part time for a year, they went to the church to let them know they felt called to pursue the band full time. From that point in 2005 through 2006, Drew and the guys concentrated their full energies on the band, even releasing two full length albums and some EP’s.

So why did Drew walk away from it all?

“I felt this tug on my heart to go back to Christ Fellowship. I just knew it was what God was calling me to do, though at the time, I didn’t know why.”

Drew was engaged then and while he knew his future wife would always support him in whatever he felt God called him to do, Drew believed it was time for him to go back to the local church and lead worship. At the same time, his friend and fellow band-mate (Danny Zayas, who had just married his wife Renee a year earlier) approached Drew with a similar sentiment.

Ironically, things were starting to take off for the band. They had just met with some guys in Nashville and were considering what record label to sign with. “We were at a conference somewhere in Florida and were meeting as a band when Danny & I spoke up and said we felt called to bow-out of the band. Needless to say, the other guys were shocked.”

It was never their intent to deliver a double-whammy. They knew it would be a big deal to lose two members at once, but both Drew & Danny stayed on and played for several more months until their “Hello/Good-Bye Show” at City Place where they introduced Jeff (Owen) into the band and said goodbye to Drew & Danny.

Does Drew have any regrets about leaving the band?

“For the first two years after I left the band I had no regrets (even though they had a lot of success). I started feeling regret the last time I was in Nashville. Not because of the Dove Awards or the recognition or the hit song, I had regrets because being up there and hanging out with the guys again reminded me of the family nucleus we had as a band. More than friends, we were like a family church, constantly looking out for one another, encouraging each other and spurring one another on to do great things for God. Did we fight? Yeah. Were there times we wanted to rip each other’s faces off? Absolutely…but what a great group of guys. My regret is 50% because I know God has me here for this time and using me down in FL, but I think I’ll always vicariously live through them after being such a part of that band and that industry for 5-6- years. When that’s all you hang out with for so long, of course there’s going to be a tug.  All that to say my regret isn’t that I left the band and all this success; I miss the guys and that nucleus.”

So what’s next for Drew?
“You’re asking the wrong guy – it’s up to the Lord.
I can tell you what I’d like to be doing, but who knows if that’s what God has for me. I have some dreams and some ambitions, but God has his perfect will and I’m going to make sure I’m following that.”

Not to worry; the guys are still as close as brothers. They’ve sang at each other’s weddings, hang out together even when they’re not singing and are now welcoming children into the Tenth Avenue North Family.

While Drew isn’t welcoming any children of his own just yet, he does have some valuable advice for young ones looking to get into the music industry:
“Never give up playing or learning more about your craft. You constantly need to ask yourself, ‘How can I get better at what I’m doing – spiritually and musically?’”

To bands just getting started, Drew suggests the same as what kept his band so close: “Do whatever you can to encourage one another all the time. Get in the habit of speaking words of encouragement to your band-mates. It’s all too easy to get caught up in character flaws and focusing on the wrong (negative) thing.”

“When every band gets started, there seems to be a #1 goal of getting a record deal – don’t let that be your goal. That was never our goal (to be signed) and I think that’s why they (Tenth Avenue North) have achieved the success they have, because that was never our goal. God brought that to us, but we were never out searching for it. Don’t make getting signed your life ambition because:
1. It’s the wrong goal – your goal should be to uphold Christ above all else and pursue him.
2. What will you do after you get signed? Most have a plan but some don’t, so don’t get caught up in that rabbit trail.”

While he may be done with the road for now, music and songwriting is still an integral part of Drew’s life. He is now a worship pastor at Christ Fellowship church in Florida and is married to Shannon, a beautiful and talented girl in her own right (which I can say proudly because she’s such a good friend too!). Personally, I hope Drew continues to win many more awards for his amazing songs so that we get to see more of the Middletons in Nashville!

Thanks, Drew, for allowing me to dig a little deeper into your passions and for speaking so candidly. Ricky and I are so proud to call you friends and we pray many others will benefit and grow from reading your story and learning of your continuing faithfulness, both to God, your family and your craft!

To see some pictures of Drew’s winning moments (and his wonderful wife), click here to see my earlier post.

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beatrice: laura nagel
de flores: edmund digby jones
alsemero: george chilcott
vermandero: liam mulvey
alonzo: jimmy walters
tomazo: james bober
diaphanta: laura marston
jasperino: nathan wood
antonio: pierre tailleux
lollio: rory greenfield
isabella: naomi stafford
alibius: james huntrods

directed by nick coupe
assistant director: grace wright
produced by claire martin and emily anne mcculloch for leeds university theatre group

riley smith hall – january 2009

* * * *
leeds student newspaper

‘an artistic and mystical beauty’
‘a flair for originality‘

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In the summer of 1937 my family went camping with Aunt Jane’s family to Boston Spa. Uncle Joe had been in the trenches in the Great War. In the great depression of the 30s he’d applied for a grant from the British Legion with which he bought a pony and cart and made his living bundling and selling firewood around the streets. My cousin Joe would earn threepence or fourpence a week helping out, and when Terry and I stayed at Aunt Jane’s we used to take a bottle of water, buy some sweets with Joe’s money and go for long walks perhaps as far as East Ardsley. One Saturday though, Joe had bought some Christmas puddings and ate them himself because we didn’t fancy them. That cut the walk short as we had to return within twenty minutes he was so poorly.
Uncle Joe kept chickens on his allotment and there was a boiled chicken for dinner every Sunday. The gravy was made from the stock mixed with flour. I thought it was disgusting but never dared say, and always felt sick until we got home at teatime.
In those days in Middleton it was nearly a mile to the nearest tram stop, but one of the best things about going was the journey. We caught the number 12 tram in town, but this route was special. The trams were called Bluebirds, very up to date and streamlined. The track itself after it left Hunslet Moor was like a light railway; it went through Middleton Woods into the estate.

On Middleton estate there were no Catholic churches at the time so the residents decided to build one. A church was being demolished at Hunslet, so the people held raffles and subscriptions until they had enough money to buy and transport the stone to Middleton. Unfortunately, these people didn’t have enough money to pay for builders, so they built the church themselves. I believe my Mum’s brother George Simpson was one of those who volunteered. On the day St Philip’s was dedicated we had a wonderful fete with a big party, and afterwards races and sports. I didn’t win anything but I enjoyed the day. I was only average at sport but I always enjoyed participating. It wasn’t until I became a soldier that I found I was good at something – rifle shooting. I didn’t agree with firearms in the community though so I never followed it up when I came out of the Army.
To return to the camping trip, I couldn’t go on the Saturday as I had chickenpox, so Mum, Aunt Jane and me took the bus to Boston Spa on Wednesday and walked to the campsite at Thorp Arch. Apparently, my brother Terry had fallen asleep on the cart on the way there and had fallen off in the middle of High Street, Boston Spa. The first anyone knew was when a woman shouted, ‘Oy mister, you’ve lost your baby!’, and there he was, still fast asleep.
Within four years that campsite was to become one of the biggest armaments factories in the country and is now Thorp Arch Trading Estate. In the summer of 1940 my cousin Joe and I decided to go camping again but we found it was a restricted area, which we hadn’t known since it was very hush hush. We found a spot along the river but it wasn’t the same and we went home on Tuesday.
I had another mini holiday but I can’t remember when. On the site of the Registry Office there used to a place called the Belgrave Chapel and its Minister was well known for good works. My mum got me a place on a trip to Bridlington. I was given sixpence to spend and two women were deputised to look after me. We had a sail on the Yorkshire Belle, a meal, ice creams etc.. Out of my sixpence I bought a telescope and a propelling pencil and went on the slot machines so I didn’t do bad did I? Actually, I found another telescope so I came home with two.
In 1937 and 1938 we went to the military tattoos at Roundhay Park. These were exciting spectacles and I saw for the first time the Royal Corps of Signals Display Team. They were despatch riders who put on a display of tricks that completely captured my imagination. I vowed one day to become a despatch rider in the Signals, and indeed I did.
During the tattoos the rowing boats on Waterloo Lake were dressed up to look like ducks; it was breathtaking.
These few years were probably our best but then my Dad became ill. The work at the glasshouse was killing him slowly. He had been on the brink of death with double pneumonia before I was born but luckily he survived. Anyway, in 1937 he had to give it up and my Uncle Arthur got him a job as a labourer at Nicholson’s Builders on Sheaf Street. It didn’t pay well but jobs were hard to come by. Disaster struck after just a few months. A steel girder that was being moved on rollers slipped off on to his leg and broke it badly so he was off for several months. He was paid compensation of 28 shillings per week to keep the four of us. I know how much it was because every Friday I had to walk to Nicholson’s, next to Tetley’s Brewery, to collect it from my uncle at the gate. Good job my Mum was able to work. Nowadays he’d have got thousands of pounds in compensation.

In the summer of 1937 my family went camping with Aunt Jane’s family to Boston Spa. Uncle Joe had been in the trenches in the Great War. In the great depression of the 30s he’d applied for a grant from the British Legion with which he bought a pony and cart and made his living bundling and selling firewood around the streets. My cousin Joe would earn threepence or fourpence a week helping out, and when Terry and I stayed at Aunt Jane’s we used to take a bottle of water, buy some sweets with Joe’s money and go for long walks perhaps as far as East Ardsley. One Saturday though, Joe had bought some Christmas puddings and ate them himself because we didn’t fancy them. That cut the walk short as we had to return within twenty minutes he was so poorly.
Uncle Joe kept chickens on his allotment and there was a boiled chicken for dinner every Sunday. The gravy was made from the stock mixed with flour. I thought it was disgusting but never dared say, and always felt sick until we got home at teatime.
In those days in Middleton it was nearly a mile to the nearest tram stop, but one of the best things about going was the journey. We caught the number 12 tram in town, but this route was special. The trams were called Bluebirds, very up to date and streamlined. The track itself after it left Hunslet Moor was like a light railway; it went through Middleton Woods into the estate.

On Middleton estate there were no Catholic churches at the time so the residents decided to build one. A church was being demolished at Hunslet, so the people held raffles and subscriptions until they had enough money to buy and transport the stone to Middleton. Unfortunately, these people didn’t have enough money to pay for builders, so they built the church themselves. I believe my Mum’s brother George Simpson was one of those who volunteered. On the day St Philip’s was dedicated we had a wonderful fete with a big party, and afterwards races and sports. I didn’t win anything but I enjoyed the day. I was only average at sport but I always enjoyed participating. It wasn’t until I became a soldier that I found I was good at something – rifle shooting. I didn’t agree with firearms in the community though so I never followed it up when I came out of the Army.
To return to the camping trip, I couldn’t go on the Saturday as I had chickenpox, so Mum, Aunt Jane and me took the bus to Boston Spa on Wednesday and walked to the campsite at Thorp Arch. Apparently, my brother Terry had fallen asleep on the cart on the way there and had fallen off in the middle of High Street, Boston Spa. The first anyone knew was when a woman shouted, ‘Oy mister, you’ve lost your baby!’, and there he was, still fast asleep.
Within four years that campsite was to become one of the biggest armaments factories in the country and is now Thorp Arch Trading Estate. In the summer of 1940 my cousin Joe and I decided to go camping again but we found it was a restricted area, which we hadn’t known since it was very hush hush. We found a spot along the river but it wasn’t the same and we went home on Tuesday.
I had another mini holiday but I can’t remember when. On the site of the Registry Office there used to a place called the Belgrave Chapel and its Minister was well known for good works. My mum got me a place on a trip to Bridlington. I was given sixpence to spend and two women were deputised to look after me. We had a sail on the Yorkshire Belle, a meal, ice creams etc.. Out of my sixpence I bought a telescope and a propelling pencil and went on the slot machines so I didn’t do bad did I? Actually, I found another telescope so I came home with two.
In 1937 and 1938 we went to the military tattoos at Roundhay Park. These were exciting spectacles and I saw for the first time the Royal Corps of Signals Display Team. They were despatch riders who put on a display of tricks that completely captured my imagination. I vowed one day to become a despatch rider in the Signals, and indeed I did.
During the tattoos the rowing boats on Waterloo Lake were dressed up to look like ducks; it was breathtaking.
These few years were probably our best but then my Dad became ill. The work at the glasshouse was killing him slowly. He had been on the brink of death with double pneumonia before I was born but luckily he survived. Anyway, in 1937 he had to give it up and my Uncle Arthur got him a job as a labourer at Nicholson’s Builders on Sheaf Street. It didn’t pay well but jobs were hard to come by. Disaster struck after just a few months. A steel girder that was being moved on rollers slipped off on to his leg and broke it badly so he was off for several months. He was paid compensation of 28 shillings per week to keep the four of us. I know how much it was because every Friday I had to walk to Nicholson’s, next to Tetley’s Brewery, to collect it from my uncle at the gate. Good job my Mum was able to work. Nowadays he’d have got thousands of pounds in compensation.