TRAVEL FROM OSLO TO GERMANY FOR GARY SINISE FOUNDATION PERFORMANCES FOR THE U.S. MILITARY
Lobby call was at 10 am for Chapel Hart to walk to the airport for our flight from Oslo to Frankfurt. No problem checking in and we had a few minutes before boarding started because our flight was departing late. I was just worried the departure time would keep getting later and later but it was only about 30 minutes late once we finally took off.
I forgot to mention one other thing about the hotel last night. To open the door, you literally have to grip the handle with both hands and jump up to put enough pressure on it to make the handle turn. Crazy!
We landed almost on time and then it took 1 ½ hours for our bags to come out on the belt. Everyone on the flight got their bags and another plane landed and their bags started coming out. Lufthansa doesn’t have a “counter” in baggage claim and staff working there kept telling me to go out of Customs and find the Lufthansa Counter in the Arrival Lobby. I have “tiles and Apple Air Tags” in all my bags and they were all showing that the luggage was in the Frankfurt airport. Everything finally came in and I have no idea why only our luggage was delayed for such a long time.
Michael Tietze – who I have worked with since the very early 90’s – was there to meet us with the bus. We stay in constant touch but haven’t seen each other since right after COVID. He still looks the same! Every time I see him, he says he’s retiring but just keeps going.
It was about a 40 minute drive (with traffic) to the hotel. I don’t remember staying at this hotel in the past but I probably did. It’s a really nice hotel with air conditioning and elevators that work! With the 95 degree heat we have had in Switzerland and Norway and NO air conditioning, being here is definitely a luxury.
Michael insisted on helping me get all my huge bags to my room (huge because I bring gifts from the Gary Sinise Foundation for the men and women serving). When I opened my door and walked in, I thought I gagged because the smell of my room was terrible. Michael thought it might be the cleaning products the hotel used. But one trip into the bathroom told me it was mildew and mold! We checked out Michael’s room and there was no smell at all. I hiked back down to the lobby to get a different room!
Met Michael for dinner at 7:00 pm in the hotel restaurant. Some of the others walked about 20 minutes into town. We’re going to have several hours there on Wednesday after we check out and before we drive to the Frankfurt Airport to pick up Drake Milligan’s group again to “re-join” the tour. I was amazed at how great the food was at the hotel restaurant. I had a lemon chicken with spinach and carrots and I believe it’s the best meal I’ve had since I left home.
My room has a TV with an English speaking channel which is definitely nice after only hearing Norwegian for the past week. Getting a little work done tonight and hope to get up early and try to get caught up…somewhat.
Chapel Hart performs at USAG Wiesbaden tomorrow night. It’s been years since I’ve visited this base. Then Drake joins us for 3 more shows at US Army Garrison Stuttgart, Ramstein Air Base and Volksfest at USAG Bavaria in Grafenwoehr. All the shows are supposed to be outside but the weather forecast isn’t great. We will just have to wait until the day before to make the call on moving indoors.
And, of course, have to say a special thanks to Gary Sinise and the Gary Sinise Foundation who make these “thank you” tours possible for the men and women serving in our U. S. Military! No better feeling in the world than seeing the smiles on the faces of men and women when they are watching the performances or in the Meet and Greet lines when they are talking with the entertainers. I am so blessed!
Jude
TUESDAY, JUNE 29TH – FIRST GARY SINISE FOUNDATION SHOW IN GERMANY WITH CHAPEL HART:
Was pleasantly surprised this morning to find that the Fitness Room in the hotel is pretty good. Had almost everything I needed for a “normal workout”.
We departed the hotel at 1:30 pm for our first performance in Germany at U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden. Our POC Rodney and another driver met us at the hotel to drive us over. It’s been YEARS since I was here but I still remember some parts of it. I had people coming up to me all day telling me they remembered seeing Gary here or at another base where they were deployed. He was here in 2003! That’s the year we met and when he first started touring military bases with “The Lt. Dan Band”!!
When we arrived at the base, security had an access roster but we still had to go inside and have “photo passes” made. That took about 45 minutes which meant we were about 30 minutes late getting to the stage. But, the Production Company was supposed to set up the stage yesterday and for some reason, that didn’t happen. Then it poured rain earlier this morning and they had to stop loading in. So, our 2 ½ hour sound check was getting cut significantly. We met Kevin (our other POC) and Tammy with MWR. Everyone is so nice and helpful. A few days ago, the base was treated to a meal compliments of Gary Sinise Foundation “Serving Heroes” program so there was a lot of talk by the attendees about that event.
We were able to take the girls over to the Command Center for a visit. But we had to leave our phones outside and I can’t write about anything they are doing here. Let’s just say, it’s very important, especially to Ukraine!
By the time the girls were able to sound check, the doors had already opened and people were coming in. Nothing was going as it was supposed to “production wise” but I knew we would get through it and give them a great show. I purchased some pizzas for everyone to have prior to the performance.
Just as it was time to start the show, it started pouring rain. The audience crammed into the gym and other places with a roof. Fortunately, it only lasted about 10 minutes and no one left.
As walk-in music at all our shows, we play the music composed by Gary’s late son Mac. It is so beautiful and inspirational! Every show begins with a “personal” video message from Gary to the attendees followed by a short Gary Sinise Foundation informational video. The band actually sounded great! And the audience was amazing. There were a lot of families here and they were right up front with their children – singing and dancing to every song. Every show ends with a short video about Mac and his music.
The meet and greet after the show was long but moved quickly. So many people mentioned Mac and his beautiful music. We provide information on where they can listen to “the making of” his two albums on YouTube or purchase a vinyl copy through the website.
The base provided a catered dinner after the show which definitely was not required or expected. I was surprised by the large turnout on a Tuesday night at such a small base! I’ll have exact figures on attendance tomorrow.
First show of the Gary Sinise Foundation Military Support Tour was a roaring success. We pick up Drake Milligan’s group at the airport tomorrow and drive to Stuttgart. Performance at Stuttgart will be on Thursday and we have one show a day after that until Sunday night.
Jude
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30TH – TRAVEL DAY FROM USAG WIESBADEN TO USAG STUTTGART:
We had 317 people last night at the concert. The base had told me that if we had 200 on a Tuesday night at such a small base, that would be a great attendance. I think we had more than that at the Meet and Greet!
I got in a 3 mile jog in perfect weather. It had rained earlier, so it was cool. We met in the lobby at 1:00 pm and drove to the City Centre in Wiesbaden. I could have spent a week there. It’s been so long since I was here and it is such a beautiful small town. Michael had to drop us off and drive a long way to find somewhere to park his bus. We all split up and I found a New Yorker and was able to purchase some of the clothes the Z’s wanted me to buy them when I was in Switzerland. Delta killed that chance to shop in Switzerland with our “delayed flights”!
Michael met me for lunch and we had a nice time talking and just “catching” up. He told me how he got started in the business and a dear friend of both of ours – John Downie — actually made it possible for him to get into the bus business when he was only 22 years old!
Everyone met back up at 3:30 pm to drive to the airport to pick up Drake. His plane was supposed to be about 20 minutes late but actually landed on time. We then drove the 3 hours to Stuttgart. We met two of our POC’s at a German Beerhouse for dinner. The food was excellent!
We are staying at lodging on base and it’s really nice. I don’t remember staying here when I was last in Stuttgart but it’s been more than a decade since I was here. The hotel had our room keys ready for us and everyone was in their rooms by 10:30 pm. I went to the laundry room and washed all my dirty clothes and didn’t finish until 1:45 am. I am so happy to get out of the “local” hotel and into base lodging. The only English speaking network they have is CNN and I hate watching CNN. When the policeman and the others were killed in NYC last week, all CNN broadcast was about Jeffrey Epstein and Trump! Then today when the earthquake and tsunami hit around the world, all they were talking about was the Trump Administration is destroying 9.7 Million Dollars in contraceptives!
Going to bed soon so I can get up and work out. There is a fitness room on my floor but I couldn’t see what was in it tonight because it is locked at 10 pm. We are performing in the base Fitness Center and it is right next door so I may have to walk over there.
Hopefully we’ll have another packed show tomorrow night!
Jude
THURSDAY, JULY 31ST – PERFORMANCE AT STUTTGART ARMY GARRISON:
For some reason, I got up earlier than I had planned. Turned out to be a blessing because I had to go to the venue 2 hours earlier than scheduled. I did get in a quick workout in the fitness room on my floor before starting the days work.
We had to come up with a plan for tomorrow at Ramstein because the current plans are to hold it outdoors and the sound company can only carry one stage with them – one for indoor and one for outdoor. We finally decided to leave the event outdoor and if the weather gets bad then at 3 pm we will move the consoles, etc. indoors. The base has 15 risers that are at least 2 feet high that we can make into a stage. Both groups agreed to do a stripped down acoustic version of their show if necessary.
Rest of my day was spent running back and forth between the venue and hotel. As it was in Wiesbaden, the staff here are excellent! Kacie, Ana, and Angela have been my main POC’s prior to arrival and I met lots more folks last night.
I did take time for a late lunch and met Michael at the Food Court. A Panda Express had opened that day and at opening time, the line was all the way out into the parking lot. It pretty much stayed packed all day. Michael and I went for a baked potato at a food truck outside on the recommendation from others in our group. I had the avocado and spinach version and loved it. I also purchased a baked sweet potato for dinner after the show. I warned both groups that absolutely nothing would be open after the show and Meet and Greet tonight. But we have refrigerators and microwaves in our rooms so we can buy now and heat up later.
A corn dog truck parked in front of the venue and did a roaring business before the show. We held the show start about 5 minutes because so many people were still in line. The show at Stuttgart today was supposed to be outside but they moved it indoors because of the threat of rain. And of course it never rained but I am sure if we had left it outside, it would have rained all day. Better safe than sorry.
We kicked the show off the same as usual with Gary’s video and the impact video from GSF. Drake performed first and was awesome. Great crowd response and so many families. I had met a little girl in the elevator who was going on “date night” with her Dad and I convinced him to take her to the show. She went to dinner with her Dad first and then her Mom took her to the show. She said she loved it and had her photo taken with the group after the show.
We played the video regarding Gary’s son Mac’s music between the two acts tonight and will do that again tomorrow night at Ramstein.
Chapel Hart performed their usual high energy set and had almost the entire audience standing in front of the stage…dancing and singing along. The Meet and Greet line was exceptionally long again. Lucas (Drake’s tour manager) helped me with the photos in the Meet & Greet line and it moved quickly but everyone still got a personal chat with Drake and Chapel Hart. We had 220 attend theshow tonight which again is great for a base this size on Thursday night. They were telling me that they opened the gates to the public on July 4th this year. They had begged for entertainment from the various organizations but never received anything. But they drew 23,000 people with just a local band on one stage and no entertainment on a second stage. Will see what I can do to help them out for their 4th of July celebration in 2026.
The corn dog truck had stayed open to allow the entertainers to purchase something after their Meet & Greet ended. I was back in my room by 10:30 pm, worked, showered and in bed at 2 am. We have a 9 am lobby call to depart to Ramstein and praying the rain holds off.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1ST – PERFORMANCE AT RAMSTEIN AIR BASE:
Woke up to rain! Hoping it is only here and not Ramstein! Lobby call was at 9:00 am but I went down at 8:15 am to make sure I could get receipts for all the room payments. We reminded everyone of the lobby call time and to turn their keys into the front desk – not leave it in their rooms. We have sixteen people and everyone was on time except two people and everyone except 3 people did as requested and turned in their room keys. Tomorrow, I’m shooting for 100% on time and checked out when we depart at 7:30 am and are on a very tight schedule to arrive and perform.
The ride from Stuttgart to Ramstein was about what we expected. I’ve been to this base so many times there’s a sense of “coming home”. Our on base lodging is a large “hotel” with the second floor filled with a huge food court, base exchange, and numerous local shops. I believe it’s still the largest exchange in Europe.
The Deputy Director for the 86th Force Support Squadron – Jude Sorg –has been a friend for more than a decade. Lindsey met him at Spangdahlem Air Base years ago and I met him at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. He’s a great “leader”! Another long time friend – April – has worked with him for years and she’s here as well. Jude and Michael (who works for MWR) met us upon our arrival. They had our gate passes waiting for us and we were able to drive straight to lodging.
After getting rooms for everyone and dropping my bags in my room, I walked over to the venue to check out everything there. It had rained earlier but was sunny and the weather didn’t look quite so threatening. There are lots of food booths and bouncy houses tor the children.
Michael and I had lunch in the food court. Then, by the time we got everything sorted out regarding finding “restrooms” for the artists near the stage, backstage access, Meet and Greet details, etc., it was time for Chapel Hart to have their line check.
Drake did a line check immediately after Chapel Hart. We had a really great “emcee” for the event and the show kicked off at 6:30 pm with the GSF videos. Gary’s message got a great response, as usual.
The stage was set at the back of a large “lawn area” and it was packed with people sitting in lawn chairs or on blankets. At the very back was an area with bouncy house where the children could play while parents enjoyed the concert.
Both Drake and Chapel Hart got great responses to their performances. We had another long line for the Meet and Greet. For the first time, we had a dog join the meet and greet. We’ve had the security dogs before, but never someone’s pet. He was beautiful but definitely didn’t respond to “Sit”. LOL.
Final count was 1,100 attendees! Really good turnout. Comments were it was the best entertainment they have had at Ramstein in a long time.
The base exchange was closed but the manager walked us through and opened the gate for us. We depart for Grafenwoehr tomorrow…a long bus ride of 7 or 8 hours.
Jude
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2ND – PERFORMANCE AT VOLKSFEST AT USAG BAVARIA IN GRAFENWOEHR, GERMANY:
Lobby call was 7:30 am and everyone was on time! YAY. Progress….
I think most people slept all the way until Michael had to take a mandatory 45 minute break. It is amazing how many strict regulations the busses and trucks now have. We stopped at a truck stop and almost never found a parking spot. It was filled with trucks. Evidently trucks are not allowed to be driven on Sundays and Holidays and Monday is a Holiday.
We only had 1 ½ hours left on the drive after the break. I contacted Rachael and let her know when we were 30 minutes away. She came to meet us at the gate but we arrived before her. She told me everyone needed to go into the office and get their gate pass. But the Security Guard just waved us through!
We arrived at lodging at 2 pm and they were not expecting us until 3 pm. The sweet lady working the desk was all by herself and the room keys had not been pulled. The had to check all 16 people in one by one but it didn’t take too terribly long. I love that lodging is right across the street from the base exchange, food court and Shoppette. Very convenient.
Michael dropped us at lodging and then he went to the festival site. The plan was to park the bus at the festival and use it for a green room. I had asked Michael to send me some photos of the area when he arrived. He did and was pretty upset. There were no port-a-potties for the artists, there was mud everywhere, and even though he had on earplugs and noise cancelling headset, the music was excruciatingly loud. He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to get the bus out at 2 am the next morning so I told him to just bring it back to the hotel and park it. There was a small tent behind the stage where that would suffice as a green room.
The festival is called Volksfest and this is the 67th year. They are also celebrating the 250th Birthday of the Army this year. It is a 3 day event and move than 175,000 people are expected to attend – military and locals since they open the base up to everyone this year. It’s pretty “wild” !
A couple of the guys and a couple of the girls rode out to the festival site with us. Trea and Devynn had purchased “traditional” Germany dressed and they looked so cute! They went to ride the festival rides and I went to work getting everything set for the show to begin at 9:00 pm.
Colonel Flanagan – the Garrison Commander – came by and met Drake. I talked to him for a long time. He had met Gary in 2003 at Hunter Military Base in Georgia just before deploying to Iraq. He went on stage and made some comments and thanked the foundation for supporting this very important event for them. Then we showed Gary video and the GSF video and the show began.
The festtent was PACKED with people – over 3,000 in all. They poured out into the area outside the tent and they loved Drake Milligan and country music! My friend who is promoting a Bellamy Brothers concert in Germany in April came by and I was able to get him photos with Drake and eventually with Trea and Devynn. I went looking for the girls and didn’t realize the grounds were huge! I never found them and cell and wifi doesn’t work at the festival. I finally got a text to go through and they came backstage. They said the rides were much different than in the states. They played 3 songs during the ride instead of a half of a tune.
One of the absolute coolest things about the evening was when the walk-in music was being played, the Star Spangled Banner was played with Mac on harmonica. The entire 3,000 people stood and were singing along. It was absolutely hair-raising to see and hear it. I tried to video it but didn’t make it to the correct spot in time. So bummed.
Drake performed for 90 minutes and there was one guy in the audience who kept holding up a sign saying “I’ll sing with you”. LoL One of the staff members came up to me near the end of the show and said, “There is a guy who is a huge Drake fan and he passed away 2 years ago and wants an autograph”. I asked her to repeat it and she said the same thing. I asked her how we were going to get the autograph to the person if he had passed away. She said she would go back out and check!
She came back with a military bracelet and Drake autographed it after the show as best he could. I have heard of some interesting ways fans will try to secure autographs but this was a first for me.
We headed back to Lodging at around 11:30 pm. Drake’s group has to depart at 2 am for the Nuremberg Airport to fly to Nashville. I stayed up and went to the lobby to see them off. This was his and most of his groups first tour for the Military and I know it won’t be the last!
Jude
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3RD – CHAPEL HART PERFORMANCE FOR GARY SINISE FOUNDATION AT VOLKSFEST IN GRAFENWOEHR, GERMANY:
Started out as a beautiful day. I got in a 3 mile jog and had all afternoon until 5:30 pm to “work”. It had rained again overnight and it was actually “cold” outside compared to yesterday.
At 2:00 pm, I received a message from Tripit that our flight from Nuremberg to Amsterdam had been cancelled for our trip home tomorrow. Delta didn’t notify me until several hours later. I had been rebooked on a flight departing Nuremberg at 2 pm, arriving home at midnight via Amsterdam and Atlanta. Some of the others had been rebooked departing Tuesday instead of Monday. I knew I had to get everything sorted out before we left for the venue at 5:30 pm because WiFi and Cell service is “blocked” in that area.
We finally got everyone booked to depart at 6:45 am except for two of the Chapel Hart females. They have to stay over at a hotel connected to the airport until their flight on Tuesday. This meant having everyone depart for the airport at 2:00 am later tonight.
When we arrived at the festival, there was still quite a bit of mud in the backstage area from the rain and it was pretty cold! People were already waiting for the show to start at 7:00 pm. I can tell there are less people at the festival tonight. Evidently Sundays are always “lighter” attendance plus the forecast was for rain and it had turned so cold.
The Deputy Commander of the Garrison came by to meet the girls and was so appreciative of the Gary Sinise Foundation for providing the entertainment for both Saturday and Sunday nights.
They had a great performance and since there were too many people to try to have a Meet and Greet, we were able to depart for the hotel at around 9:30 pm. I don’t think anyone tried to sleep before our 2 am departure to the airport. Drake’s group did not have any problem with their flights home which was awesome since they had so much trouble flying into Norway.
MONDAY, AUGUST 4TH – FLYING HOME FROM GERMANY:
Left lodging at 2 am for a 1 ½ hour ride to the airport. We arrived a little bit early and had to wait for the counter to open. Said a sad good-bye to Michael Tietze (our bus driver). He’s simply THE BEST!
Danica and the 4 guys were on the same flight with me from Nuremberg to Paris. Then the guys were routed to Atlanta, Danica to JFK (ugh!) and I’m going through Detroit. Danica tried to get switched to my flight but the only seats left were in first class and was going to cost her $4,400 to upgrade! Ridiculous. While I was helping her try to change her flight, evidently one of the musicians was having a confrontation regarding not being able to carry on his guitar. There’s usually no problem carrying on instruments in the USA but overseas is a much different matter. He had asked for the check-in agent’s name and when she refused to give it to him, he started taping the conversation. Not a smart move in a foreign country. Nex thing I knew, 3 policemen were heading to the counter. Things calmed down quickly, he checked the guitar and we were on our way to the gate.
Our flight to Paris was on time and we all split to go our separate ways. My flight to Detroit was “problem free”. The lady across from me had 3 huge soft carry on bags and a rolling suitcase. When we got off the plane, it took her a long time just to organize everything so she could carry it off. Then her husband had put the blanket and pillow back in the original case and was taking it with him! The flight attendant stopped him and told him those items were not “gifts” and he couldn’t take them with him. They were holding up the line arguing about this and the flight attendant finally just told him to go ahead and take it but basically he was stealing the items.
Detroit flight was on time and I had less than an hour to kill once I cleared Immigration, picked up bags, cleared customs, rechecked my bags, went through security and made it to the gate. Flight to Nashville departed and arrived on time – as did my checked bags.
I saw one of the strangest situations ever at the Nashville baggage claim. There were at least 4 flights all arriving within minutes of each other and ALL the baggage was scheduled to come out on the same belt. One of the ground staff was pulling bags off the belt and instead of lining them up in the middle of the floor, she lined them up touching the conveyor belt, all the way around the belt. That meant people standing there waiting for their bags to arrive had to try to reach over huge suitcase to get their off the belt. When mine showed up, I just pushed 4 or 5 bags away from the carousel to the middle of the floor and was able to retrieve my bags. Weird!!
Special thanks to Gary and the Gary Sinise Foundation for supporting and making this such an amazing tour for the 4 military bases. And, of course, to:
USAG WIESBADEN – Rodney, Kevin, and Tammy and all the MWR staff and the Pentahotel staff.
USAG STUTTGART – Kacie, Ana, Angela and all the MWR staff and Stuttgart Army Lodging
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE – Jude, Michael, April and all the FSS staff and Ramstein Lodging.
VOLKSFEST – USAG BAVARIA, CAMP ALGIERS, GRAFENWOEHR – Tony, Rachel, and all the MWR Staff and Tower Barracks Graffenwoehr.
TOURNEE SERVICES – Michael — tour bus driver extraordinaire and oh so much more.
PALAST PROMOTION – Frank, Tamina and all the hard working Production Crew.
DRAKE MILLIGAN – Drake, Lucas and the fantastic band members
CHAPEL HART – Danica, Trea, Devynn and the amazing musicians and crew
LINDSEY CHANCE – For all her hard work in making this happen prior to and during!
But most important – thank you to the brave men and women serving so far away from home and keeping America Free. We can never forget their sacrifices. I loved that Chapel Hart “hugged” EVERYONE they met. When you’ve been overseas away from family for an extended period of time, “human touch” means so much! The girls hugged every single person in the Meet and Greet lines, too. It’s the Southern Way!!
Final Figures – 50,000+ over the three days. Less people than originally predicted because rain was forecast for all 3 days (and it happened!) and it turned cold on Sunday. Over 3,000 attending Drake’s performance on Saturday evening. Over 2,000 attending Chapel Hart’s performance on Sunday.
One of the highlights for me will always be seeing over 3,000 people standing and singling along to Mac Sinise’s version of “The Star Spangled Banner” (with Mac playing harmonica) at Grafenwoehr. When the song ended, everyone clapped and then a chat started for “USA, USA”. It was such a proud, patriotic moment for everyone.
Shhh…. I’m home for 3 weeks. Don’t want to jinx it.
Jude
