Road 2006

Road 2006

2006 Events . . .

JANUARY

Due to Beckie's new work schedule and Randy's health battle, only ONE gig again this month!

January 8th ~ 2pm

HUGELY successful FAM FEST!!!
Largest crowd! Best "Spirit"! Best Offering!
Our Guest's were the Crandall Brothers, and they come to "have church"!!! It is always a pleasure to sing with these men.
The Martin Family and the Emen "warmed up the crowd", then the Crandalls really brought the MEAL!!!

January 13th ~ 7pm

Bob and Randy "went on a date"!!!
We started at THE BASQUE HOTEL for a tasty Prime Rib dinner ... then went and Got Fed with Southern Gospel Music at it's BEST at the ERNIE HAUSE and SIGNATURE SOUND concert!!!

February 12th ~ 2pm

Due to a cancellation by our featured group, The Evangelmen and the Martin Family carried the show.
An impromptu "Joint Session" capped the day! All members of the 2 groups met on stage and took "requests" from the audience, then "arrangements" were done on the spot and the songs were presented.
That went over so well we may just add it to the end of every FAM FEST program!!!

March 12th ~ 2pm

For the second month in a row our featured group cancelled at a late date!!! This time we chose to make the appropriate announcement and cancel the concert!
This was Jay's 72nd Birthday...so Family Members, the Evangelmen, and the Martins met at Diccicos for Fun, Food, and Fellowship following the Morning Service!
We certainly hope "the old man" sings Bass for the Emen for YEARS to come!!!

March 25th ~ 6pm

BOY DID WE HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!
The Evangelmen were the guests' of The Victor Singers at a concert held at Richland Faith Assembly of God in Modesto, and those in attendance seemed to enjoy the entire program!!!
The Victor Singers hold an Annual "Talent Show" during the afternoon, with the 6pm CONCERT capping the day.
Beckie got up that morning with laryngitis so an "SOS" went out to Robii and he stepped in to carry the Tenor for the majotiry of the concert! Thanks son!

April 9th ~ 2pm

OUR GOOD FRIENDS THE JOHNSON FAMILY of Grass Valley SOCKED A HOMER as they sang us happy at the April FAM FEST Concert!!!
The Martin Family did their usual SUPERB job, and Robii again "filled in" for much of the Concert for Beckie at Tenor.
That same evening Beckie and I went out to Caruthers Full Gospel to hear THE JOHNSON FAMILY again, and were pleased to hear them present even a "different" concert to that "younger" crowd.
Mark my words: EXPECT GOOD THINGS from this fine Family Group!!!

April 12th

GRANDPARENTS AGAIN!!!
Randy and Beckie traveled to Kingsport, TN to become Grandparents for the Third Time as SAVANNAH GRACE BEENE made her appearance!!!
Proud Parents Brandon and Chrysta Beene welcommed the 7-pound 9-ounce "Beanie Baby", their first child.

April 28th / 29th / 30th

THE TENTH ANNUAL SOUTHERN GOSPEL FAN FEST was a huge success!!!!
Groups and Fans seemed well pleased as the 2006 event unfolded at the Save Mart Center on the campus of Fresno State.
A very good "report" is that the attendance was UP 20% over 2005!!!
The date of the 2007 FAN FEST has been moved one week EARLIER (April 20th / 21st / 22nd) which means it will be OFF the Clovis Rodeo weekend!!!
MANY MANY FOLKS asked why The Evangelmen were not on "The Best Of The West" lineup at the FAN FEST. There is a simple reason for that. When Dean Hopper called me and asked us to sing on the Saturday afternoon program, there were reasons where we felt it was right to decline the invitation!!!

May 28th and 29th

WILD WEEKEND!
We had two gigs set for this weekend, a Sunday morning at the Old Fashioned Day of the Sonora 1st Assembly of God Church and Monday as a part of the Gospel Fest at Turlock Community Auditorium.
But on Saturday evening Bob's wife Laura had what we first thought was a heart attack that understandably changed our plans for the weekend! Thankfully the malady proved to be a less-scary heartbeat irregularity.
We again extend our apologies to 1st Assembly for failing to show for their concert. In he 26+ years of Evangelmen Ministry this was the first-ever allout "no-show" to a gig!!! We were told it was all understood, and hope to reschedule.
Beckie and I attended the Monday event, and our choice friend Herb Henry invited us to sing "solos" during the finale with all groups on stage. It was a sweet ending to an otherwise disappointing chain of events.
Be it known that Laura is fine, and as the "youngest" of the Evangelmen troupe now better understands what it is to grow older and face health issues!!!

Randy and Beckie Go Home!!!

Way back in 1960 Randy went to Caruthers Full Gospel Assembly as a lad of age 10 when his Father took the Church as Pastor. He graduated from Caruthers High School and visited the church many times after moving to Rialto in 1968.
In 1978 Randy and Beckie returned to Caruthers Full Gospel to serve as Youth and Music Pastors. (Stephanie was 10 while there). In 1981 they transfered to begin what would be a 19-year Pastorate at Evangel Tabernacle in Fresno, where Randy retired in 2000.

During the years at Evangel Stephanie met and married Floyd C Ogle II, and Beckie and I gained another son. Floyd worked alongside me, serving 9 years as our Youth Pastor, and was in that position when my health forced my retirement. Floyd served as Associate Pastor at Evangel 2000-2004, when he was voted in as Senior Pastor.
To the surprise of all concerned, God ordained a "merge" of Evangel Tabernacle and Caruthers Full Gospel in 2005, thus Floyd and Stephanie became PASTORS of the church Randy has considered "home" since 1960. (it is a quirky thing to point out that his grandson Clete was age 10 at the time!).

This long story / background to share a major reason as to why, in June of 2006 Randy and Beckie decided to "go home", and began attending Caruthers Full Gospel Assembly of God. We bear no ill-will towards the people nor the Pastors of Family Christian Fellowship in Clovis. They are our brother, sisters, and friends. Bob and Laura continue to make FCF their Church Home.
With the move Randy chose to also move the host-location of the Evangelmen 2nd - Sunday FAM FEST Concerts.

June 4th ~ 2pm

The first FAM FEST concert at Caruthers Full Gospel was a huge success, as we saw the largest attendance of any FAM FEST concert to date!!!
Our Guests' were 4 HIS LOVE out of Sacramento, and Dan Roberts and the boys did a fine job!!!

June 20th ~ 10am

This date marked an event that The Evangelmen had just as soon NOT have sang at!!! Now that I have your attention let me explain that it was our honor to sing at the funeral of a friend, Eston Finney.
Eston was the 62-year-old Father of Tony Finney, Son-in-Law to our own Bob Noble. He was called home just after finishing a round of golf, and was actually still sitting in his golf cart. The family said he just "drove to the links in Heaven"!!!

June 27th - 29th

Not an Evangelmen event per se, but an event much enjoyed by the Chief EvangelMAN, Manager Randy Branson!!!
Randy was thrilled to spend 3 days with his "Little Brother" Lyndell as Lyndell attended a Music Seminar at Saddleback Church in Orange County.
The singular EVENT of the week was the Tuesday night BLACK GOSPEL concert featuring Babbie Mason, Darwin Hobbs, Morris Chapman, Mary Alessi, Ken Thomas, and perhaps 10 other artists!!! Randy has always considered Black Gospel as his "second-favorite" style of Gospel Music, so the night was a joy, and the time spent with "Little Brother" was also grand.
Lyndell is Minister thru Music at Landmark Christian Center in Porterville, and is again forcefully leading Worship after his own health - battle with a severe stroke 5 years ago! GOD IS GOOD!!!

July 9th ~ 2pm

The July FAM FEST at Caruthers Full Gospel set another attendance record!
Several attended due to the mention on the Don Smith's Gospel Favorites program that morning on KMJ Radio; others attended due to the very nice article about the same program on the front page of the LIFE Section of the Fresno Bee which ran the day before (in which the concert was mentioned); and many attended because our guests' were the Golden State Quartet!
Gary Williams, Allen White, Darren Ridings, and Randy Ivie are doing a splendid job carrying this fine name in Southern Gospel Music.

July 31st ~ Important News

This paragraph has a MILLION reasons it has to be written: but the CRUX of the message is that the current voices of the Emen are officially DISBANDED as of this day!!!
Back early in the year Bob told Randy that he was actually ready not to sing any more, but was continuing "because it means so much to you to sing".
For the past 2 years Jay has made the 2-hour-plus trip from Morgan Hill to Fresno for every practice and that far and further to every performance!
Since June of 2005 Beckie has been working 2 fulltime jobs, and sleeping whenever it becomes possible.
Add all these things to decisions made during the 2006 joint vacation of the Emen, and the final decision seemed to be made for all of us!
Within 24 hours after the decision was made the clearest reason of all became apparent when Randy was asked to assume a position to work with the Seniors at Full Gospel Assembly in Caruthers! With a committment to be at one church every Sunday morning, running around all over the State each Sunday became a problem!

It has been said over and again that God never closes one door without opening another. This is yet another example of the truth of that statement.
Randy has talked with his brother (Evangelmen founder Lyndell Branson) and his son (former Evangelmen Tenor Robii Branson) and they will be joining him on the September 2nd Gospel Funtastic date as The CLASSIC Evangelmen!!!

We say a huge THANKS to everyone who has supported our ministry the past 26 years, and ask everyone to continue to pray as The CLASSIC Evangelmen accept a few very select dates in the years to come!!!

August 10th ~ 7pm

DEBUT of the BRANSONS!!!
The place was Caruthers Full Gospel Assembly!
The event was a Concert by the DARYL WILLIAMS TRIO!
The "sub-event" was the DEBUT of the latest Randy Branson group, THE BRANSONS!
~~~Pastor Floyd announced the trio by saying: "I have been around this family for most of my life, but I have never heard this particular mixture of voices sing, so welcome to the world-debut of The Bransons!!!".
The audience clapped as Rev. Randy O. Branson, his wife Rebecca Jean Branson, and his son Randy O. Branson II (Robii) stepped onto the stage.
The trio first sang the old camp-meeting Hymn: "Heaven's Jubilee", which was appropriate with former Speer Family member Daryl Williams at hand (Speer Family founder G.T. "Dad" Speer wrote the song). Next came a medley of songs by Bill Gaither: "He Touched Me", "I'm Free", "It Is Finished", "The King Is Coming". It helped to have access to the soundtrack of this song made popular by The Beene Family! (for those of you who live in Rio Linda, Beene Family member Chrysta Beene is the youngest daughter of Randy and Beckie). Their final song was an up-tempo "Bluegrass" number made popular by CrossWay entitled: "Oh My My" (on which the "old man" messed up the second verse).
Comments were that the group didn't do a bad job at all with just 2 weeks of practice time. The most important thing was that it was a HOOT to keep on singing!!!

The rest of the night went even better, as the JIM DAVIS FAMILY did their usual superb job, then one of the BEST trios in the Nation took the stage! Of course I am talking about our friends the DARYL WILLIAMS TRIO!!!
It was a real treat to see Shannon Knight back alongside Daryl and Karen. It brought back many good memories of concerts held at Evangel Tabernacle where this "mix" of voices blest us so. The night was filled with POWER as this fine trio MINISTERED under a heavy anointing of the Holy Ghost!!!
The most FUNNY thing took place after the concert (at MIMI's CAFE) when Shannon delivered his rendition of: "A Redneck Easter Pagent". Words cannot describe!

September 2nd ~ 6pm

WHAT A DISAPOINTMENT it was when Randy was too ill to attend the 13th Annual Gospel Funtastic!!! ~~~ Lyndell Branson (Emen Founder) / Robii Branson (former Tenor for 8 years) / and Randy were posed to sing as the CLASSIC Evangelmen, and Randy was supposed to emcee the event.
The Herb Hebry Family and Golden State Quartet went on as scheduled, plus The Johnson Family Quartet were in the sudience, so they graciously came to the platform and sang a session!!!
Providing a place to sing for those WGSMA groups traveling North for their Annual Labor Day Concert was the core reason the Gospel Funtastic was formed ... so having the JFQt sing was more than fitting.