TTribune/Sentinelribune/Sentinel EEntertainmentntertainment FFriday,riday, JJulyuly 223,3, 22021021 13 Kingdom Bound artists return to WNY, though festival is postponed to 2022 Kingdom Bound welcomes Zach Williams & Stephen Stanley; for KING & COUNTRY to perform at BY JOSHUA MALONI racially, politi- “As soon as I signed a record GM/Managing Editor cally, spiritu- deal, we’re all excited. I’m going to For more than decade ally and be- Nashville and writing songs with now, a new type of musi- yond, that we some folks, and we’re getting ready cian has performed at haven’t had to go. And it’s like, ‘Nope. We’ve Darien Lake. You might the chance got to stop now (laughs),’ ” the want to label the offer- just to link Georgia-based singer said. “Which ings of these artists as arms and rub we didn’t stop; I kept writing on “Christian music,” but shoulders Zoom, and I did do some trips, and that would be inaccu- with people we wrote some songs and stuff.” rate – especially to those who look dif- Stanley recently released his who grew up with church ferent, or debut, self-titled EP. hymnals and/or well-in- think differ- “I started making covers on Tik- tentioned but somewhat ent, or act dif- Tok and Instagram, and they re- contrived (read: corny) ferent from ally took off,” he said. “And what I “Jesus jams.” us. And that’s saw happen was it wasn’t just this Yes, these performers partly the platform that just kind of landed are followers of Christ, function of live (Christians) in my lap; there was and, yes, they believe shows. You set a lot of nonbelievers that showed in the Bible; but you aside your dif- up. And I sort of felt this responsi- wouldn’t necessarily ferences for bility, all of a sudden, to be able to know them by their (mu- At left: for KING & COUNTRY’s Luke and a minute; you try and speak to them about Jesus sical) fruits. That is to Joel Smallbone (Photo courtesy of The Me- came together as well. dia Collective) • Above: Stephen Stanley say, songs from acts such (Image courtesy of Kingdom Bound Minis- because you “And obviously I love encourag- as Skillet, MercyMe, tries) love that song, ing the church and making songs Colton Dixon, Matthew or that band like that, but my heart is in a place West, Ledger and toby- Zach Williams will or that comedian, whatever it was; of ministry, you know, trying to Mac are on par with “sec- headline the con- that church service. And so, to reach lost people – at least plant- ular” music in every way. cert, which also fea- get back to that, I think it’s really ing a seed for maybe them to be Lyrics are hopeful, not tures Stephen Stan- important for all of us, really, as like, ‘Hey, what’s this all about?’ preachy, while offering ley, Nick Kish and a human race, to get back to this And I told the label that, and encouragement instead Reggie Dabbs. live presentation.” management, and just been like, of pushing condemna- for KING & At the Erie County Fair, “We ‘Hey, this is where I’m at. This is tion; and beats are rock- COUNTRY will be bringing a new show; we’ll the kind of music I want to make; ing, oftentimes accompa- Fronted by broth- be bringing a new design; we’re and these are the people I want to nying TV programs (even WWE’s ables on guidance, and continued ers Joel and Luke Smallbone, for bringing at least one or two new reach.’ ” “Monday Night Raw”). challenges presented to those KING & COUNTRY’s modern songs,” Smallbone said. Stanley said it’s been “awe- With Kingdom Bound booking holding large events in NY State, rock sound, sophisticated produc- He teased, “Provided that the some” getting out performing in more and more artists putting out we are heartbroken to share that tion and knack for fi nding the per- roof can hold them – spoiler alert front of a live audience. songs destined for stadiums, not despite exhausting all possible fect collaborators has made the – we’ll be bringing two, we call “Actually, before the pandemic, sanctuaries, the Buffalo-based options and pursuing all possible native Australians a fi xture on TV them elevators, or portals, that I played a little bit around like the ministry, in turn, found more and solutions, Kingdom Bound has talkers and award shows. will sort of go up and down from Southeast. But this is like my fi rst more people attending its four- been postponed and has been re- FKC took a different approach the bottom of the stage to the top time traveling with a band and day summer festival. scheduled for July 24-27, 2022 at to touring last summer, staging a of the roof.” playing music live – my own mu- Two summers ago, Market- Darien Lake.” series of drive-in theater shows. Read the full Q&A online at sic live,” he said. “So, everything’s ing and Communications Direc- Though the ministry was forced Though Joel said that was a blast, www.wnypapers.com. For tick- very, very fresh and new. … I tor Dave Bruno said, “Kingdom to postpone its festival another he is looking forward to more tra- ets or more information, visit don’t know what’s good, what’s Bound 2019 was a fantastic fes- year, that doesn’t mean Western ditional concert stages – and a re- https://www.ecfair.org/p/enter- bad. I just know I’m having fun.” tival that drew crowds in recent will be without perfor- turn to . tainment/gustograndstand. for Read the full Q&A online festival record numbers from 26 mances from those who fi t the “We’re still early in the whole KING & COUNTRY is online at at www.wnypapers.com. For states and three Canadian prov- mold of the modern-day Kingdom process of what it really means https://www.forkingandcountry. more information on “A Night inces to . Bound headliner. to hit the road properly. We just com/. with Kingdom Bound,” or for From the music on three stages, Grammy Award-winning for announced a tour, the ‘Relate’ fall Stephen Stanley tickets, visit https://www.king- to art classes, to speakers, to ac- KING & COUNTRY – fresh from tour ... and we’re announcing an- Talk about a rollercoaster of a dombound.org/july30. Stephen tivities for the whole family and collaborations with the likes of other one for later in the year,” he year. Not long after Stephen Stan- Stanley is online at http://www. more, 2019 was a great success.” Dolly Parton, Tori Kelly and said in a phone interview. ley signed with Capitol Records, stephenstanleymusic.com. He closed by writing, “We so Echosmith – will headline an Aug. Smallbone explained, “There’s the pandemic kicked in and life appreciate all those who attended 18 concert at the Erie County Fair. so many layers of loss from last was turned upside down. and look forward to what is to The Chapel will host “A Night year. But one of them is the fact come at Kingdom Bound 2020.” with Kingdom Bound” outside of that, while we’ve been walking Of course, there were no large- its Getzville campus on July 30. through so much socially and scale concerts last year, as the re- CLASSIC gion joined the world in working to fi ght the coronavirus. Hopes COUNTRY were high that Kingdom Bound The Special Islandwide Dispatch ATIN R G B

E •

• L WXRL RAMBLIN’ LOU TOURS •

Islandwide

•

E

•

C

•

7

7 • 7

•

would return in 2021 but, alas,

•

• Make tee times for

•

• YEARS •

• Beaver Island Golf Course D ispaispa ch at montanainternational.us “Travel with Friends” Safely Together - ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!! t Call The Hub at 716-800-3954 the following message was posted April 23, 2021 $1.25 ch WILL BE DELIVERED for cart status. 36 Pages 773-7676 Vol. 77/ No.7 Proudly Operated by NEWLY ADDED DATE) several weeks ago on the ministry Family Justice Center to open satellite center Oct. 6 - ( - Sprague’s Maple Farm - on Trinity Church Campus June 12 Islander Laura Mason tells her heart-wrenching story of domestic violence BY MICHAEL J. BILLONI Laura Mason, a petite woman who barely weighs 115 Turkey Dinner/Casino with $25 Casino Bonus website: August 6, 2021 pounds, was sprawled on her kitchen fl would have happened.” while her burly 185-pound drunken husband, oor aat U.S. 2:30 Army a.m. This occurred in 1998, and the abuser was her second veteran, was pulling her hair and punching her hard in the husband. Moments before he arrived home, Mason was stomach. When he savagely kicked her in the head with able to fi nally relax after putting their colicky baby boy his steel-toed work boots, the lifelong Grand Islander, for down to sleep. She was a nurse, had just worked another the fi rst time in this abusive marriage, seriously thought long day and was exhausted. Her husband’s home-based NEW “Kingdom Bound is more than she was going to die. business had fallen on tough fi Aug. 31 & Sept. 1 - (2 days) Finger Lakes/Skaneateles Boat Cruise/ “I began fl ailing my arms in the air searching desper- spending his evenings out drinking nancial with times friends. and he was • Expanded local ately for a way to get him to stop. Eventually I found his “Why am I not surprised!” he yelled, as the refrigera- ‘sweet spot’ that brought him to his knees and gave me tor door slammed. Mason crept downstairs to the kitchen enough time to get up and call 911, as I feared for my and as usual, he was intoxicated. “I should have known life,” Mason quietly explains while seated in a comfort- better, but I did it anyway, I asked him where he had been just a festival, it’s a family. When able chair in the family room of the Grand Island home and to please quiet down as I had just put Christian down she shares with her signifi to sleep and I was exhausted,” she explains in a hushed Belhurst Castle/Wine tour & tasting Her children are Alexandra, cant 29 and other, Christian, John Tommasulo. 23. Petting tone as her eyes moisten. news coverage Lucy, her cat, she continues: “When the Erie County Sher- “How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t like iff’s deputies arrived, I knew all of them and I was immedi- that kind of cheese,” he screams angrily. ately embarrassed and regretted making the call.” “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she says as the last notes rang out as Skillet Her husband, whom she fi she opens the refrigerator, pulls out the cheese and waves a 10-year marriage and four-year nally divorcedcourtship, in was 2005 hand- after it in his face. “This IS American cheese.” cuffed and placed in the sheriff’s vehicle. One of the depu- “No, you dumb ass, it is not,” he screams with a grin on Sept. 14-16 - Ohio Amish/2 Shows/Antiquing/Flea Mkt./Buggy Ride - All things Amish! ties asked if she wanted him to notify her father, a former his face. “I wanted to smack that grin right off his face,” Niagara Falls and Grand Island police offi she says. “I don’t understand what the difference is, and • Special feature stories “I replied with a fi please let’s not discuss this now. You are drunk.” cer. ashamed of myself and rm my ‘No.’ father,” I was she embarrassedcontinues. “Then and He persisted mumbling under his breath so as to be fi nished the fi nal song of Kingdom I began to think, if only I had stayed upstairs, none of this antagonizing and condescending. “Please be quiet!” Ma- son pleaded through gritted teeth. More words were ex- changed, and one thing led to another before he attacked Sept. 28-Oct. 4 - Memphis/Graceland/Nashville/Grand Ole Opry Laura Mason inside the FJC Satellite with a poster for the wall. RIVER LEA RENOVATIONS: What’s old(Photo by Michaelis new J. Billoni) again Bound 2019, little did we know • Previews See FAMILY continued on Page 20 Nov. 8-10 - Amish Holiday-Lancaster, PA - “Queen Esther” & Christmas Show how special it was to be gath- • Wrap-ups Nov. 14-21 - WXRL Caribbean Cruise ered together in that moment. • Over 9,000 in homes Nov. 26-30 - Nashville Country Christmas - Opryland Hotel/Grand Ole Opry A 1901-02 hotel register from the Bedell House bears the fancy signatures of guests, including Ever since that day, our team has Alma Hoff, the sister of the last private owner of River Lea. (Photo by Karen Carr Keefe) STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN An iconic image of the 1877 Bedell House, a 5-foot by 4-foot lithograph made in the 1960s, is CARR KEEFE Island Historical Society. currently on display at the Grand Island Memorial Library. (Photo by Karen Carr Keefe) A fresh coat of paint and a reinventing of In January, Shamrock Painting bright- a room in tribute to a revered Island family Beaver Island State Park’s beautiful man- Oak Ridge Boys Dinner Show/Gen. Jackson Showboat ened the walls and trim of the dining room, • US Mail Delivery has done wonders for River Lea, the home, sion was once owned by Lewis F. Allen, the parlor, the stairwell and the upstairs tory of Grand Island’s Bedell family and its headquarters and museum of the Grand uncle of Grover Cleveland of Buffalo, who worked tirelessly with the singu- hallways, getting River Lea ready for a new patriarch, Ossian Bedell, with a collection served as U.S. president in the late 1880s. chapter in its history. unparalleled in Western New York. Move over, Grover! Historical Society President Curt Ne- Redeem this coupon for a Now that mansion also captures the his- Bus pick-ups in N. Tonawanda & West Seneca See RIVER LEA, cocktail or mocktail at TheFREE V'Randa! signature continued on Page 14 lar goal of reuniting our Kingdom ‡)RRGPXVWEHSXUFKDVHGDWWLPHRIUHGHPSWLRQ Located at Beaver Island State Park ‡2QO\YDOLGIRU7KH9 5DQGD6LJQDWXUH&RFNWDLO ‡0XVWKDYHSK\VLFDOFRXSRQFXWIURPWKHSDSHUIRUUHGHPSWLRQ Open 4 pm Friday, Saturday & Sunday this weekend. When you place your ad ‡([SLUHVHQGRIVHDVRQ‡1RFDVKYDOXH As soon as the weather allows, we will be open 7 days a week. Bound family once again. Reservations can be made at montanainternational.us montannaia ntn erna Proudly Operated by in all NFP papers, you get For Home Delivery of the 297-3811 “Due to the requirements, vari- Island Dispatch Stay Healthy Joan Dlugokinski NOW OPEN Call 773-7676 C: 716-310-4238 Bulk Mulch, Stone and Topsoil Client Focused...... Results Driven. Islandwide’s extra circulation Available for Pick Up or Delivery! 3RUWHU5RDG‡1LDJDUD)DOOV‡ZZZZD\VLGHQXUVHU\LQFFRP Use a professional NYS Lic. Asso Howard Hanna Realc. EstateR.E. Broker Services 2139 Grand Island Blvd., Grand Island Ramblin’ Lou Family Band at no additional charge! DON’T MISS A THING! 3 Generations! Go to our website WNY’s 1st Family of Country Music - ² ADVERTISERS: CALL NOW Aug. 11-22 - Erie County Fair - Hamburg, Appearing Daily 6:00-7:15pm (except 8/17 & 8/18) “Avenue of Flags” Stage - near Gate #2 to reserve your advertising space! Dec. 11 Ramblin’ Lou Family Band WXRL/Christmas Show - Live Radio Broadcast wnypapers.com (Show 11am-1pm Luncheon) Turkey Dinner at 1pm NIAGARA FRONTIER PUBLICATIONS Tickets $39.00 each - Classics V Banquet Ctr. - Amherst, NY Local News, Stories, Island Dispatch • Grand Island PennySaver Classifi eds, Coupons, Niagara County Tribune / Sentinel Visit WXRL.com for more details. Service Directory! 773-7676 wnypapers.com Listen to WXRL 24/7 on 1300AM/95.5FM & Streaming LIVE @ WXRL.com NIAGARA FRONTIER PUBLICATIONS For a FREE brochure, call 716-681-1313 Mon-Fri 9am-4pm