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The estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people attending World Pulse Festival ’06 on Saturday probably didn’t care what you called the 20th annual event sponsored by LeSEA Broadcasting.

They were there for the party.

Some of the biggest names in contemporary Christian music performed, including tobyMac and The Newsboys. Jeremy Camp, Salvador, Barlow Girl and Andy Chrisman also kept the mellow, multi-generational crowd rocking throughout the day.

Under skies that alternated between clouds dropping a little drizzle to sunshine heating up the place, umbrellas always came in handy outside LeSEA’s station grounds off of Ironwood Road.

Teens tossed beach balls and footballs, families sprawled on blankets and couples cuddled. But it was standing-room-only (and up-close-and-personal) near the stage.

Chrisman was the first headliner, with the sister-act Barlow Girls taking it up a notch after that.

“I want to see what you look like when you just let loose!” challenged drummer Lauren Barlow.

Christina Anderson and Sveta Miller, two 14-year-olds from Sturgis, needed no prompting. They had been on their feet, moving and clapping from the first chord.

The pair grinned and high-fived when “Mirror” started up and kept right on dancing.

A Pulse Festival veteran, Anderson knew that the artists sometimes sign autographs after their performances. So she and Miller made a beeline for the tent and were among the first to get Barlow Girl autographs, avoiding standing in the long line of hopefuls, she said.

Duane Brickel, 47, who drove a van load of family and friends over from Fort Wayne, said he enjoys all of the festival’s performers. He sees the event as a time for his family to bond and experience the Christian atmosphere.

Stanton Hinson, 17, visiting from Chicago, thought it was “cool” seeing the Christian faith in action. He was particularly interested in hearing the Latin rhythms of Salvador and tobyMac’s hip-hop.

Jeremy Camp took to the stage between those two acts, offering plenty of bass-filled rock. But Camp also slowed it down to talk about the faithfulness of God during hard times and of his own difficulties dealing with the death of his first wife from cancer.

A worshipful “Give Me Jesus” led the way for concert host, the Rev. Dave Sumrall of The Linc in South Bend, to talk to the crowd about turning to Jesus.

After a bit of a delay, tobyMac came out and surprised some in the crowd with his Mohawk hairdo, long-sleeved black shirt and striped tie. Despite not seeing him in a hat “as usual,” they quickly got caught up with his hit “Burn for You” and didn’t stop moving throughout the hourlong performance.

The Newsboys wrapped up the concert, complete with flashing lights, revolving drummer and drum set and blasts of air cooled with dry ice, said Angela Sumrall, public relations coordinator for the festival. An encore of their hit “Breakfast” caused a lot of cereal tossing by band and audience members alike, she added.

Potentially millions of people worldwide viewed the concert via television, radio and the Internet.

LeSEA spends between $250,000 and $300,000 on the festival as a form of community outreach, organizers said.

The first concert in 1987, billed as a birthday party for Pulse FM, drew a couple hundred people.

Plans already are in the works for next year — Michael W. Smith will perform.
By LYN STEGEMILLER

Music lovers will be given an unique opportunity to consider the issue when Franklin County native Bernie Choiniere returns to the area for two concerts at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Enosburg Falls on Sunday, Aug. 20 for two performances at 6 and 8 p.m.

Choiniere, who grew up in St. Albans and graduated from BFA, has garnered accolades for his upbeat recordings and inspirational concerts at venues ranging from Boston’s hallowed Fenway Park to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Along with performances at Christian music festivals throughout the country and frequent television appearances, Choiniere’s resume includes the 2003 Unity Best Modern/Altern-ative Song of the Year Award for “Emmanuel,” a selection from his critically acclaimed CD “With You.”

Although Choiniere earned a degree in musical theater from Boston’s Conservatory of Music, a career as a performing musician was almost inevitable. With a professional harmonica-playing father and keyboard playing and vocalizing sister, one could even argue that this path was in his blood.

“My dad and mom came from a French Canadian background, and music was part of our lives, part of our household,” Choiniere said earlier this month. “I grew up listening to all kinds of traditional music – reels, jigs, hoedowns, and waltzes to songwriters such as Eddie Arnold, John Denver and Frank Sinatra. We listened to a wide range of music – everything. I began by playing drums when I was very young and eventually taught myself to play keyboards. There’s still a heavy-hitting percussive element to my music. I’m not classically trainted, so I don’t try anything too fancy. I love to rock out, though, and I think we get the job done.”

Choiniere is quick to express his gratitude to a number of teachers and mentors whom he said made significant contributions to his development as a musicians. Verne Colburn, Donna Costas and Vicki Madison were major influences, and he singled out legendary Franklin County Orchestra leader Sterling Weed for praise: “He was my first music teacher, and I give great thanks to him. I was blessed to be one of his students.”

Destined though he may have been for the concert stage, the evangelical thrust of his music was far from a foregone conclusion. Al-though a foundation in the Catholic faith was an integral part of his formative years, Choiniere had essentially become indifferent to issues of religion by the time he graduated from high school.

“I was a ‘Doubting Thomas,’” he said. “Faith pretty much left my life. Even though I went through the motions, I didn’t sense that God existed, so I didn’t pursue it. I was a cultural Catholic, a habitual Catholic, but just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you a car. I didn’t believe in sin, and my moral code was pretty much ‘anything goes.’ I felt pretty good about myself because everything was comfortable; I was just kind of lazy.”
His perspective would change when “challenging experiences after college” led to what Choiniere described as a miraculous conversion: “I realized that I had fallen away from the church and compromised my values. I found myself way down in the dumps, suffering from small bouts of depression.”

The help Choiniere needed came from his own family.

“I have a cousin, Anne Marie, who is very devoted to the Blessed Mother,” he said. “She told me about the Marian appar-itions in places like Medjugorje, Lourdes and Fa-tima, and that interested me. Ba-sically, she challenged me and got me to think about a God who created and believes in us; a God who expects a degree of commitment from us; a God who relies on us to be His hands, His feet, His eyes and His ears. God used my cousin to get my attention, and the world became a different place.”

A better place, too, if Choiniere has his way.

“We’re all called to be a light in our faith,” he said. “Sometimes God calls us on a simple level to be active in our churches by serving the poor and needy. To quote Mother Teresa, ‘God doesn’t call us to be successful; He calls us to be faithful.’ When we are truly responding to God’s plans for us, we’re active … I think it’s very easy to sit back and be comfortable as Christians, but we’re all called to raise the bar and get out of the comfort zone in our faith journey.”

As the father of four young daughters, and in the role he finds himself in as a musician, Choiniere posseses a particular burden for the younger generation. But for him, that burden comes down to one factor: FAMILY.

“In an MTV age, (kids) are bombarded with all kinds of subliminal messages and ads telling them, ‘It’s all about me.’ God has called me to really attack that attitude through an emphasis on FAMILY. That’s an acronym: Forget About Me, I Love You!”

When asked if his success in the field of Contemporary Christian Music has ever inspired him to test the waters in the secular domain, Choiniere acknowledged that the thought has crossed his mind. “Yeah,” he said. “It might be cool to cross over, but I have a feeling I’m where I belong. I think God has more than enough work to do right here in the Catholic Church.”

To reinforce this response, Choiniere recalled a recent post-concert experience.
“After one concert, one girl came up to tell me she had really enjoyed the show. She asked for a CD; she said she didn’t have the money to pay for it right then, but that she’d send me a check the next day. I just told her to take the CD and not to worry about it. Two days later, I received her check in the mail, along with a note she had written. The note said, ‘Bernie, I just wanted you to know that when I came to your concert, I didn’t believe in God, but now because of you, I do believe. The night you came to our school, I was suicidal; you saved my life.’ I read that message, and I wept.”

Bernie Choiniere and The East Coast Band (Bob Enich on guitar, Bob Kirby on saxophone, and Heather Kirby on percussion and backing vocals) bring their music to Saint John the Baptist Church in Enosburg Falls on Sunday, Aug. 20, with shows at 6 and 8 p.m.. Advance tickets are $12.50, and $15 at the door. Children 12 and under get in free.

For more information, call Denise Bordo at 933-8368 or Kim St. Pierre at 933-4094.