Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Seven country music artists and Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith performed on the Lakeview Middle School stage Saturday night for the 12th annual A Country Christmas with Susie McEntire.
Beckwith was there to recognize DJ Daniel on behalf of the state, but surprised at least some of the hundreds of people in the audience when he accompanied the singers with his guitar playing throughout the night.
DJ Daniel is the boy who was formally sworn in by President Donald J. Trump as an honorary U.S. Secret Service agent. He is battling terminal brain and spinal cancer, and law enforcement agencies nationwide have honored him by making him an honorary officer.
“I have the honor of coming up and just recognizing a young man that has really been an influence to America, to encourage America,” Beckwith said before being joined by representatives of Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales and Attorney General Todd Rokita.
“Tonight’s guest - very honored special guest - is a young man who has faced things most adults can not imagine, and he still shows up for the fight to encourage others,” Beckwith said of DJ Daniel, who is from Houston, Texas, and was accompanied by his father, Theodis.
Once DJ Daniel came out from backstage, Beckwith told him, “DJ, you’ve been an inspiration to the entire nation. You’ve been an inspiration to me, to the state of Indiana, and on behalf of the governor, the lieutenant governor’s office, we just want to say welcome and you are going to be sworn in to almost, I think, every law enforcement agency that we have in the state of Indiana tonight because that’s how much we believe in you and your leadership that you are giving to this great nation.”
To help with the swearing-in, Beckwith brought out Kosciusko County Superior Court I Judge Karin McGrath, Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith, KCSO Sgt. Doug Light, Warsaw Police Department Lt. Wayne Wilkie, Indiana State Police Capt. Chad Larsh, ISP Trooper Garrett Thorpe, ISP Trooper Tyler Vermillion, Indiana Conservation Officer Nathan Hooley and other officers from the sheriff’s office and Winona Lake Police Department.
“You can’t get any better than this. This is fantastic,” Beckwith said. “We have great men and women in law enforcement. DJ, they’re here to celebrate you, they’re here to stand with you as you are standing with them as well.”
McGrath told DJ, “On behalf of all law enforcement in Kosciusko County, it’s my extreme pleasure to present to you this plaque that they’ve prepared for you with all of the patches from agencies here in this county.”
She then read the inscription on the back of the plaque, which honors DJ’s courage and declares him an honory member of all law enforcement agencies in Kosciusko County. She followed that by administering the oath of office for law enforcement to him.
He stated, “Just warning you: If you’ve got a bald head, I’m coming to rub you!”
Beckwith then showed off the real Secret Service badge that DJ had received, with his photo on it.
“DJ, you’re making not just Kosciusko County and Indiana proud, you’re making America proud, so we love you, man,” Beckwith stated.
Country artist Jason Michael Carroll then sang “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood a cappella.e
DJ then took the microphone and said, “I want to thank everybody for being here. I ain’t going to lie, I wasn’t expecting this many people. I’m going to let you all slide on the bald heads because there doesn’t look like there’s that many.”
The concert had started with McEntire performing “Walking In A Winter Wonderland” and “Let It Snow.” After DJ was honored, the concert continued with singers Keenie, Bobby Tomberlin, Tess Frizzel, Carroll, McEntire and her husband Mark Eaton taking turns singing and performing their own songs, cover songs or Christmas classics. Matt McFarland, from Plymouth, Ind., and Beckwith accompanied the singers - specifically Keenie - on guitar.
On one of her turns, before singing Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Round the Christmas Tree,” Keenie said, “This is my fourth year here, and every year I say this is my favorite show of the year, and you pull out all the stops. Every single person here, they show up and they know everything about us, they give us hugs, they bring us presents. This is the best state. I’ll will just go out and say it. I love you all.”
At one point, Toys for Tots Coordinator for Kosciusko and Marshall counties Chris Cage came out and told the audience, “I just want to take a moment and say thank you, guys, very much. I know every year this show brings in a lot of toys and I can tell you that a lot of folks that collected this year, a lot of the organizations, were talking about how their donations are down, and we have over 1,200 kids on the list this year. And we will get them filled. The toys that you brought in tonight made me smile when I walked in because I can tell you, we need them. So thank you very much. Thank you so much for doing this year after year.”
To start off the concert, Leesburg Methodist Church Pastor Rob Seewald welcomed everyone to the celebration of the beginning of the Christmas season and to help Toys for Tots.
“We’ve got, I believe, 18 boxes filled with toys for Toys for Tots tonight,” he said, to a round of applause. “So I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and I want to thank you for all of those kids who are going to have a very bright Christmas morning.”
He invited everyone to his church Sunday morning to join them as Mark Eaton, McEntire’s husband, will present the message and Eaton and McEntire also were to share some music.
After a prayer from Seewald, American Legion Post 49 presented the colors and Alora Lafferty sang the national anthem.
