By Eric Connolly

Success does not come easy. American architect Frank Lloyd Wright summed it up it well when he said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”

By this definition, future success was assuredly approaching during the final Catholic Youth Coalition Convention planning meeting at St. Ann’s Parish.

The final meeting before CYC Convention took place March 27-29 in the Butte parish. In the weekend’s opening meeting, diocesan youth and young adult minister Doug Tooke made clear to the board of high school students the importance of the this year’s post-Easter convention.

“This is the first time ever, in the 32-year history of Catholic Youth Coalition Convention, that we’re doing this,” Tooke said, “This is the first time ever that we have been out of the Easter season. No convention ever has declared the risen Lord. You need to think about that and how big of a deal that is.”

The board took those words to heart, diving headfirst into what would amount to a 26-hour work weekend of planning and prep work for the 32nd annual CYC Convention.

The 60+ group of high school students, along with volunteers from various area colleges and parishes, took on the planning of the procession, the opening dance (a long-time CYC tradition), and the closing prayer and with a full board run-through of the entire three-day convention schedule.

Even with the astounding amount of work that was scheduled, a Christ-centered focus was maintained throughout with very moving evening prayer sessions by the volunteers. Everyone came together the first night for a moving candlelit prayer service based around the concept of laying down one’s burdens to be better suited to serve the youth of the diocese. Spiritual moments like these, alongside the evident happiness of a thriving youth board, made the weekend seem much more like a large gathering of friends than a weekend of work.

Though through all of the spiritual growth and fun, the purpose of the weekend was not lost on the CYC board, especially among its youth leadership.

Vice president of Operations Chris Vogl said of the weekend, “We’re really trying to get our mindset in the right place for this CYC, that we’re not doing this for us, we’re doing it for them.”

Vice president of Marketing Amy O’Leary spoke more towards the preparation of the group for the general day-to-day of CYC Convention and Board President Dustin Ackeret agreed. “We’re really puttin’ all our heart and mind into this convention,” Ackeret said.

The convention, carrying the theme of “Hallelujah, That Just Happened,” runs from April 17 to April 19 at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds in Helena and will certainly be very different from any previous convention.

Mariah Ramirez, vice president of communications for the CYC Board, wanted to leave to the youth of this diocese, especially anyone considering registering for CYC Convention, with one parting declaration.

“This is gonna happen and it will change your life, not just today, but forever, because that just happened, and we’re going to tell you about it,” Ramirez said. “It’s gonna be cool.”


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 4, April 17, 2009.