Good morning S&A,

It seems like so much happens from one update to the next, and so is
the case this month. Since the last newsletter, Sara has appeared
in a live GAC telecast of the Opry, "Perfect" has risen to #2 on
Billboard, and the S&A have had their largest convention to date in
Valdosta, GA!

First things first, we'd all like to say congratulations to Sara on
her current chart run with "Perfect". As we learned from Matt in
Valdosta, Sara is one of only three females in the past two years to
land in Billboard's Top 10. Now it looks like she has a legitimate
shot at scoring the third #1 hit of her career!! Let's continue to
saturate the country stations in your area by calling in with
requests!

Soon thereafter, we can look forward to "Suds In the Bucket" making
its sprint up the country charts as Sara's third release from the
Restless album, with accompanying video soon to be shot. We also
can look forward to Sara taking home a Flame Worthy award April 21
(fingers crossed), winning an ACM on May 26 (fingers crossed), and
making several special appearances on CMT, including Total Release
April 9 and Ultimate Home II, premiering April 10. As always, read
all about this month's scoops on the News Page of Sara-Online.Net.

Now, for a few words about the Valdosta Convention.....

First of all, thanks to Don Lockart for being such a gracious host
to all of us as we came together from six different states and
converged upon his hometown for the show of all shows! Don handled
it all in stride, like just another busy day of managing waiters &
waitresses at the Barrel. He planned out everything from lodging to
pregame meals to parking to directions, etc., and best of all,
secured FANTASTIC seats for all of us! From our vantage point, we
could see all of Sara's facial expressions, which made the show much
more enjoyable, as we were able to pick up on a few minor "mistakes"
that those in the back probably missed. For instance, her bracelet
came off at one point during a song, and she briefly glanced down
and then made the funniest expression, like saying, "That wasn't
supposed to happen." haha

Sara has had a birthday since the last newsletter (February 5), &
according to remarks that she made from the stage in Valdosta, she
is still stuck on age 21. Go figure...haha! And, although she told
the crowd she was hurt that they didn't send her a birthday card to
help her celebrate the milestone of finally turning 21, she looked
over to the S&A section and said, "Well, I know you guys
remembered," like a teacher who is exempting her best students from
a lecture she is giving the rest of the class. That, along with her
dedication of "Saints & Angels" (the song) to our group made the
trip from TX worth it for me, and I'm sure for everyone else in our
group.

The trip was also defined by the fact that we were able to do so
much together as a group, from eating several meals to riding roller
coasters prior to showtime! Plus, we were all wearing our new
Saints & Angels t-shirts as a sign of unity.....and also
advertisement!! (Don had to remind me that there was actually a
photo on the back of the shirts because my eyes were only fixed on
the reference to Sara-Online when Julie first gave them to us!
LOL) I believe the advertisement worked, as we had a record number
of visitors in the following days, and a few new people who signed
the guestbook and said they saw us at the show. So thanks again to
Julie for allowing us to be walking billboards that Saturday!

I also want to thank one other individual who is responsible for the
logo on the front of the shirts. It has become our official emblem,
and we owe all the credit for that to Joe Fusco. He did a fantastic
job on the artwork which is now seen all over the site, on the
shirt, and even in our home, as we were fortunate enough to receive
his original draft. It belongs to all of the S&A though, and with
that in mind, we had Sara to sign and date the original Saints &
Angels logo in Valdosta to all of her S&A. (A thumbnail of the
autograph is on the main index page)

I truly hope that you've all read the reviews of the S&A who
attended last month's Valdosta experience, as they are all organized
together on the Fan Reviews page. After reading all of your
excellent reviews on the Valdosta experience, there are not many
stones left unturned as far as written descriptions go, so for my
part, I've channeled most of my energies this time toward putting
together a 40-page photo flipbook that visually represents most
every aspect of the largest Saints & Angels convention to date:

http://www.sara-online.net/saints_angels.html (Click on Valdosta
flipbook)

I hope the photos convey how that weekend resembled a group field
trip (without the bus!). From Friday afternoon to Saturday evening,
we all discovered that we get along just as well face-to-face as we
do over the internet…..perhaps better, considering that Julie
didn't
give Robert a virtual bloody nose! LOL

But, seriously, I do hope it is apparent by these photos that we all
had good, clean fun before and after the show as we enjoyed one
another's company. I tried to include just as many of those type
shots as I did of the concert photos because I really want to convey
what a fun time we had as a group. As I've said on many
occasions,
just being at a concert with the group makes it so much more
enjoyable because each person's enthusiasm spills over to the rest
of us. I feel that I have a fairly good grasp of each
S&A "testimony" of how they fell in love with Sara, and to see all
of your faces at the show & Meet and Greet is an experience I'll
never forget.

I'll also never forget Brandon screaming into his cell phone right
after our chance encounter with Sara in the Cracker Barrel parking
lot. I think a few hungry people got back in the car and left at
that point.....LOL. I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone
more excited in my life. Brandon responded as if he had won the
lottery. That's what a few minutes with Sara will do to you.

Other memories I'm left with include getting off the Cheetah
roller
coaster and hearing Sara`s voice calling out to us from across
the
theme park. Tiffany exclaimed, "She's doing her sound check!" so
we
raced across the park to see Sara effortlessly hit all her notes
while managing to follow Olivia around the stage. Valdosta proved
to me once again that family comes first in Sara's life, as
Ashley,
Matt, Kaelin, Olivia, and Ashley's little one were all on stage
for
the sound check, playing their part in this whole operation that
draws thousands every year, and still manages to be just a larger-
scale version of the Sara Evans Show that started when the Evans
family was still living at home. The tours have extended outside of
Missouri, and the venues are now stadiums and coliseums rather than
lodges and retirement homes, but the formula remains unchanged:
When one buys a ticket or a CD to hear Sara Evans, they get
practically the whole family. And Sara wouldn't have it any
other
way.

My other lasting memory, also from the sound check, was during the
warm-up for "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus" when Sara sang "sweet baby
girl….she found a brand new world." At that moment, Olivia was
standing on stage in front of her mommy, and Sara looked down at
her, as if to sing those words to her own sweet little angel. I
believe that moment crystallized what that song means to Sara, in
addition to providing me with a greater appreciation for the song,
as I will always visualize that moment when I hear BOAGB. If we had
left the park following the sound check, I still would have felt
that the 750-mile trip had been worth it after witnessing such a
personal moment between Sara and her daughter.

Well, those are just a few of the thoughts I took away from this
experience, but be sure to read everyone else's at http://www.sara-
online.net/fan_reviews2004.html#02_21_04

Until next time, cross those fingers that "Perfect" reaches #1, and
that Sara picks up her first Flame Worthy & ACM Awards!! A lot is
at stake in the next couple of months!

God Bless,
-Chuck