Weekend Update from Unity Quartet

Happy New Year! We did something that we had not done in a number of years, sang out the old year and sing in the new. We were at Midway Baptist Church in Trussville, AL on New Years eve. We had a good crowd and got to meet some new friends and spend the remainder of 2011 with some of Unity's friends and supporters. The Carroll Family were singing with us, they are a family Bluegrass Gospel group from the Gadsden, AL area. I had a great time listening to them play as they have some outstanding musicians in the band. This will be the final new years service in 56 years for this church, they have decided to close the church and sell the property. It is sad to see a church going out of business. The year, 2011 was one of change for Unity. We saw James Brown leave to become full time care giver for his wife, Darlene. Doyle McLain retired and that meant we also lost our administrative assistant, Mary McLain. As one leaves the group, God always sends a replacement. We welcomed Eric Cookston on as our full time piano player, as we move forward You will see his role with the group expand. We also got his wife, my sister, Linda Cookston as our new administrative assistant. We welcomed Ron Hughes back from some health issues and he is stronger than ever. Our final addition was Jerry Atnip as our new bass singer. Jerry made his debut on new years eve and did a fantastic job. We also saw the final payment made on our bus. This had been a major expense for many years. We are looking to go back into the recording studio in early 2012 to record a new CD project. We thank You for your support and prayers. We look forward to seeing you all soon. May God bless you and your family in 2012.

December is upon us and the new year is headed our way like a snowball rolling down hill. I hope that you all have enjoyed a great Thanksgiving and that your Christmas Season is a peaceful one. As Unity gets ready to wind down our 2011, we want to reflect and to thank each of you that have came out and supported us this year. We have had a great year of seeing souls saved and lives encouraged. The month of November showed us God's power week after week. The alters were full and the spirit was moving in such a way, it was a great experience for each of us to be a part of these singings. We want to welcome a new member to the group, if you have been around gospel music very long, your no stranger to Jerry Atnip. Unity is working to get into studio in the coming weeks so that we will have a new project to kick off 2012. We will go into studio this weekend for pictures for our new web page that is also being built. One final blessing I'd like to share, WE MADE OUR LAST PAYMENT ON THE BUS IN NOVEMBER!!! Unity would like to welcome our newest member, Bass Singer, Jerry Atnip. Jerry has been married to his wife, Joanne for 53 years. They have one son and one daughter, 6 grandchildren and has been blessed with having them all saved and attending church regularly. Jerry sang with his one and only quartet, The Countrymen Quartet for 30 years. They traveled a 12 state region ministering and have seen more than 400 souls saved over the years. Jerry is a true quartet man, loves this ministry and truly feels that God has placed him with Unity. We recently sang at a catholic church in Huntsville. Jerry had a friend give him tickets to the concert, he attended and just happen to run into Unity that night. We do not believe in coincidence or chance, God had a hand in arranging this meeting. Jerry is looking forward to being back on the road with the Unity Quartet and meeting our friends and supporters we have come to know and love through the years. Jerry and the Unity Quartet look forward to a great 2012 and seeing many souls saved and encouraged. Dan Adkins

Unity has a couple of busy weeks to start the month of October. We have covered a lot of miles and got to see a lot of old friends and make new ones as well. This last weekend we were in Birmingham, Bridgeport, Scottsboro and Rainsville. Having four singings in the same weekend was a challenge but were glad we had the opportunity to do them. We got to go to Charlie B's in Bridgeport, AL for the first time. WHat a nice place to eat and sing. I saw so many folks that I had not seen since I was just a kid. On Sunday morning the Church of God Union Assembly had standing room only as we sang for their homecoming. On Sunday evening we were at Victory Baptist Church and again had a packed house. Saw the plans for the new church and it is going to be beautiful. Unity will be traveling to Gardendale and Bessemer, AL this coming Sunday. We will be singing at a couple of churches we have not gone to before. We would love to see you come out and be with us in one or both services. I have the names and address listed below. If you can't come be with us, pray for us and come see us when you can. 10-16-2011 06:00 PM McNeil Baptist Church 1720 13th Street North Bessemer, AL 35020 Contact: Betsy George 256-426-0106 10-16-2011 10:00 AM Lord's Chapel Homecoming 2640 Snow Rogers Road Gardendale, AL Contact: Charles Goodwin 205-681-6989 Dan Adkins

We trust that your Monday is off to a good start and that your weekend was a great one. It is hard to believe that Fall is upon us already. Get those turkey basters and pumpkin pie ingredients as Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. I am sorry that it has been so long since my last update. With my job sending me all over the country and then singing on the weekends, it has been difficult to find the extra time to communicate. We have traveled to Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and all over Alabama since my last update. We have seen a number of moves made either being saved or just getting closer to God. As the old song says, "Just one more Soul" and that is what keeps those wheels turning. Your prayers are always appreciated as we log those miles spreading the good news. On Saturday evening, we were at Randall's Chapel Methodist Church in Scottsboro with Image and Alversonboyd. We had a packed house and our emcee Hal Nash and the church made us all feel so welcomed. It is always such a blessing to hear those groups and to be ministered to by their songs. After the concert, we all, along with several good friends journeyed over to Ruby Tuesday's to enjoy a meal together. We considered a silent auction to see who would pick up the final bill, but no one made a winning bid :) We had some great fellowship and look forward to our next singing together. Right now we are looking to be together again some time in January 2012. As I close today, I want to thank Doyle and Mary McLain for their years of service to the Unity Quartet. As many of you know, Doyle has made the decision to retire. He has talked about it for several months now and is under going treatment for insomnia. Doyle had been with the quartet for many years, he has been the emcee and bass singer doing a great job. Mary has just as many years of service. She has been the hardest working member of the group keeping the behind the scenes things rolling along. The quartet will greatly miss both of them. Keep them in your prayers and also pray for Unity as we start the search for a new bass singer. Change is the hardest part of being in a group, but God always has a plan for us. The group will continue to spread the word through song. To all of our friends, we pray for your support and covet your prayers as we enter a new phase in our ministry. God Bless! Dan Adkins

August is upon us and my oh my is it HOT! After a week long vacation in San Diego with daily high temps in the low 70's, wearing a jacket in the evenings, I tried to talk the guys into moving Unity to California but they weren't having any of it! I reflect back to childhood when we didn't have AC in our home...I was either well conditioned or just didn't know any better because I am not sure I could survive that way today. While I was on vacation, Mark Carlisle filled in with the group at Rose Road Church of God where Darlene and James Brown call home. The guys all told me that they had a great time with Mark. I am forever grateful for him taking his off weekend to fill in for me. This weekend we were at New Sardis Baptist Church in Powell on Sunday morning. We had a great time at the Fifth Sunday singing with pastor George Hughes. Doyle, James, George and I sang the old Cathedrals favorite, "There is a Haven" We ran over it once before the service started and got a number of compliments on how well we blended together. On Sunday evening we were just 12 miles away at Pleasant View Baptist Church in Dutton. We had not been here in a couple of years. It is always good to go back there and see folks I have known since I was just a boy. The service was one of those sweet, sweet spirit services where there were shouting, crying, praying and seeing the alter filled with people three times in one service is always very special. We will take this weekend off to be with our families before heading off to Kentucky for a packed weekend of singing the following weekend. We haven't been there in a year and are looking forward to seeing some old friends once again. Keep the quartet in your prayers. James is really stretched right now with Darlene being very sick and it is really tough on him to leave her at home. James will not be making the trip to Kentucky with the group. We are searching for a fill in for that weekend so if you know one that can do the tenor part for that week, just let me know. Pray that Darlene's health will continue to improve. Thank you all for your prayers! Dan Adkins

Happy Birthday America, today is the 235th birthday for the United States of America. Let's all take a moment to thank God for allowing us to be born here. Think of all the places around the world where you could have been born, God richly blessed you by allowing you to be in a free land where you can serve God openly and freely. A special thank you to all the Veterans, present and past. These men and women have signed up to protect and serve this nation knowing it could cost them their lives to protect ours. Our country has so many things that need fixing, but we are far better off than any other. As we all enjoy the long weekend and for many of you, vacation. The great food and company of our families are what makes these weekends and holidays special. I want to thank all the folks that came out this weekend to be with us. On Saturday we were at the Stevenson park for July Jam. It was HOT!!! We all got a little sun and learned to appreciate singing indoors! The hospitality of the folks from Stevenson was nothing short of great. Sunday we were at Mountain Lakes Resort and Little Mountain Resort over in Langston, AL. It was so great seeing both chapels filled to near capacity crowds. The services were great, a sweet spirit was in both places. Image joined us for the evening sing and my how we enjoyed listening to them again. We owe a special thanks to Dorris Stockman for taking the quartet to a GREAT lunch at Bruce's in Guntersville. We so enjoyed her and our friends that went with us. I had THE best fried chicken ever...way too much of it. While I am updating you on our weekends, let me go back to last week and again thank Image and Alversonboyd for joining us at the Gathering Church of God in Scottsboro. If you missed it, you should have been there. For all those that were there, you know what a blessing we all received. We are looking at doing another one just like it in September so stay tuned. Thank you to MS. Melba Walker for the awesome paisley neck ties. They are going to look great with our black suits! Please continue to pray for Darlene Brown, James' wife. She is back in the Albertville/Boaz hospital. She has really had a tough time over the past few months. Remember James as well, he is stretched thin at times. Also, Ron Hughes had biopsy done on his vocal cord and the results came back negative. We are happy that it was not cancerous. Finally, to the VERY nice ALABAMA STATE TROOPER that pulled me over for speeding on my way home on Sunday evening, THANK YOU for only giving me a warning! I promised him I would slow down :) Dan Adkins

Happy Monday to everyone. I hope your weekend was a great one. Unity was off this weekend, taking some time with our families and time to get our equipment all tuned up. It has been at least 3 years since our system had a good cleaning and tune up. Doyle hauled it to Huntsville last week so it should be good as new when we get it back next week. Last weekend we sang in Albertville at the Union Assembly Church of God homecoming. We always enjoy seeing all the fine folks and having fellowship with them. On Sunday evening we were at Rose Road Church of God which is James and Darlene's home church. We had a few special visitors there, James daughter, BeverLeigh and my daughter, Hayley each joined us. We also got to see Ron Hughes, had not seen him in some time but he came out and had a great service with us. Ron joined us on stage to sing "Shadow of his Wings" which is my favorite song he sings. Ron is scheduled to have surgery on June 23, 2011 to remove a mass on his vocal cords. Ron ask me to make sure and ask for everyone to remember him in your prayers. We did a new song for the first time, "If you knew him" which is a very powerful song. We are working hard to be able to do it on June 25th. I want to remind everyone about our upcoming singing on June 25, 2011 at the Gathering Church of God in Scottsboro. We are looking forward to having Image and alversonboyd with us for an evening of gospel music. Howell Nash a great friend of ours will be doing the emcee work for this event. Admission is FREE and will begin at 6:30 PM sharp. I'd plan to arrive a little early as we are expecting a full house. If you can't be in service with us we ask that you remember to pray for the groups that will be singing. Also want you to pray that we will see souls saved at this singing. We are expecting some folks that need Jesus in their lives. So don't forget to pray that each group will be used to touch someone. If you have questions, you can contact any of the Unity guys via cell phone. I will include them at the bottom of this post. Don't forget FATHER'S DAY!!! Dan Adkins

I am sending this Unity Quartet update in hopes that everyone is having a great week. I guess that since your reading my update, the predictions of the rapture taking place last week didn't happen. This has been the talk on radio, TV, internet and especially facebook over the past couple of weeks. I pray that all of those who have had fun at the expense of the folks that were telling us that the date way May 21, 2011 understands that they should at least take note and get their life in order because the day is coming and will happen at a time when we are not expecting it. "What a day that will be" Unity has had a couple of action packed weekends in a row. We spent the entire weekend in Georgia singing in Braselton, Newnan and Lavonia and then this weekend we were at High Top and two in Jasper, AL. God sure has been blessing us along the way. We have seen the alter full numerous times and have had some of those old camp meeting type singings. With the addition of paino and bass guitar has allowed us to go back and sing songs from the old "Red Book". The response has been more than we expected. We are doing a medley of old songs, some slow and some upbeat. It is nice to be able to fill request from folks by using live music. Just this past Sunday, James Brown did a moving rendetion of "What Heaven means to Me" which was a favorite of mine as a young man. A dear old saint, Betty Posey used to sing that song and folks would shout down the house. She is now experiencing it from Heaven's point of view. James did a great job and will no doubt be doing this song again. We have made a lot of new friends over the past few weeks and look forward to more this weekend as we go to Antioch Baptist Church at Fyffe, AL on Sunday morning at 11:00 AM and then to Bethsadia Baptist Church in Cullman, AL on Sunday evening. I want to give thanks to God for protecting the group. We sang in Lavonia, GA last Sunday evening and once we finished singing, Randy thought he smelled someone burning wood while we were changing clothes on the bus. We had no idea that a wooden tool box full of towels had got next to our generator exhaust. The bus followed me to the interstate and then began the journey home. After traveling one exit, they saw a sign for a good price (Under $5 per gallon) for diesel fuel. As they pulled up to the pumps, a trucker came running up to tell them that the bus was on fire. Doyle and James jumps off and opens the bay door and was able to pull the tool box away from the generator and extinguish the fire. This sounds commical I know but... Less than 4' away was a 20 gallon plastic fuel cell that was almost full of unleaded gasoline. Had we not pulled off where we did and God sent this trucker to alert us, this fuel cell could and would have exploded and the Unity Quartet would have gone up in flames literally. We always ask you to pray for us and for the bus to keep on keeping on. We know that your praying because it is clear to each of us that God's hand has been protecting us. PLEASE, continue to pray for us that not only will we have God's protection when were traveling but that we will continue to see the alters filled every time we get to sing his praise. We look forward to seeing you soon. Dan Adkins

So much has happened since I last sent out an update. If you are reading my post, please pause once again and thank God for his many blessings in our lives. I received so many emails/Facebook post or phone calls from so many of our dear friends around the country. I have tried to let everyone know that each of us, while affected directly or indirectly have all been touched by the Tornados that ripped up so much of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia. As for the quartet, none of us took direct hits but we all have family that has been without power and in some cases water. We hear of all the devastation and the lives forever affected by death and destruction. We can only pray, and ask that you pray for all the families that are struggling to put the pieces back together. We look forward to seeing you all soon and have a chance to worship together. Dan Adkins

As March draws to a close, I wanted to update you on the group. Fresh off a week off, we were back at it this weekend. We started our weekend at the Huntsville Downtown Rescue Mission. I was traveling all week with my job and unable to attend so my buddy Mark Carlisle filled in for me. The guys enjoyed having a good lead singer for the night and the singing was a big success. Millie Bonham always does a good job of having a good crowd. Bloodline was there with Unity and the guys greatly enjoyed the evening including the dinner at Shoney's afterwards. James debuted a new version of "First Day in Heaven" where he proved that he could sing it forward and backwards :) We missed Eric, our piano player as Home Depot made him work all weekend since he had been on vacation last week. I rejoined the guys in Bremen, AL on Sunday morning at Johnson Grove Methodist Church where we celebrated Maurice Drummond's 75th birthday. We got a little bit of a late start as Randy set him alarm clock that was not yet on Daylight savings time, thankfully Doyle woke him and he was able to FLY the bus to Bremen arriving only about 10 minutes later than planned. We enjoyed the morning service and the lunch that followed. We had a lot of our friends come in for the afternoon sing and had just a great time. The pastor and members of the church made us feel so at home. We can't wait to come back to fellowship with them again. I want to offer a special thank you to MS. Melba Walker for having us in her home after the singing for dinner. MS. Melba is a gourmet cook and always goes out of her way to take care of the quartet so that we have plenty of snacks for our trips. She also gave each of the quartet a new neck tie for the spring. We are very thankful for all of our friends.