This Memorial Day morning, we woke up to much rain, but it certainly didn't dampen the spirits of the citizens of Marion, Virginia! We had the honor of being the Grand Marshalls of the Marion Memorial Day parade and proudly rode with Gold Star families. Even though it was pouring, the town came out and stood under every awning, in every car and beneath every umbrella!  A woman on the sidelines even ran up to Dan and gave him her pink flamingo umbrella to use during the parade, adding to the festivities! 

We went back to the VFW after the parade and sang a few tunes for those who came out for the Memorial Day service. We said goodbye to all of our buddies, and headed to the courthouse downtown.

Dan also got his final photograph of the 50 States Tour blog of the flags, a perfect final shot to complete taking one photograph in every state since January. If you're near High Point, please go visit the Dan Beckmann Photography gallery at the High Point theatre, and if not, be sure to visit his FACEBOOK PAGE to see all 51 shots of this amazing tour. 

As anyone knows who's been following the tour, we had an amazing partnership with the Quilts of Valor and quilted a veteran in every single state. But we had one more quilt to give away.... a veteran who means the world to us. Billie Waddell. Billie is a Marine through and through, and has supported us so much along the way. We love him and it was an honor to present him with this Quilt of Valor from a grateful nation. 

Tonight, we went to the Reasoners house, who hosted a goodbye bonfire for the team, complete with a Letters From Home cake. We took our final Polaroid (we took one in every state and added them to our 50 States Journal filled with info on each place we went), and shared memories from the past 4 months. 

At the end of the evening, Erinn presented the team with a map of photographs from each state from their journey. Just a glimpse of the memories we have had together made us all realize the mass of what we had accomplished together. 

Later this week, we'll share stats and more pictures from tour. We have so much to share. 

For now, we know that there will never be another experience quite like this tour. 

We're so glad it happened. 

And we're so happy you joined us for it. 

Today was an extremely emotional day. 

Our FINAL stop of the 50 States Tour took place at the Lincoln Theatre in Marion Virginia. When booking the tour, we knew we wanted to have our last stop in Marion, as it's been a second home for so long in the history of Letters From Home. This patriotic wonderful town shows up to support each and every year, and we have performed at the Lincoln 8 years in a row. We were thrilled to see so many familiar and new faces in the crowd that was standing room only! 

The audience was filled with all ages of really supportive and wonderful people... kids who were really delighted with the show, friends we have known for years who drove up for the weekend, folks in Marion who have seen Letters From Home grow over the years, amazing friends who have followed Letters From Home to several shows across the country and volunteered to help Myra, friends from the American Duchess, and our wonderful, awesome and incredible supportive parents whom we could not do this without (and of course we wouldn't even be born without)! We are truly lucky to have so much support all over the country. 

After load out, we went to the traditional "after party" at Pizza Perfect in Marion, where they had a celebratory cake for our tour! Our great friend, Bob had "We did it" shirts made for us, and we celebrated with a photo while proudly wearing them. 

Then, Mayor David Helms presented Erinn & Dan with the "Key To The City". We have always felt that Marion is a second home to us, and they have such a beautiful community! 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to celebrate as a team with some wine that was in our Quilt of Valor gift basket. :) 
Tomorrow we'll be out at the Marion Memorial Day parade, so we hope to see y'all there for one final celebration with our team! 

After a long day of Spring Theatre auditions for Erinn, Dan, Grace and Tyler, the team had dinner at The Porch in Winston-Salem and traveled to Marion, Virginia! 

We chose Marion as the last stop of our 50 States Tour because this is a town that is near and dear to our hearts! The Lincoln Theatre has hosted Letters From Home for 12 years, and it has always been a special performance. 

The American Legion and the Town of Marion have sponsored this event to have give this last stop of tour FREE ADMISSION to anyone and everyone who wants to come to the show! It's sure to be a full house, so if you come, be sure to be early to get a good seat tomorrow. Showtime is at 3pm... the final performance to complete all 50 states! 

We woke up today with our hearts full from the show last night, and went right into interviews for the documentary! We had the honor to speak with so many Letters From Home friends that have been around for years---- Vietnam Veteran Don Timmons, Afghanistan Veteran Grady Bendel, original member of Letters From Home Serah Haley and Vietnam Veteran David Shore. Unfortunately, we were using all phones and cameras for the interviews, so we don't have any photos from the morning!  

The folks from the Triad took Myra and Jack out for a walk around Winston-Salem! We showed them the Downtown arts district, Bailey Park, Incendiary Brewery, Cugino Forno for pizza, and saw some of the classic buildings in the area. We went to the Mast General Store, ate ice cream and even had a little friend dressed like Harry Potter join our group for a couple of spells. 

After walking around, we went towards the Milton Rhodes Center for performing arts where Spring Theatre does most of their performances. In the parking lot, we realized that this was the exact spot we all met up for the first time! 

What a ride it's been, team. We're in the home stretch! 

Today was an INCREDIBLY special day. 

It was the 50th stop of our 50 States Tour (we still have #51 in Virginia, as we stopped in Washington DC so the 50  states tour is 51 stops)!

AND it was the 1000th lifetime performance of Letters From Home.

There wasn't a seat left in the theatre which was pretty remarkable. The High Point Theatre was the first theatre that Erinn performed professionally at at age 8, so it was cool that such a monumental show on the tour happened here. The audience was SO high energy! We were overwhelmed and delighted, and got teary singing "Country Roads"... the community feel of home is truly something you can't replace no matter where you travel to! 

After the show, we had the opportunity to hug SO many of our friends (and we missed so many too, so if you were at the show and we didn't have the chance to hug you, please consider yourself loved! 

One of the most incredible parts of last night is that Heidi and Serah, the two original members of Letters From Home were at the show! It was a fabulous reunion. Serah's son, Eli even made a special appearance in an old LFH favorite, "6 Jerks In A Jeep". Things have changed over the years so much, but the hearts of Heidi and Serah sure have not! 

And..... tonight was the GRAND OPENING of the Dan Beckmann Photography "America The Beautiful" gallery! Dan took one picture in every single state along the way, and has truly outdone himself. This gallery shows off his incredible work (and couldn't have been done without the amazing hanging talents of his parents, Terri and Jerry)! It was emotional walking through the memories we all shared together with the team. We're all SO PROUD of Dan and his incredible photography talents. (To learn more about Dan, his gallery and his photography, CLICK HERE TO VISIT HIS WEBSITE)

Our hearts our full. We thank you, North Carolina for truly bringing us home in style and giving us an unforgettable evening. 

Today started off on the air with Joy FM! Melody Vaughn, who was one of Erinn's dance teachers growing up was the host of the show that covers much of North Carolina. It was fun to be reminded of times gone by and to talk about our 50th stop of tour coming up at the High Point Theatre tomorrow night!  

Speaking of.... tomorrow night, don't miss out! The show at the High Point Theatre is tomorrow night! Doors open at 6pm to view the grand opening of Dan Beckmann's 50 States Tour Gallery, and the show begins at 7pm! The bottom of the theatre is full, but there are still seats left in the balcony if you'd like to join us and celebrate.

​We can't WAIT to see everyone! 

This morning, bright and early, Jack, Erinn and Dan arrived at Fox 8 in High Point. After two sound checks and a very professional team of people, our music didn't play for the performance segment of the show! Just goes to show that anything can happen on live television! It was still a blast, and we hope that the word got out about the show to some new individuals in the High Point area. 

We also have BIG NEWS! 

As you know, Dan has been capturing one photo in every state. Well, this Thursday not only marks the 50th stop of our 50 States Tour and the 1000th lifetime performance of Letters From Home, but it's also going to be the grand opening of the first EVER Dan Beckmann Photography gallery! 

"The America The Beautiful Collection" features one photo from every state taken from January-May of 2023 along our tour. The gallery is free and opens at 6pm on Thursday, May 25th, just before the 7pm show. We are SO EXCITED to feature the amazing work of Dan and all of his photography accomplishments the past 4 months!  

Enjoying some of our first days off in about 4 months, these couple of days were dedicated to press and promotion of our upcoming shows: our 1000th performance and 50th show in High Point, North Carolina and our 51st and final show of the tour in Marion, Virginia! 

The High Point Enterprise featured an article on the show written by the extremely talented Jimmy Tomlin.  CLICK HERE TO READ! 

We also had a great inerview with IHeart Radio's "Carolina Cares" show.  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW! The Letters From Home interview begins at around 15 minutes into the show. 

Lastly, we interviewed with our buddy Bob Scarborough at WTOB Radio. Tomorrow, we'll be on Fox News in the morning, be sure to tune in around 8:45am Eastern to watch a sneak peek of the show! 

This morning, Tyler left for a couple of days to celebrate his graduation weekend at Brown University, so Myra took him to the Birmingham airport bright and early. We then checked out of the amazing Camp Liberty and headed north through Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and finally North Carolina!  

Our stops along the road included a lovely Amish store, a beautiful lake and a parking lot hug with our good friend, Sterling who had just attended the famous Cheerwine Festival! 

Finally, we dropped Grace off at her home and headed to Jan and Billie's house to drop off Myra and Jack. Tomorrow is a day off! Then back to it Monday morning with interviews and prep for our last 2 shows! 

We're still on tour, but we're sleeping in our own bed for the next few nights. And it feels pretty darn awesome. 

Our official Alabama stop of the 50-States Tour was the awesome Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre in Hanceville! The show was sponsored by the VFW and ALL of the proceeds of the show went to taking care of local veterans! 

The show was a blast, and the audience especially loved the Vietnam section. We were so happy to see so many friends from when we had performed in Cullman before, and especially were grateful to our host for the show, Ken and his awesome wife Diane. Ken is one of the most go-getters we've ever met in our entire time as Letters From Home, and he was dubbed our official "Alabama dad" at the show. 

Friends from American Queen Steamboat, amazing veterans and their partners, and lots of kids and teens stayed for meet & greet after the show. The Quilt of Valor for Alabama went to Brent Casteel and was presented by Mary Harris. 

We were thrilled to honor both Ken Brown and Joseph Land challenge coins after the show. These two guys do so much for the community..... as Joe would say "Mega-Hooah"!