Celebrating Our 25th Year
Desert Song Anniversary Wrap-Up
Celebrate with Us!
On January 25th and 26th, Desert Song celebrated our 25th anniversary and International Yoga Day through a two-day celebration at our center. The weekend was a wonderful opportunity for our community to reflect on Desert Song’s growth, to welcome new friends and to celebrate our bright future.
On Friday, January 25th, we celebrated our 25th anniversary through music, meditation, pictures and poem. As people arrived, staff members Marcie Wolter and Ann Thompson serenaded them with violin and guitar music. Mary Beth Markus, the center’s founder and director, began the evening with stories of Desert Song’s development, from its humble beginnings in her living room in 1983, to the 4000+ sq. foot yoga, massage and holistic health center it is today. Her talk was followed by a short peace meditation led by Meg Byerlein and a beautiful, soulful poem written by Mary Glover. Mary also put together an amazing slide-show retrospective of the last twenty-five years, which brought memories, laughter and a few tears of joy to everyone who attended. The evening ended with friends chatting and connecting over shared memories of Desert Song through the years.
The party continued on Saturday, January 26th, as Desert Song celebrated International Yoga Day. The day began with staff, instructors and therapists meeting to decorate the center with balloons, balloons and more balloons! By mid-morning, people began arriving and gathered around to watch the slide show and to read over 35 framed articles on Desert Song from local and national publications. Mary Beth kicked off the party with another speech touching on the history and growth of Desert Song, Barbara Holt led a world-peace meditation, and Mary shared both her poem and the slide show.
After the second-day’s opening ceremony, fiddler Jane Hilton, along with Brian Krauss on the fireside pipes and guitar, entertained celebrators. Attendees were then treated to free yoga, pre-natal yoga, tai chi, massage, and energy consultations, as well as yummy treats, more music, yoga, massage and t-shirt giveaways. Regina Blakely, one of Desert Song’s students and Woman of the World Poetry Slam - National Representative for the Greater Phoenix Area performed an original poem. Her lively and inspiring performance deeply touched Mary Beth and Vince and left not a dry eye in the courtyard. The celebration continued with two grand-prize giveaways. Brad Goeppner won a free pass to the Erich Schiffmann weekend workshops and Heidi Hart-Zorin won a free massage and private yoga package.
The day would not have been complete without a place for Desert Song families to meet and connect. At noon, yoga clowns Yo Yo and Ga Ga arrived to lead kids (of all ages!) to the family yoga room, where they had their faces painted, made world peace flags and, of course, practiced yoga with Mary Glover. The best part of the day, once again, was the opportunity for friends, both old and new to meet, connect and reminisce. By the end of the day, over 300 people had stopped by to help Desert Song celebrate. After a quick clean up, Desert Song staff celebrated over a bottle of champagne – toasting to a fun day, a great history and a beautiful future.
Themed Workshops for 2008
As a way to celebrate the qualities of our Center throughout this anniversary year, we have chosen monthly themes, supported with wonderful workshops and events to both deepen your practice and improve your overall health.
Click here for more information
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