All the way back in 1985 when I first started to study I heard the John Denver asking Jehovah's Witnesses to leave his concert story. I enjoyed John's music so instead of believing the rumors I investigated. Even back in 1985-1986 I was able to learn that the story was false. However it has persisted and is still told in 2019. Recently I head a child retell the story as his parents had told it to him.

To be sure there are standards to proving a rumor.
1) 2 or 3 witnesses to the account. (There has never been 1 person give a personal first hand "I was there" account and no one I know has ever said they heard it from someone that was there.) So without the 2 or 3 witnesses the person retelling the story is spreading a falsehood.
2) It is wrong to spread rumors that can't be proven by the teller of the rumor.

So is there any proof at all the account is true?
NO!
The following is from 
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ordered-away/
 A very trusted and reliable source of Internet fact checking.

Claim:   Famous musician orders all audience members of a particular religious or national group to leave his concert.

FALSE!

Examples:

[Collected on the Internet, 2000]There was apparently a story some years ago, which I heard less than a year ago. It reported John [Denver] asked if anyone in his audience was a Jehovah’s Witness. A few people put up their hands, and John asked
them to leave.

[Collected via e-mail, 2006]
I heard from a Jewish friend of mine that Phil Collins once asked all Jewish people at one of his concerts to leave before he would play. They did get to have their tickets prices refunded.

[Collected via e-mail, 2006]
This big shot western singer Keith Urban asked all Canadians to stand up at the Minot Fair. After everyone stood up he asked all the Canadians to leave the stands before he would sing because they were not helping out fighting with USA troops. Pass this around and see how his record sales do in Canada. Also Garth Brooks donated 1 million to keep Canadian cattle out of USA.
Origins:   The legend about the hate-filled musician who orders members of particular groups to leave his concerts has over the years been attached to a number of performers, including Clint Black, Phil Collins, John Denver, Gloria Estefan, Don Ho, and Keith Urban. Usually the music lovers being ostracized are Jehovah’s Witnesses, but when the rumor attaches to Phil Collins, the ones being driven away are Jews, and when it is told of Keith Urban, they are Canadians. Also, in those latter two cases, putative reasons for the banishment are offered: Collins is said to be a supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and so regards Jews with disfavor, and Urban is said to be down on Canadians for their country’s not supporting the U.S. in its war in Iraq.
The most common version of the story has John Denver, he of the angelic face and kindly manner, demanding the Jehovah’s Witnesses in his audiences depart. No reason is given for his enmity, no explanation offered as to what they might have done to have so incurred his wrath. He orders them away, and (we are left to surmise) they meekly get up and leave. Given the many thousands of performers who populate the music scene and the variety of temperaments among them, Denver seems ill-suited for the role of “singer who turns on his fans and sends them packing.” Then too, so does the second most common target of the rumor, Phil Collins, a performer who exudes an aura of approachability and geniality. Interestingly, both he and Denver are the subject of other widespread false tales, Denver as a sniper who served in Vietnam, and Collins as a singer who used his song “In the Air Tonight” to finger an audience member who had earlier left a man to drown.
This following twist is sometimes added to the story of concertgoers told to leave:
[Collected via e-mail, 2005]

I was once told that John Denver (folk singer of songs like Rocky Mountain High and such) was on the Tonight Show one night. He was a huge patriot and apparently had no love whatsoever for JW’s. Apparently as the story goes, John gets up to sing a patriotic song and before he begins tells the audience “If there are any Jehovah Witnesses in the audience, you may want to leave right now.” And then he sings his song. When he’s done and goes to the couch to chat with Johnny, Carson apparently says “I want you to know something. You see that camera guy? He’s a JW, and so is that lighting guy and so are a bunch of people on my staff. I hire them because they are honest and hard working. And now, I’d like YOU to leave. 

(The “TV talk show host as avenger of the wronged” is a stock character who appears in urban legends where a well-regarded hero is called for to put the boots to a celebrity seemingly proud of having done something odious. In other incarnations, Oprah Winfrey puts the run on Tommy Hilfiger after he proclaims he doesn’t want African-Americans buying his clothes and chases off Liz Claiborne after the popular designer confides she doesn’t design for African-American women because their hips are too big.)

When the dismissed concertgoers legend is told of John Denver, sometimes it includes the additional detail of his ordering all Witnesses to their feet and, while he strums the National Anthem on his guitar, telling them to leave. In that detail is contained a putative explanation for his having sent them packing: patriotism. Jehovah’s Witnesses strive to maintain strict neutrality in the world’s affairs, neither taking sides nor serving any government. They therefore do not serve in the military, nor do they salute the flag. These twin refusals anger some who believe Jehovah’s Witnesses thereby demonstrate a lack of love for their country.

A more benign view of John Denver’s possible awareness of that neutrality posits that the legend sprang from a misunderstanding or mischaracterization of an attempt to recognize his Jehovah’s Witness fans’ potential distaste for some of his musical offerings and provide them an alternative to having to sit through a set they might find objectionable. This theory turns the legend on its head, changing the intolerant performer out to punish members of a group he dislikes into one whose attempt to be sensitive to the religious hot buttons of others:

[Collected on the Internet, 2004]A sister I knew used to get mad when the Denver urban legend came up. She claimed she knew some JWs who were at a JD concert, and JD, who knew that JW’s were not supposed to join in patriotic stuff, said, “If there are any JWs in the audience, you might not enjoy this next set, this would be a good time to go to the bathroom or get food or drink.”
In September 2006, the Internet contributed a new version of this legend in which Keith Urban demanded that all Canadians leave his concert because he was angered by Canada’s refusal to help the U.S. win its war in Iraq. The telling widely circulated in e-mailplaced the incident “at the Minot Fair,” a tidbit of information that provided just enough of a starting point from which to get at the truth.
On 21 July 2006, Keith Urban performed in Minot, North Dakota, to a crowd of 12,069 at the North Dakota State Fair. No mention surfaced in the news arising from that nine-day extravaganza of the singer’s having ordered concertgoers (Canadian or otherwise) to vacate the stands. Given that coverage of the fair included such in-depth coverage as Charlene Bangen’s pork dish missing first place by two noodles (which the judges determined too dark in color to merit the nod), a big-time country star’s giving the boot to some of his paying public would surely have been reported upon had such an event actually occurred. Also of note in putting the rumor to rest is the singer’s performance a week earlier in Sarnia, Ontario, where on 13 July 2006 he kicked off that city’s Bayfest series of concerts.
According to fair officials, Urban did address Canadians in the crowd during his North Dakota performance, but he merely offered them a friendly greeting:
Jessica Bullinger, marketing director for the State Fair, asked several co-workers who were there and was told that Urban gave a special greeting to his Canadian fans. She thinks the twisting around of this greeting may have been how the rumor started.“He did ask how many Canadians were in the audience, then gave them a special welcome and thanked them for attending the show,” Bullinger said. “It’s very unfortunate because it was a special welcome that he gave to Canadians.”
Wendy Howe, executive director of the Minot Convention and Visitors Bureau, was there for the entire concert and confirms that Urban did in fact give all the Canadians in the audience a special greeting
“He said, ‘I hear we have a lot of Canadians in the audience tonight. Can I have all the Canadians here stand up or give a shout,'” Howe said. “When they did (stand), he said something about a special greeting or a special welcome and that “It’s great to see you.'” 
As for the tacked-on rumor that Garth Brooks donated $1 million to keep Canadian cattle out of the U.S., we’ve yet to locate anything that supports the claim.

Barbara “cowed” Mikkelson
Last updated:   5 August 2014

Sources:    Dedekker, Jeff.   “Keith Sets Record Straight on His View of Canadians.”
    Regina Leader-Post.   22 February 2011.
    Feldner, Dan.   “‘Urban’ Legend Still Making Rounds.”
    The Minot Daily News.   27 August 2007.
    Grantier, Virginia.   “Judging a Hunk of a Harvest.”
    The Bismarck Tribune.   24 July 2006   (p. A1).
    Poirier, Jack.   “Crowd in Love with Urban.”
    Sarnia Observer.   14 July 2006   (p. A1).

So how does this happen? How is it that such an unfounded rumor can still be shared without ANY facts? Sensationalism , everyone loves a "Good" story in which the "Group" is the victor and there is a bad guy who has to eat dirt. All human love this type of story, it is in effect the story of good vs evil, in this case JD is the evil and he falls. But in truth this is no fact in the story and no truth to the rumor. Regardless of the facts being out there I am sure it will continue to be passed from parent to child.

But ask yourself this question, since it can be proven JD never said it, when he is resurrected how long will the line be of those that need to apologize to him?

Starting July 1st 2019 a new law goes into effect in Tennessee regarding ANY mobile device. In short a driver can't for any reason have any type of mobile device in their hand or reach for one.
The fines for breaking the law can be confusing. The original fine of $50 is still in effect but under the new law a 1st offence is $100, 2nd is $200. However in a "School Zone" "Work Zone" and "Posted Zone" (TBD) the fines are doubled. So 1st offence is $200 2nd $400. These fines are in addition to any court cost and legal fees, so one ticket can cost several hundreds of dollars.  (Sitting in a car line to pick up kids is considered driving and using a fone while in a school zone.)
Below is a new "sign" the THP is putting out, where and how I do not know. I for one am glad to see the law, the number 1 cause of accidents is now related to cell fone use while driving, and the number 1 cause of deaths in a car wreck is due to cell fone use.
One of the most amazing things about people who use a call fone while driving is their over arrogant confidence that they are different, they can handle it, they are not like others who swerve or wreck. What these ones say is the exact same language a drunk driver uses. I have even heard "driving while texting" drivers call it a "thoughtless" action. It requires a great deal of thought to reach for your fone and read a text and reply. The law also applies to "just seeing who it is" that texted you. I hope the police enforce the law because it has become a fearful thing to drive and to be in a car with someone using their cell fone is downright terrifying. I have found two things to be true about a "cell fone user while driving".
1) This applies to many who drive while using a fone, if you ask them to not use their fone while driving (you are in the car) some people get very offended or even mad and they attack you for asking and resort to childish name calling. It is shocking to watch how small a person quickly becomes when you ask them not to use their fone while driving.
2) Many who use a fone while driving believe their right to use a fone is greater than your right to feel safe or even to live. The arrogance of a  person using their fone while driving oozes from their speech and it is clear that they feel so empowered that they can choose if the passengers in their car live or die. Regardless of any words a driver uses while using their fone, they do not care about the lives of others in their care. 

Using a fone while driving comes down to a mimicking attitude.
1) Pride
2) Disobedience
3) Lack of love
4) Arrogance
5) Selfishness
6) Greed
7) Self importance
8) A Me First attitude

I hope that this law awakens people to how serious using a fone and driving is. But I doubt anything will change until more and more people are murdered by drivers who use their fones while driving.

By: Kerri Sweeney

​JW App is extremely user friendly on the Apple Platform. The things you want to mainly use the app for (i.e. Bible, Publications, Meetings, Media, and Personal Study) are all tabs listed in plain view at the bottom of the app and stay there no matter what page you switch to. You can quickly move between different parts of the app or publications in less than a second. All of the publications and media are very easy to download by just tapping the bottom corner of the certain item you want to download. Highlighting is also an easy task, with the option to change colors and well as making side notes. With the notes you can also add what’s called Tags. Tags are small words or phrases you can search for in the future and it will bring up any note that includes that tag. This is great for the ministry and quickly trying to access scriptures. Once items are downloaded to the tablet you can access without internet and there is no delay in pulling anything up. If a certain item is not downloaded you would have to have internet access or good service otherwise that might take a little extra time to view something. A new thing with the most recent app update is the ability to download references. So when you pull up the bible and click on certain verses a tab bar pops up and will let you know if extra references of information are available for that particular scripture. Note not all scriptures have extra references. You can also copy and paste any of that information to notes you may want to have more accessible. Also by tapping on a scripture you can easily access a personal gem or study note you have on it, bookmark it, copy and paste it somewhere, or make a note on it. Another thing that was mentioned regarding other platforms was the search history. This is also easily accessible on the Apple platform with an icon in the upper right hand corner. I have never had an issue with the app crashing. I have tried to help others use other types of tablets and they are just not as user friendly and take a lot more time to find things and even load things. 

Do you use the JW App?
Do you have questions as to which tablet platform is best to use the App on?
In this post I will endeavor to address those concerns.
I use the JW App on a Dell Venue Windows 10 Platform as well as a Samsung Galaxy Tab Android Platform. I have asked a user of Apple to write a review of that platform
First to address the many types of Windows 10 tablets. When shopping for a tablet you can use much of the same basic knowledge that you would for a laptop, however do not expect from a tablet what you would from a laptop. Dell no longer produces the Venue, however you can still find them on eBay. Use caution when purchasing a Venue as there are issues with some series. I will write another post about those issues. The 5000 series with Windows 10 has proven stable and I will focus on the 5830.
With each platform I want to apply the same drawback; the "Frequently Used" feature takes too much time to load and with the Toolbox and Favorites is a redundant feature. If the Favorites is set up and with the Toolbox the "Frequently Used" is unneeded. The "Frequently Used" feature will result in crashes if the user does not allow it to finish loading and may crash the App if it has trouble locating the cache.
Windows 10:
As I stated I use the Dell Venue 5830 and from Tap-To-Start it takes 32 seconds for the App to load. In real life 32 seconds is fast, in Tech Time 32 seconds is considered a very long time. The start delay is directly due to the "Frequently Used" feature. It does a check to see what was accessed last in the App it restructurers the order of last used before fully loading. If a user were to Tap on one of the icons to the left, in most cases the App would crash if the "Frequently Used" has not finished loading. As to the option of leaving the App open all the time to avoid this lag, that too can cause issues. One issue will be the "pages" will not draw properly on the screen. Each "page" (a Bible or magazine etc) must be "drawn" as it is accessed. If the App is left open for any length of time the last page may not draw or pages may draw incorrectly.
Tapping an icon to the left (Bible; Publications etc) takes about 6 seconds to open, however once a certain publication is open load time increases. If you are a heavy note taker, for example on Matthew Chapter 24, load times for a single chapter can be delayed. On my tablet for Chapter 24 it took 15 seconds for the chapter to load. If you are giving a talk and have several Scriptures from Matthew Chapter 24 it is easy to see how the time to load can eat into your talk time. You can fill it will "information"  however the time is still lost.
A huge benefit to using the JW App on a Windows 10 tablet is the fact that you can also install the Watchtower Library. If you are a deep study person you can copy & paste references directly from WTL to the JW App with the Reference. Although you can copy and paste from WOL you can't attach the reference, you have to type it in.
The Backup/Restore feature works exactly as it should and works across all platforms, for example you can backup on a Windows 10 tablet and send that to an Android and restore it. The opposite is also true. However you can't back up the Media Locations and what was downloaded. To explain: When media is downloaded to the App on Windows 10 or Android it goes to a separate folder, in Windows 10 it goes to your music/video folder in a folder called "JWLibrary". If you uninstall the App the folder remains as does the media in the folder. But if you reinstall the App and the App uses the exact same folder for media it does not "See" the media already in the folder. In fact you have to "re-tap" each video or music in the App for the App to "see" it in the folder. This is extremely frustrating and is the same with Android. If there was a means for the App to "see" what is already in the media folders and remove the "cloud" from the Tile that would be incredible.
Highlighting in the App on Windows 10 is easy, you Tap where you want to start and "handles" appear and you drag the handles then choose the color. This allows the user complete control over highlighting and color pick. If you highlight and do not choose one of the 4 colors provided a nice purple is used, the hidden color.
Note taking can be cumbersome since auto scroll is un-reliable on Windows 10, this is not the fault of the App but is due to the "popup" feature of the keyboard in Windows 10, blame for this is on Microsoft.
The addition of "Offline Mode" was a huge benefit. When no Internet connection is available you will want to use this to increase load time. A small part of the delay in load time is when "Online Mode" is on the App is searching for updates. If you turn this off when no Internet is available it will increase load times and load times of publications. This is a huge benefit in the Field Ministry.
Conclusion:
My primary use of JW App is on a Windows 10 Platform. Although the load time is the longest, the highlighting works best and allows the user the most control. Also since WTL can be installed it allows total access to everything provided for study. Yes you can use WOL, but it is important to keep in mind, currently only about 2.5 billion people have regular access to the Internet. In countries like America it is often forgotten that Friends in Africa or many Asian countries have to travel to "Internet" locations and in some cases pay to access the service to access WOL. So in many cases it is of the greatest benefit to these Friends to use Windows 10 (It has been reported that WTL can be installed on Apples, but this requires the user to violate the TOS of the device, this article focuses only on what is legal.) I await the day the "Frequently Used" is removed, the feature is the source of loading delays and crashes and has no real benefit with the other features. Playback audio is poor, especially in the Ministry, I bought a speaker plug to increase the ability to hear. Screen brightness is also poor on bright days, but this is true of any backlit device.
Android:
(This review will focus only on the Samsung line of tablets; all other Android tablets have in one way or another proved deficient in running the JW App well enough to justify a review.)
This review will focus on the Samsung Tab-E 8" SM-T377 Running 7.1.1.
A Samsung Roundup from Bad to Best:
1) All Samsung Lite Series (Not recommended to use the JW App)
2) The Samsung E class series all sizes is by far the worst series to run the JW App on.
3) The Samsung A series is mid-line and has very good performance.
4) The Samsung S series, by far the best in every way if you can afford them. The S Series can easily out cost even the best Apple Tablet.
For a detailed breakdown read > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_Tab_series <
Opening the JW App on a Samsung Tab E took 25 minutes and that was with a freeze. On the Tab E the App freezes a lot and crashes a lot. I do mean a lot, this is true on the Tab A as well. When downloading media and publications it is best to download 1 at a time to avoid crashes and freezes. It took an additional 9 seconds to load Matthew chapter 24, remember I have detailed notes and complete WT Articles from 2013 in the note pane. Reviewing the App on Samsung Android is difficult because it is an either or case. In other words each time you open the App it will either function excellent or it will not. It is a roll of the dice. If the App functions well it will load fast, work fast, respond fast. If on that load it decides to misbehave it will cause you to want to pull your hair out. However when it runs as it should I do enjoy using the App on Samsung. As to highlighting on Android I do not like it, long tap, drag and last color used is color it will use. If you are highlighting a sub point you have to re-tap and choose a different color. This adds extra steps and is cumbersome to use, although once a user is used to it it is done without thought. The same issues that exist with Windows exist with the restoring of media folder content after a reinstall, the App can't "See" it. The App on Android makes use of both back buttons but each back button has a different feature. The Back button on the Tablet is what is used to return to the Article last used, the Back button within the App will take you to the last used publication, not within the meeting section but the last publication. This can be frustrating and confusing at times. It is easier to make use of the slid from left feature or history feature in the Android Platform then using the back buttons. The back button built into Windows does indeed return you to your last screen, unlike the back button on Android. So on Android if the 2 different back buttons options are confusing it may be easier to use the history feature or slid left feature. Overall if the App crashed less or froze less often on Android, Android would be the better option. However between Android and Windows aside from load time the App performs better on Windows. Playback audio is better on the Tab E than on the Dell Venue, so in the ministry I am using my Tab E.
So between Windows 10 tablets and Samsung it bottoms out at cost. A Windows Dell Venue on eBay can be as low as $100 but you will need some level of skill to set up a Dell Venue as they were made for Windows 8 and not Windows 10. Upgrading to Windows 10 can be done, but there are issues with drivers. I did not discuss the Microsoft Surface by choice, the price is too high for most of the Friends.
Samsung is by far a lower priced option. Again avoid the Lite versions. The "Branded" versions such as Verizon, AT&T, etc work just as well as the non-branded versions, you just get the SIM nag at startup. Other than that no difference. For the price the Tab E may be the only option for some of the Friends. The Tab E can be purchased for as low as $80 new. Although the App freezes and crashes on the E it does on the A as well and most can't afford the S series.
An even lower priced option that I did not review is the LG line of Cell Phones. Walmart carries a great 5.5" LG Android AT&T GOPhone for $45 and you DO NOT have to activate them. Once you purchase it and get it home remove the pre-installed SIM and then charge it. Turn it on and ignore the SIM nag and use it just like a tablet. Being Android it will freeze at times running the App but it is a great low priced option.
There are hundreds of low and lower priced Android options and unfortunately some have bought them and after using for a few days handed them to me and asked me to get it to work like a "Samsung". Can't do it. The RCA tablet is horrible, it will work, with tears and blood and lots of wine, both types, but they should be avoided. A 10" RCA can be bought for as low as $80 an 8" at $49, but it will come with what I said above, whereas a 5.5 LG phone performs much better. So choose this battle carefully.
I will not review the large number of other Android phones as I have used many of them, the 5.5" Samsung AT&T phone is $100 and since the 8" Samsung Tab E can be bought cheaper that is the reason I did not suggest the Samsung phone. Outside of the lower priced LG phone, I am not reviewing the others as you will have issues.
So the Bottom line:
Windows 10 (Dell Venue) is the best choice for you Study buck. They can be bought for under $100 on eBay and offers the most online and offline options for total Study abilities.
Samsung Tab E can be bought for under $80 and since its performance is similar to a Tab A is a lower priced option. If you are an Android fan and have the money then the S Series is the way to go.
LG AT&T GoPhone is the lowest of all price points, under $50 and still performs well.
 
The above is for the price and performance.
I do hope to get a review of the Apple Tablet. I do not own one or understand how the naming series works with them. So I have asked an Apple expert to write a review for me.
 

On April 11th 2019 News Channel 5 & Lelan Statom aired the footage from the Livingston Class trip. Here is the footage as it aired.

Today we took a Homeschool trip to News 5 and it was awesome.
We got to meet several of the on screen crew and watch Lelan do a satellite interview with Emilio Estevez. It was an excellent trip.

I have a few items listed on eBay that may be of interest to some. Give it a look-see.

https://www.ebay.com/usr/gregoryd1967