This episode highlights an upcoming Christian themed concert, The Gathering, which will take place in Lansing on Friday, July 24th at the Hope Sports Complex, as well as Cleats Bar and Grill. Host Megan Simmons is joined in studio by owner Julie Mullen and vocal artist Anya Lee are in studio with, to discuss how the event is meant to bring the community together through music, fellowship, and food.

Welcome to Community Convos, a podcast and radio program from LCC Connect with conversations about what's happening in Lansing and around mid Michigan.

Hello, welcome to Community Convos.

I am Megan Simmons and I'm coming for the second time as the host of this and the first time I came here, I had Jesse Stipak here with Pickle Palooza, which was yesterday. And my voice is still recovering, but I have to say I sound a lot more like Deadalian got a little raspiness, so I'm kind of digging it.

And so this week I'm so excited because it is finally summer in Lansing, Michigan. It's supposed to be beautiful all week, and some of my favorite events that we have here in the community is during the summertime.

And so I'm really excited because I have another great friend of mine and not only a guest with me today. I have Julie Mullin, who is the owner of Hope Sports Complex and Cleats Bar and Grill.

And Julie, I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to let you take the mic.

Can you talk to everybody about how you got started in the Lansing area and let us know a little bit about how Hope Sports Complex has just grown and cleats let us know a little bit about that location.

Well, sure. Well, thanks for having me, Megan. This is exciting. We have lots of good things going on.

About 15 years ago, I had taken my daughter to Europe for a soccer tour and every place that we played games at the little city or village had connected soccer fields with a little restaurant. And you'd see the older men watching the kids play, drinking their espresso or having a beer.

And I thought, wow, we don't do that really in the US and when I came back, I happened to own a soccer club.

At the time, I thought if I ever have a chance to do that and bring the ability for families to have a meal together or something like that, that would be very cool. I thought it would just bring more families together and create a really nice community space for people to gather at.

And lo and behold, Hope Sports Complex was, it still is owned by the city of Lansing and they were about ready to close it. And so I created a public private partnership with the city of Lansing and they we met with city council.

It was a big deal to get approved and they are allowing me to manage it and privately fund it. Of course, because it was closing. They have a lot of parks to manage and this one happens to be one of the bigger ones.

But it had great bones and my Husband and I were looking to build a complex anyway. Well, we ended up taking it over. And the first thing I did was measure out a restaurant space and an outdoor patio.

And I built the biggest patio that I could afford. Back then, it was like $4 a square foot for concrete. So it's just under an occupancy of 600 people, which is fantastic.

I think we're the largest patio in the greater Lansing area. But what I love about it is it's right in the middle of the complex and it brings sports together. Community.

Some people just do parties on the patio, like high school graduations, family reunions. We do big corporate team events and sometimes we close down the whole park for events like wedding receptions and things like that.

So we're doing a little bit of everything. And I am a female owned company, I and the board of directors. So if it makes sense to me and we can make a little profit, then we can do it.

Usually, you know, if you can dream it, that's what we. We try to say. Yes. What's your question?

So, yeah, and you, you guys really grew during COVID right? We did it. It was like everything. You couldn't go inside. Weren't you like one of the best? I mean, your plants are beautiful.

Thank you.

I know. They're so beautiful. I mean, you're really good at just making it look gorgeous out there. And Covid, we were just so. We couldn't go anywhere.

And then this provided an outdoor space. Were you voted, like, one of the top event spaces during that time, especially for weddings?

Not at that particular time.

And we would get a call saying, hey, my mother hasn't seen our new baby. She's coming in. We have 10 people. Do you have space outdoors?

So we just separated families and put them in different areas of the patio so that they could all enjoy each other and not be worried about catching anything. And it worked out great.

And we were finally discovered by the public because we were really primarily taken over by just the soccer families and the other athletic families and their children and spectators and things like that. We hold very large tournaments and a lot of people didn't know that we were open to the public.

So during COVID people are like, hey, you have a patio? Can we sit by ourselves? And we did that a lot. We held a lot of wakes as well. Just a lot of people passed away during that year.

And it was a place to celebrate their life. And I was really happy that we could do that.

I didn't realize that.

Yeah.

Wow. And so what excites you the most right now in this season? Is it. Is it. Everything is. Kind of excites you the same.

Is it the events that you're gonna have coming up? Is it the food? Is it the sports stuff? Is it all of it combined? Like, from your perspective, what inspires you the most?

Owning the great space that you have. I mean, so much potential. What sparks you the most?

I think it's seeing when I drive up and it's packed, like, the fields are just all used for different things. Children's lacrosse, men's rugby.

We have a very large flag football program that's run very well by the NFL flag football people and that takes up almost all the parking spaces on Sundays. But it's just having everybody there and they're excited. Then they win a game and the whole team comes in for a meal.

And the parents are happy because we sell alcohol. And it's not really a destination bar. It's more of, like, a bar of convenience for people to enjoy a cocktail.

We make our own sangria, and everybody has a smile on their face when it's sunny out. So you just look around. Yesterday, it was a beautiful day. We were super busy.

We had a couple of high school open house grad parties, and everybody was just happy. You know, there's music playing. I'm a freak about plants.

So I start looking for plants in March and slowly bring them over there and just watch them grow all summer. And it's just fun. It's just a joyful, happy place for me because it has flowers and life and lots of smiles. I think we sell very good food.

We make most of the food fresh. I'm a foodie, so if I wouldn't pay for it at a restaurant, it won't stay on the menu. Right. It's gotta be good.

Yeah. And I've gotta vouch for that. So the ACME office is right around the corner. And I'm so excited. Cause I'm like, julie, I'm gonna go there for lunch.

I'm gonna go there to work on your patio during the day. It's hidden gem during the day. So it's such a good place if you're. If you're out in the area, you know, to go and just swing by there.

And you can bring your family and bring your. Your businesses and your teams to go and eat there. And your food is. I will vouch for that. Is absolutely phenomenal.

Thank you.

You're welcome. Very genuine. And I had my wedding there and it was just phenomenal. And so I think the patio.

I think a lot of people still, when I talk about it, they talk about the sports complex side of things, but there's such a bigger realm that has now become a lot more apparent, I think, to the community, which is. Yeah. So today we brought you in specifically about a new type of event that you're really excited about.

I mean, out of all of them, you've never done an event like this before, which is why specifically we brought you in today to share with the community what some new things are happening there over the summer. And you brought a guest.

I did.

So can you kind of bring us through that? Maybe invite us and introduce us. I'm sorry, to Analie and what you guys are doing together.

Absolutely.

Well, I've just been thinking about unique events to hold at Hope, but one thing keeps coming back to my head and my heart, and that is holding a Christian concert. And I attend New Hope Church in East Lansing.

And I had the pleasure of meeting Anya at one of my Bible studies, and she just quietly, humbly said, I'm a singer. And I was like, excuse me. And she's like, yeah, I'm on Spotify. So. So then I invited her out to Cleats to talk about that and tell her my vision.

And she's like, wow, I belong to this group. And I'm going to let Anya tell you about that.

But there's lots of singers that just want to serve the Lord and sing their songs and tell their testimonies, and we're hoping to pull it all together and have a wonderful Christian concert on July 24th.

And so Anya has been busy in the background securing some of the artists, and we've got a lot to do, but it's going to be a fantastic show and we can hold a lot of people there. Our goal is 1,000 attendees, so hopefully our listeners can spread the word.

But I'd like to have Anya speak a little bit more about the group that she's in and what they offer. Hi.

Hi. Thanks for coming out today.

Thanks for having me.

Yeah, you're welcome. So tell us your side of the story to this. Yeah.

So I'm fairly new to Lansing about a year now and was able to get connected with an amazing church, New Hope, and met Julie in our women's study, which was just wonderful. I was given the opportunity to support leading worship on Sunday mornings, which is just so fulfilling.

And I would say probably about two, maybe three years ago, I started doing music as an independent artist. And I was blessed to connect with nrt, which is new release today.

And I signed with them as my distributor, started with just a few artists. Now I believe we're more than 30 of us of varying degrees of professionalism, or some are fairly new, some have been established.

And I communicated with Kevin McNeese, who's the president and the owner, and when he heard about this opportunity, he was absolutely ecstatic to be able to support it through nrt, but also to have all of those that are signed with him as a distributor be given the opportunity to come together.

And we're hoping that this would be the first stop on the tour and that we'll have an NRT presents the gathering in numerous cities that are the home cities of these artists. So because I was willing to be a bit of a guinea pig and because I'm pretty good at organizing things, I was, you know, the. The first city.

So we're going to do it here. And it was just beyond imagination to be able to work with Julie for cleats and hope to be able to have a place like that that we know is.

Is blessed and, and eager to connect with the community in that way. So we're really excited to kick this off.

Wow. So do you know how many destinations you guys are focusing on?

Yeah. Going to currently, I would say that we have six strong options. We've got. We've got South Carolina.

We even have a location in Canada right now that we're looking at. So. Yeah.

And let's go.

Lansing, number one is great.

Isn't that cool?

Yeah, that's way cool.

Yeah.

So I guess from that, what, what are people that are maybe are listening to this and they're like, okay, so what is the experience gonna be? Like, who's gonna be there? How long is this gonna be?

Can you kind of give us like a snapshot of what to expect, like, if we, if we attended this event?

Of course, yes. So currently we artists that have committed, so obviously I will be there. And I'm Anya Lee. If you're trying to find me On Social, it's me, Anya Lee.

You'll find me. We also have Scott Riggin, the Slower I Go and Howard Grip. They all are unique in their sound and their style, which is gonna be fun.

We have another potentially three artists that are also interested. We're reaching out to community churches to see if anyone would be willing to come and join us.

Whether that's for testimony time, prayer, anything of that nature. Each of the groups be doing just a handful of songs.

We're gonna start at 6pm and we're gonna go until people are tired of us, I guess it will be wonderful.

Hey, Julie. Yes. You might want to pack a cat.

Yes.

Snacks.

Snacks.

And kaleb.

We've got kale chocolate.

And we're really excited for each of the artists to be able to share a bit of their story. Everybody comes to music or ministry from a different standpoint.

I know for me personally, I'm a pastor's kid, so I was raised in the church and I used to think that I didn't have much of a testimony because I was a pastor's. But not too long ago, I went on a hiking trip and my hiking partner decided to go on her own without me. And I died.

And two ladies found me on the trail and they revived me and they took me to the hospital. And ever since then, it became an undeniable hunger that the things I was doing before were too small. I was thinking singing in church is enough.

And God let me know very clearly that it was not. And if you put songs in my heart to write and to sing, I needed to commit to that. So this is my second act and I'm committed to saying yes.

Even when it's uncomfortable, even when it's strange, even when it gives me a little bit of a panic attack. He's got it. So this is part of that.

Okay. I didn't expect that.

Isn't that a great story?

I didn't expect that story. That's amazing. Yeah. So. Well, that just threw me off. I just was like, yeah, she did say that. She said that's amazing. So, okay, so we've got cleats.

What a perfect place to spring this at six o'. Clock.

So.

So it sounds like you've got bands that are gonna be there, people that are gonna be speaking. Kind of a laid back atmosphere. I'm assuming family friendly.

Absolutely.

Okay. And there is a lot of local talent in Lansing. I mean, that's one thing.

We got Jazz fest, Blues fest, but we've got all these people that just love we love music here. I really do believe that's one thing we do really well. Music on the park, you know, all the things.

So if there are any artists out there or any churches that wanna be a part of it, just really quickly, is there a way that they can reach out to you? What is the best way to do that?

100%. So we just kicked off things on social media last week, so it still looks a little bit bare, but it is there.

So you can reach [email protected] and then the gathering. Lansing would be on Instagram and TikTok and then there will be a Facebook event page that will be going up shortly.

So the gathering and then what we'll do, guys, for anyone who's listening, we'll make sure that all of those links are in the show notes so that that way it's easy to do that. Okay, so Julie, from your perspective, you're preparing these people to come there.

I'm assuming you're going to provide food, things that they can order there and come hungry.

Yes. Yep. Come hungry and ready to listen to some great artists and they can pray they can just celebrate life with all of us.

And it's gonna be a wonderful day.

Yeah. And so I'm thinking like you have big numbers in mind.

I do.

So I'm like, I'm envisioning cleats. Like should people bring their own chairs? Like, how can people be prepared coming to this event?

So that's a great question, Megan.

I have rented the Showmobile from Lansing and it's a big trailer that opens up as a stage and it has built in electricity and lighting and all of that. And each artist can be up there and they do their thing and then they exit and then the next group sets up and does their thing.

So it'll be pulled up in our roundabout area and there's a grassy areas all over the place. They can set up their lawn chairs, blankets and just enjoy the music that way.

Or if they want to sit in chairs on the cleats patio, there's lots of seating there. We may have extra seating here and there as well. So we're figuring all that out. But they can certainly bring their own chairs and things.

Okay, great to enjoy.

No, that's great. And you definitely have ample parking there. If anyone who's listening has ever been to cleats, that's like a really great benefit to that.

It is.

Now, is there a registration? Are there tickets or can you just show up? So what is that like?

So there is going to be some information that's going up hopefully by the end of this week. We're working on a ticket page right now. We're looking at cost per vehicle, just to make it a little bit easier coming in.

There will also be be a VIP area that will come with a couple of little perks, whether that is food or drinks. And we're finalizing all of that right now. So that'll not only be posted on the event, but we're trying to lock down the eventbrite page as well.

So all that information, if they're looking on social, thegatheringlancing, or if they want to email us thegatheringlancingmail.com we'll be able to get all of that out, but we're going to work really diligently connecting that to Julie's information to my information on social, and they'll be able to get all the details as they roll out.

Great, great. So, again, I'll try to make sure all those things as they come about will go into the show notes.

Maybe there'll be a perk in there for all of our listeners or something like that.

Yeah, we can. We can do that.

I mean, I'm just so excited. I want to hit your numbers. And I love the idea of paying for per vehicle. That's really interesting.

I haven't heard that in a while at an event, but something that could be managed there. No, that's really neat. Anything that you're most excited about, like, is there going to be books that people can buy? Swag?

Are you more excited about people being able to just meet each other, meet the artists? Like, tell me, what are your, you know, inspiration that you're the most excited to see come into fruition from this event?

Well, I'm excited just because my vision of a couple of years ago is going to come to fruition. And it's just, to me, it's God's work.

Just when I met her, like, it was just like, oh, gosh, that's exactly what I needed at the right time, you know, and just pulling all the artists together and understanding why they are in this and sharing their life with us and their skills and artistry. And they all have different merchandise. Anya can talk a little bit about that, but we'll have lots of stuff going on.

We've got a big tent and a place to pray and worship and talk to the artists even. So you want to expand upon that? Sure.

I'm excited for it to be not very formal, not a lot of distance between People, I'm excited to not just share the music that the Lord has put on my heart, but also just be able to talk to people and hand out free stickers and have a good time, close with people without a lot of distance. That makes me really excited. And the artists who have already confirmed are very much the same way.

They're all about connection, testimony, winning souls for the kingdom. I think that they would be just as excited for that.

And then obviously the ones that are able to bring or ship merch are doing that as well so that people can leave with a little goodie, a little tidbit of the gathering that's fun.

And for something like this. Julie, are you guys looking for any volunteers or anything like that?

Or are you Definitely are. Yeah. Volunteers, course. Corporate sponsors. Any company that's Christian based that has a calling to help us out, we would certainly like that help.

There will be a link tree in the bio of all of our platforms that people can link to, volunteer to, donate to, sponsor. We've got tiered sponsorship which they can choose a package and then that will be in part of our marketing as well.

So all of that will be in the bios of our social pages.

Right, right. All right.

Yep. We still have a lot of work to do, but it's all coming together pretty quickly and I think it's just meant to be.

So it should all be out there in the next week or so. Yeah, I think.

Can you remind us the date again? July.

It's Friday, July 24, and it starts at 6. 6 Until roughly 10. But if we have to go later, we will gladly. But yeah, we're very excited.

I know. We're excited too. And cleats is open now, so in the meantime we can start going to eat because I know you're seasonal. So are you completely open?

What do your hours look like right now for people to come visit Cleats?

We are completely open. We are open Monday through Friday, 4 until 9pm, Saturday is 10 until 9pm and Sunday is 11 till 8pm all right.

We all go to church on Sunday morning, so we got to make it later.

No, I'm so excited. Thank you so much for coming.

And is there anything else that you feel is really important that you feel a lot of people are not thinking of when it comes to cleats?

When people are thinking about going out and doing something in the community, what do you want them to think about with cleats that you think people are not. They're not thinking of what is something unique that you'd like them to know that they know they can come and experience there every time.

It's just, it's hard to find like a dining area to dine al fresco and just enjoy the beauty and nature around us and have really good fresh food and it's open to the public.

A lot of people just think that we're sports related only and we're tucked away up inside Hope Sports Complex, which is located on Aurelius Road between Miller and Jolly.

If they don't know where that is, it's an old landfill, but it has a beautiful patio and it's a happy place to eat and great food and beverages and great music and hopefully see everybody there.

That is wonderful.

And then how about you, Anya?

Yeah, as a newbie to Lansing and not knowing where everything is and just trying to find my way around, it was so refreshing to be there and be up on a hill with a view. Whether you play sports or have family. I'm a single lady living in Lansing and I didn't feel out of place.

It was great to be there, feel safe, get amazing food and the hospitality is top tier. Not just because I know Julie now, but even my first time there.

The students that work there, the young people, the cooking staff, everyone was just super warm and welcoming. So if you're just looking for a new place to try, that's it.

Absolutely. No, I can't agree more. Thank you Julie, so much for.

Well, it was our pleasure being here.

Anya Lee, thank you for sharing your story and partnering with Julie on this. And there is. There's a lot of events going on this summer, but not a lot like that.

And so we're really excited for you to try something different and big.

So everyone who is listening, if you want to be involved as a business or if you want to volunteer, make sure that you're following the links that we'll have in the show notes. Check out Cleats on Facebook. I know you guys are really regularly on there.

Stay in the know how and if not, please mark your calendars for July 24, a Friday night and come out to Cleats. Thanks guys, both appreciate you.

That's perfect. Thank you. Megan.

You've been listening to Community Convos, a podcast from LCC Connect. Listen to this episode and others at LCCconnect.com or wherever you get your podcasts. If you or someone you know would like to feature an event on Community convos, email us [email protected] and thanks for joining The Convo.