Why Shelly Hamilton says, ‘I Didn’t Marry a Pirate!’
October 1st, 2021 | Nicole Chavers Stratton & Shelly Hamilton
Many of you may or may not know that the ministry of The Academy of Arts has always been friends with the ministry of Majesty Music. Dr. Frank Garlock, the founder of Majesty Music, was the music pastor of Dr. Chavers (our ministry’s founder) when he was a young boy singing on live television in Pensacola, Florida. Their friendship lasted through the years until Dr. Chavers went home to be with the Lord, and because of our shared visions, The Academy of Arts has been involved in providing character voices for several Patch the Pirate Adventures through the years!
With all this in mind, we are so excited to announce that THE LOGOS THEATRE will now be producing A Patch the Pirate Adventure every year as a part of our season! That’s right, the same artistic team that brought the Narnia books to life will now be bringing your beloved Patch the Pirate Adventures to the stage as FULL-SCALE productions, and we are beginning this October with KINGDOM CHRONICLES! Tickets for this epic show are available now at thelogostheatre.com!
As I thought about bringing these shows to the stage, I wanted to know more about how the Patch Adventures came to be, so I thought, who better to talk about that than Shelly Hamilton herself! So here is a word from the AMAZING Shelly Hamilton, on her beloved Patch the Pirate and how the Lord directed her husband Ron to begin this wonderful ministry to children and families.
But I Didn’t Marry a Pirate…
By Shelly Hamilton
Ron and I had been married for just three years when Ron having trouble reading the music over his voice student’s shoulders. He decided maybe he just needed eyeglasses. So, we made an appointment with my parent’s ophthalmologist, Dr. George Cousar. Here it was that cancer was found in the back of Ron’s left eyeball. By the look and color of it, Dr. Cousar felt it was cancer, but told us it could possibly be just a popped blood vessel.
We soon began the first of many trips down to Atlanta, undergoing a series of tests that extended for four months. By the end of the testing, we were told that there was a 95% chance that the “growth” in Ron’s eye was malignant melanoma. The cancer is growing. Since the tumor was at the back of the eyeball, the next place to which it would travel would be Ron’s brain. Were this to happen, there would be nothing to do to save Ron’s life. Immediate surgery was necessary—first to see if the tumor is indeed cancer, and secondly to remove his left eye if it is.
Ron underwent surgery on May 18, 1978. The good news was that the surgeon saw no trace of cancer in his brain. The bad news—the tumor was indeed melanoma, and his left eye was removed. I was so relieved that cancer was not found in his brain, losing his left eye seemed insignificant in comparison.
When Ron and I arrived home to Greenville, SC after his surgery, there were hundreds of cards awaiting us. Ron sat down at our kitchen table, took all of the verses people had sent to be an encouragement, and wove together the words to what has become his most beloved song—“Rejoice in the Lord.”
God never moves without purpose or planWhen trying His servant and molding a man.Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long;In darkness he giveth a song.RefrainO rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake.He knoweth the end of each path that I take.For when I am tried and purified,I shall come forth as gold.I could not see through the shadows ahead;So, I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.I bowed to the will of the Master that day;Then peace came and tears fled away.Now I can see testing comes from above;God strengthens His children and purges in love.My Father knows best, and I trust in his care;Through purging more fruit I will bear.
Ron losing his left eye in 1978 was not the end of the story. After his bandages were removed following the surgery, and before he got fitted for a prosthesis (fake eye), the doctors told him to go to a drugstore and get a plastic pirate patch. Ron does this. It was not long, however, before Ron ditched the plastic version and made his own out of old leather and an elastic string.
Kids from our home church gathered round him at the end of that first Sunday service back home and asked him what happened. Ron said he was wearing a pirate patch; in fact, they could call him, “Patch the Pirate.” The kids loved this and ran back to tell all their friends. Soon there was a whole shipload of kids running to Ron and shouting, “Ahoy, Patch the Pirate!” The name stuck!
After Ron received his prosthetic eyeball, Ron told me he wanted to still wear the eye patch. I distinctly remember us discussing this. I said, “But I didn’t marry a pirate!” He responded, “You will have to accept that preferring the patch is the little kid in me.” Looking back, I can’t imagine him any other way!
Ron was soon being called “Patch the Pirate” by children everywhere. Ron and Dad decided to make our first children’s recording, quickly writing 16 songs. Ron believed children would enjoy some fun dialogue between the songs. The first Patch the Pirate™ adventure was born. The recordings took off, and parents were soon begging for another one due to being sick and tired of the first one. The adventures since have grown into full-blown stories, interwoven with biblical character songs.
Patch the Pirate™ adventures is as of this writing in its 43rd year—one a year since its conception. We never in our wildest dreams planned such a ministry. God had other plans, however, and turned tragedy into triumph. Only such a great God could do such marvelous things.
We have had numerous trials since that day May 18, 1978. Two others also occurring on May 18—Ron’s prostate cancer surgery and our beloved son Jonathan’s funeral. Some trials we get to see what good God is doing; some we do not. What we have learned is that we can trust God to work good even when we cannot see.
What an amazing story God has woven through the life of Ron and Shelly Hamilton. And you know, He wants to weave a story for you as well! Let’s all decide today to look at our ‘tragedies’ as potential ‘triumphs’ for God’s glory, and trust our lives to the master storyteller!
It’s so encouraging to see that God’s hand has been on the creation of this character, Patch the Pirate, from the beginning and that Ron and Shelly have been so faithful to the work God has called them to do. It is a reminder of our own founder’s story, Dr. Nicky Chavers, and how He used even tragic circumstances to raise up The Academy of Arts. We will never know on this side of heaven the impact both of our ministries have made, but we soldier on knowing that Jesus our great Captain is leading the way! So my friend, don’t be discouraged. Look at the difficulty you are facing today with renewed hope that God is able to turn all things for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.
We are so excited that the outreach of the Patch the Pirate Adventures is now expanding through our ministry being able to bring them to life full scale on the Logos Theatre stage! This is why the artistic team has been so excited to take on this challenge, and believe me, adapting an audio drama for stage is no small task! Especially when that audio drama has two fire breathing dragons, castles knights, and flying seagulls!
But we have a saying at The Academy of Arts and it goes like this: ‘The difficult we do right away, the impossible only takes a little longer.’ But in all seriousness, we are excited about this challenge and can’t wait for you to see this amazing audio drama come to life before your very eyes! We know that all the hard work is worth it because teaching the next generation how to love and serve the Lord well is the greatest calling and well worth any cost!
So if you have been a lifelong fan of Patch, or if you’re just hearing about him for the first time, it doesn’t matter! The Logos Theatre doesn’t do things halfway, and we are going to make this a life long memory for you and your family! Your children will LOVE getting to meet the character and see all the amazing action come to life on the stage that until now they have only ever heard on the recordings! But the thing you will love the most is that the same great lessons you’ve come to love in these audio dramas will be shining forth in full grandeur right in front of you children’s eyes! They will SEE Prince Christopher’s sword, Logos, as it protects him from the dragon’s fire! They will sing along with Alberta as she teaches us not to be afraid of the flaming arrows and fiery darts of satan! Coming to see this amazing production will give your children a full and exciting experience of learning how to put on the whole armour of God! We couldn’t be more excited about bringing stories like these to The Logos Theatre stage, and giving your children something powerful and life-changing to come and experience along with you!
To make sure you and your family have a seat for this epic adventure call 864-268-9342 or visit our website at thelogostheatre.com! But you’d better get your tickets today because seating is limited and this is one Pirate Adventure you can’t afford to miss!
