A few surprises made for a better-than-expected result for Bob and Rosemarie Woldin's first dabble into concert producing.

The Woldins' benefit concert Sunday afternoon for the Homes for Our Troops program drew more people than anticipated to the Del Dios Firehouse. The concert raised three times the $1,000 goal set for the event. And guests got to meet the beneficiary of their gifts when Sgt. First Class Jacque Keesler arrived just as featured artist Greg Douglass took the stage.

Keesler and his wife had been traveling and didn't learn about the show till the day before.

"They called and asked if it would be OK if they came. I said, 'Are you kidding?' They got a standing ovation," said Bob Woldin, an Escondido resident.

Douglass immediately launched into a solo guitar rendition of "America the Beautiful" that left the crowd in momentary silence.

"You know when that happens that you've captured the audience," said Woldin.

The event got another boost midway through when a man who would only identify himself as a Vietnam veteran named Darrell dropped off a pickup truck load of hot food for the guests.

The $3,000 raised from the approximately 80 attendees will go toward the building of a home in Fallbrook for the Army sergeant, who was seriously injured while serving in Iraq.

Twice as nice: A little old and a little new added up to full weekend in downtown Vista. Both the inaugural Smokin Q Classic BBQ and the 20th anniversary Rod Run got good reviews from Janet Puckett, executive director of the Vista Village Business Association, which put on the two events.

She should know, since she and a small dedicated group of volunteers were there pretty much the whole weekend.

"We left after 9 on Saturday (night) and were here at 5:30 the next morning. It was crazy," said Puckett. "I cannot brag hard enough about how hard these people worked."

The first barbecue was quite successful, Puckett added. "Everyone seemed happy. It sure smelled good downtown."

Claiming the grand champion award was Tropical Heat, from Fillmore. Rhythm N Q from Phoenix was named reserve grand champion. Best of show in the Rod Run was a 1939 Ford Cabriolet owned by Rocky and Sherri Nash or Murrieta. The participants' choice was Carlsbad resident Ray Neff's 1928 Ford Roadster pickup.

Stepping out: Three doctors and about a dozen staff members of the North County Health Services Mission Mesa Pediatrics will definitely walk the walk Tuesday when it comes to promoting physical fitness for their patients.

They'll be joined by 56 of those young patients on a "Walk With Your Doc" from the clinic on Mesa Drive to Buddy Todd Park, about a mile and a half away. There they'll exercise and have a healthy lunch before the return walk to the clinic.

It's part of the clinic's Pediatric Physical Activity Program, which provides nutritional analysis and fitness advice to help reduce childhood obesity and diabetes.

What a gift: Jenny Cook's birthday July 21st turned especially happy when she pulled the joker out of a deck of cards at her Escondido Rotary meeting, claiming the grand prize of $2,885. Cook had a feeling she would win, said her mother, Linda Bailey. The extra birthday money went toward new tires for Cook's car and a purse. Of course, Cook and her husband, Tyson, were in Las Vegas over the weekend. No word on whether the lucky streak continued.

Contact staff columnist Jeff Frank at 760-740-5419 or jfrank@nctimes.com.