Connie Kendall

Constance "Connie" Kendall is a major character in Adventures in Odyssey. Arguably the second-most important character, Connie has appeared in more episodes than any character except John Whittaker. She has been voiced by Katie Leigh since she arrived in Odyssey in #4: “Connie Comes to Town”, and has worked at Whit’s End since she moved to Odyssey. She is spontaneous and never inclined to hold back what she’s thinking, but she has a strong heart for discipleship—especially toward the kids at Whit’s End.

History

Move to Odyssey

Connie, originally from Los Angeles, California, moved to the Midwest town of Odyssey with her mother, June Kendall, when Connie was a teenager after her parents' divorce. She accepts a job at "Whit's End" at that time, and in time, becomes friends with Whit.

Connie had become very independent and was antsy to return back to California as soon as possible. She also came to Odyssey as a non-believer. For the first three albums this was a major story arc for Connie and through the friendship of Whit, Tom Riley, and the other kids of Odyssey. She eventually accepted Christ as her Savior after a soul searching trip back to California. (#51 – #52: “Connie”)

Upon her return to Odyssey, she found that new help had been hired in the person of Eugene Meltsner. The dynamic relationship between Connie and Eugene was the material for many great comedic episodes. Eugene's logical way of thinking clashed with Connie's impulsiveness and curiosity and provided comical bickering. Nevertheless, Eugene often ended up drawn into Connie's misadventures, which often ended disastrously. On one occasion, Connie and Eugene gained access to a top-secret computer program called "Applesauce", which Whit had warned them not to touch, and Whit was forced to fire them because his trust in them had been damaged. Whit did eventually hire both Eugene and Connie back when he was certain they'd learned their lesson; however, Connie's curiosity has still gotten her into trouble several times since.

Relationships

Connie's first romantic relationship was in the episode #111: “First Love”, in which she dates an athlete named Jeff Lewis who was not a Christian. The relationship interferes with her worship at church and she makes the painful decision to break up with him.

In the episode #220: “This is Chad Pearson?” he won a date with TV star Nick Grant through a contest, but was initially uninterested in meeting him. However by the end of the night she and Nick were getting along well, and it could be said there was some chemistry between them. He won her a stuffed animal at the carnival and she helped him escape from the paparazzi.

Her second committed relationship was with Robert Mitchell. She was introduced to him in the Novacom saga. She dated him for the next few seasons and even got engaged to him, but both decided to break up when Mitch was offered a job from the FBI and had to train in Budapest for two years, and they realized they weren't prepared to get married so soon.

It is also discussed among fans that Connie may have had a crush on Eugene, and she did during their camp experience. But other than that Connie has never really seemed to like Eugene in that way.

In #335: “Love Is in the Air, Part 1”, Eugene reveals that Connie had a crush on Jason and blurts it out in front of everyone because he thinks she is jealous of Tasha who came into town and got engaged to Jason. We do not know if Jason has ever harbored such feelings for Connie.

In #736: “Life Expectancy, Part 3” Connie's first love, Jeff Lewis returns and tells her he is a Christian.

In the canon Byte Sized Adventures story, "This is Nick Grant?", Connie reconnects with Nick and the two of them go on several dates. However, Nick is much more invested in the dates than Connie is, leading to some hurt feelings. They part on friendly terms.

Tales of a Small-Town Soda Jerk

Connie started writing a book about Odyssey, which was tentatively called "Tales of a Small-Town Soda Jerk". She decided to write the book in response to Rusty Gordon's book, titled "Tales of a Small-Town Thug", in which he criticizes and makes fun of the town of Odyssey. In The Champ of the Camp, Connie is writing, she narrates a camp story that she had experienced years before and she reads it out loud to herself, but she doesn't know till years later after that Eugene had been at that very same camp.

However, the book was erased from Connie's computer by Kelly, who didn't wish to be published in the book. (#605: “The Chosen One, Part 1”). Connie was very angry at Kelly for this. Her book had been over 600 pages and included chapters about the Odyssey romances. But, strangely, Novacom was not put in her book, probably because it was such a dark time in Odyssey. Connie tried to rewrite the book but found that remembering and rewriting all that material was more difficult than she thought. So, instead of rewriting her book, she produced a half-hour radio drama about the town of Odyssey that appeared on the fictional radio show, At Home in My Town. The drama was featured in the episode #631: “A Capsule Comes to Town”.

Family

Connie's parents, June and Bill

Main article: Kendall family

Connie Kendall's parents, June and Bill, divorced while she was a child at summer camp (#583: “The Champ of the Camp”). She also had a paternal grandmother who died in Odyssey (#319: “A Touch of Healing, Part 2”), a paternal grandfather who fought in World War II (#320: “Where Is Thy Sting?”), and a great uncle, Joe Finneman, who also served in WWII and lives in Odyssey. Joe is the owner of Finneman's Market and is a war hero (#175: “East Winds, Raining”, #270: “The War Hero”). She also has an Aunt Edna, though how precisely they are related is unknown. Her father left her mom for a woman named Lindsey, married May then divorced her, married April then divorced her, and finally married Jan (January). Jan is the mother of Jules, Connie's half-sister. Connie has a paternal aunt, Helen, who is eight years older than she is. Connie considers Whit to be a second father to her, with Whit telling Connie "I love you like a daughter" in #534: “Something Blue, Part 2”. She has a aunt named Beatrice, according to #504: “Aubrey's Bathrobe”.

Trivia

Her full name is Constance. It means "firmness of mind". #231: “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
She was an extra in a movie when she lived in LA. The movie was recorded at her school. (#4: “Connie Comes to Town”)
Her age is "twenty-something". #839: “Met His Match”
She once owned a Golden Labrador Retriever named "Kitty". (#7: “Promises, Promises”)
In #24: “Gotcha!”, she reads her horoscope under Leo, placing her birthday between July 23 and August 22, however in #554: “Call Me if You Care” it is mentioned that it is the week before Christmas, just before she mentions that her father's birthday present for her came 6 months late, placing her birthday in June.
She once wore grease paint to track down a cash register thief. (#113: “Suspicious Minds”)
She doesn't like going upside down on amusement park rides. (#220: “This is Chad Pearson?”)
She once saved up to buy a 'brand new' 1967 Ford. (#113: “Suspicious Minds”)
She was Eugene's driving instructor. (#194: “A License to Drive”)
She had a credit card, but she over-used it. (#323: “A Little Credit, Please”)
Dreams By Constance is Connie's wedding coordinator side job. (#353: “A Question About Tasha”, #374: “For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll, Part 3”, #570: “For Better or For Worse, Part 1”, #571: “For Better or For Worse, Part 2”, #667: “The Mystery of the Clock Tower, Part 1”, #679: “The Green Ring Conspiracy, Part 1”)
She has scars on two of her fingers from a knife. She cut her fingers when Harlow Doyle yelled. (#369: “It's a Wrap!”)
She was her high school's valedictorian. (#405: “The Graduate”)
She is not good at cooking. Eugene told Mandy that he "experienced her mashed potatoes...and nearly broke a tooth." (#443: “Changing Rodney”)
Her favorite snack is sour cream and onion potato chips. (#482: “Grand Opening, Part 2”)
At one point in her relationship with Mitch, she dyed her hair "raspberry chestnut," which turns out purple. (#483: “Secrets”) Eugene said (sarcastically) that it was "an improvement". (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
Her favorite sweater is the yellow one she was wearing when she met Robert Mitchell. (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”, #463: “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips”)
She is not good at tennis and ended up hitting Mitch in the face with her racquet. She was, however, the fourth-grade table tennis champion. (#483: “Secrets”)
She is left-handed. (#483: “Secrets”)
She has a fear of staplers. (#485: “Plan B, Part 2: Collision Course”, #602: “Mum’s the Word”, (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
She hates blind dates more than staplers. (#787: “Between the Lines, Part 1”)
Her favorite kind of tea is peppermint. (#495: “The Unraveling”)
She and Eugene were camp rivals when they were kids, despite not meeting each other. (#583: “The Champ of the Camp”)
She wears a size 6 in pants. (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
Her favorite food is cookie dough. (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
She has a habit of "testing ice cream for freezer burns". (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
She is allergic to walnuts. (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
She is always misplacing her cell phone. (#675: “A Thankstaking Story”)
She hates raspberry soda. (#692: “A Penny Saved”)
She and Penny share an apartment. (#692: “A Penny Saved”, #697: “A Penny Earned”)
She likes bowling but isn't very good at it. She had a record of 24 at one time. (#482: “Grand Opening, Part 2”)
Her exact age (it takes 2.8 yrs to equal one year for Connie) is 28 as of 09-09-14 (from the Official Podcast).
At one point in her relationship with Mitch, she made sandwiches that were too large to hold together and stuck toothpicks in them to keep them from falling apart; unfortunately, she forgot to tell him about the toothpicks before he bit into the sandwich.
She was said to have uneven nostrils by the representatives of the Imperial Modeling Agency. (#544: “Split Ends”)
She is 5 feet 9 inches tall.
She has green eyes.
According to Whit, she is Whit's End's best employee. (#534: “Something Blue, Part 2”), (#892: “Millstones”)
Though her signature color is green, her favorite color is blue.
She has her own newsletter. (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
In the Spanish version of Adventures in Odyssey, Connie comes from Mexico City instead of Los Angeles, California.
She loves bacon. #737: “The Pilot, Part 1”
She once tried to create a stained glass effect on her bedroom skylight with magic markers. #736: “Life Expectancy, Part 3”
She is good at replicating artwork. (#681: “The Green Ring Conspiracy, Part 3”)
She once planned to start a bejeweling business called Creations By Connie. #696: “You're Two Kind” Though, since Connie's bejeweling habit was part of a test for Eugene, she may not have been sincere about Creations By Connie.
She used to read the horoscope before she became a Christian. (that believe it or not, lead to the creation of the Bible Room.) (#24: “Gotcha!” and #266: “It Began with a Rabbit's Foot”)
She used to copy paintings in Benjamin Trask's art class in “The Green Ring Conspiracy”
She took ballet when she was little. (#532: “Pink is Not My Color”)
She still sleeps with a stuffed giraffe. (#850: “The Shame About Fame”)
Her least favorite words are mucus and moist (#856: “Much Ado about Jealousy”)
She had a pet fish, which was first owned by Lindsey (#614: “Best of Enemies”)
According to Eugene, she considers an unforgivable crime a plaid shirt with a polka dot tie (#610: Hear Me, Hear Me)
She doesn't like powdered hot chocolate. She enjoys it if it's melted semi-sweet chocolate with steamed milk covered in chocolate shavings with miniature marshmallows. (#610: Hear Me, Hear Me)
Connie once went undercover as a clown. However, she left once she almost got shot out of a cannon. (#604: “Like Father, Like Wooton”)
Her license plate reads "164EVAH" (Elsewhere in Odyssey, Byte Sized Adventures)