AHQ Tour '03 Update #5
3/21/03
Written by Byran Smucker
We had two whole days with no singing engagements. We left South Boston Friday afternoon, and drove a long while to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It is a self-professed life-long dream of Tom's to visit Dollywood, so we figured to drive there Friday and be tourists on Saturday. It was tough to find a hotel with vacancies, so after more than 45 minutes of driving around, we had to settle for a "cheaper" motel. It had orange curtains in the windows and our bathroom door had a hole in it, if that tells you anything. But it was adequate. A redeeming quality was that there was a Krispy Kreme a short ways away, which we visited (sadly, this was the only KK we patronized on this whole trip).
David bungee-jumping in Pigeon Forge.
Tom's hopes were shattered the next day, because Dollywood was closed. It was a real bummer, because there were purportedly lots of fun things to do there. (Editor's note: The two things I want to see at Dollywood are the Kingdom Heirs and the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame.) We settled for mini-golf, Go-Karts, bungee-jumping (David), and then Ripley's Believe It Or Not and a SkyLift up the mountain in the nearby town of Gatlinburg.
That's me and Kon there in that chair.
Sunday we sang a few songs in the morning service of First
Alliance Church of Franklin, NC. In the afternoon we sang at a Nursing Home for
about a half an hour, and Konrad got confirmation on his choice of a girl from
an elderly lady, who muttered her approval upon seeing Shannon's picture.
The evening found us in the quaint, alpine town of Helen, GA. We sang for about
45 minutes at the First Baptist Church. (Editor's note: The
pastor and his wife were golf enthusiasts, in fact his wife was an instructor.
They both had golfed at the Division I level in college. I asked if we
could get some lessons next time we came, and he said we could! So we'll
need to bring our clubs then.)
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Having fun with the warped mirrors in Ripley's Believe It or Not. |
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We now had one more service before the girlfriend whirlwind tour. That was in Blountstown, FL at Red Oak Mennonite. We got to see Scott and Bekah Cloud, whom we had met at BMA BI. Scott barbequed us some ribs, Bekah made us some soup, and their mom made this great pound cake.
(Editor's note: Another milestone marked with some great food! Back at BMA BI, one night we went out to Olive Garden. I ordered the Zuppa Tuscana soup that I like so much, and Bekah told me that she would make some for me when we came down to FL. Scott assured me that it was even better than Olive Garden's, and now I have personally experienced that it is! It was fabulous.)
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Scotty cooking up some great barbecued pork ribs! |
Bekah making her fantastic Zuppa Tuscana soup. |
After the service in the evening, there was a quartet that sang for us. They were very impressive, they have a real tight sound.
Female quartets aren't very common, and this one was very good. They're currently working on their first CD.
AHQ with Scott and Bekah Cloud in FL. Another mini-Bible School reunion!
I need to point out the obvious. Indiana and Iowa are not the
quickest way to get from Florida to Oregon. In fact, they are quite out of the
way. Nonetheless, this is the route we chose. And it was a route that we
enjoyed.
Wednesday we arrived in the Goshen, IN area, where Tom had a joyous reunion with
his beloved, Jewel Miller. We got to meet her family, and see a bunch of other
people we know in that area. We sang at Living Water Mennonite Church that evening. Todd
Neuschwander is the pastor of the church, and they did a great job of getting
the word out, because there were a lot of people there. It was
probably the biggest program of our entire trip.
Thursday was a first. We sang at a school chapel service in the afternoon
instead of first thing in the morning!
We sang for the high school and then for the younger children in two separate
services. Our musical fortitude was tested both times. "My Lord and
I" is a favorite chapel song, and when we were in the middle of singing it to
the older ones, a fire alarm went off. It was not in the same key, and it
was very loud!
Then we sang it again for the younger set and the school bell started ringing.
We made it through both times, but not without giggles and grins all around.
We left for Kalona, IA a little after noon on Friday. When we arrived, there was
another joyous reunion. You know, me and my cousin Heidi! That too, I guess, but
Kon got to see his beloved, Shannon Graber.
Kon and Shannon.
Our program Friday night was cancelled because of a funeral, fortunately we were able to reschedule it for Sunday night. We didn't sing until Sunday morning, at Sharon Bethel in the morning, and at Sunnyside (Heidi and Shannon's church) in the evening.