Second Presbyterian Church

Another big day, ending with Forced Family Fun night, which this year consisted of rock hopping, watermelon that chilled in the creek, a talent show of our very own, and (of course) ice cream at Huck. Afterwards the kids ran around Lake Susan two or three times since it was apparent we had some sugar rushes happening. The middlers went to the bonfire before coming home. Enjoy the pictures!

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It’s been a fun day at Montreat! The middlers did liturgical dance in the worship service this morning, and they also sang – both were lovely.

Middlers doing liturgical dance

Charlie turned ten, so we had cupcakes in his honor. Happy birthday Charlie!
>Charlie blowing out candles

Jonathan got some great pictures of the kids at handbells today.

middlers bell class

middlers bell class

middlers bell class

middlers bell class

‘Serve The Lord with Gladness,’ music by Rollo Dilworth

This piece has a great gospel feel to it, and it really swings. As we work on it in choir, we stand and move freely to the music, and it’s tremendously fun to sing. Then on page six, the Doxology is incorporated into the 6/8 meter. The feel of the accompaniment was the exact same, but because the Doxology is traditionally sung in a very different manner, it sounded very off from the rest of the piece. All the freedom in our style was gone. We instantly became the Frozen Chosen. Chris Aspaas, the clinician, tried a few things to loosen us up. He told us to take a chance (“do what you’ve always done and you’ll get what you’ve always gotten” or “do what you done and you’ll git what you got”), instructing us to sing it the way we want to sing it. We tried it again and he stopped us. He held up the sheet music, and said demonstrably, “THIS is not the music! YOU are the music. This is just the guide! THIS is not the music!” at which time he tore his music in half, to a collective gasp! He continued to tear the music as he spoke.

The shock that ripped through that 400-voice choir was electric! The older women reacted in a way that made me think of them fanning themselves, about to ask for their smelling salts. For non-musicians, it probably seems like a small gesture, but for singers, who hold their music sacrosanct, it was shocking! Chris said, “Rollo wrote this to guide you, but it is not the music. The music is you. Now sing it!” And we did. We still sounded like Presbyterians, but it was better.

After dinner tonight I told the story to Sarah Jane and Elizabeth, both of whom had the exact same reaction. I air-tore the sheet music in half, and they both sucked the oxygen out of the room with their sharp intake of air! Jonathan just sat there and looked a little perplexed at their reaction.

Musicians are weird. Yes we are.

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Waiting for the pottery place to open

making pottery

throwing pots on the wheel

making pottery

making potterywaiting for pottery to begin

making pottery

making pottery

making pottery

making pottery

Harrison throwing pottery

making pottery

making pottery

making pottery

making pottery

Monday night we did pottery! The pictures speak for themselves. Unfortunately those who carried their clay back to the house got caught in a rain storm, and some of their wonderful creations were ruined. Well, the creation process was still a lot of fun. There’s a sermon in there somewhere…


making potterymaking pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery
making pottery

Sarah Jane with hotdog in hamburger bunAnd so we have wrapped up our Sunday. Sunday at Montreat is by far our slowest day. We can sleep in, play games, hang out, and just generally take it easy. Harrison and Elizabeth took the new people on a tour of the campus. A bunch of them ended the tour with rock hopping and some with ice cream. Dinner was hamburgers and hot dogs – maybe we were all just hungry, but they were some of the best we’ve ever had! Sarah Jane’s burger was a little pink, soshe substituted the hamburger meat for a hot dog, with interesting results!

Tapestry in Anderson Auditorim, with fog maching goingSunday night brings our opening worship service. We sang from the new hymnals, which was very cool. The tapestries were stunning, as always.  Yes, there was a fog machine going!  It fit in with the theme that evening – you’re going to have to trust me on this one.

The preacher was delightful. He said something that really resonated – Montreat is like the ER. People get beaten up all year, and they come to Montreat for healing and rest. Amen, and amen.

Tomorrow the schedule begins in earnest. We could use good vibes for energy and stamina, and for listening ears and hearts.

Once again we will blog from the Montreat Worship and Music Conference.  We’ll post the deeper stuff here, and will again use our Facebook group for everything else, including travel updates.  If you’d like to be added to the Facebook page, just send your name and email address to me at sadowns@gmail.com – thanks!

— Sharon

Montreat entrance

We’re on the charter bus, on our way home. I actually found a seat on the bus that had a table of sorts, and so I’m able to put my iPad on that, and can pretty easily type with my keyboard on my lap. Anne took a picture of me blogging last night. Lest you think I always wear makeup and lipstick here, let me just say that she took that right before the final concert, when we all dress up!

Sharon blogging

The technology changes at Montreat in the last few years has just been amazing. When I started coming four years ago, cell phones didn’t work except for one or two spots on campus, and then it was iffy. Compare that to last night, when I pulled up FaceTime so Ben could see Harrison and the other middlers sing. He was in a restaurant in Little Rock and couldn’t hear very well, but could see. I enjoyed getting to show him the size of the auditorium, and the size of the audience, as well as the very cool choreography the middler choir director taught.

The schedule yesterday was really weird, as it always is on Friday of the conference. They have to shuffle class schedules around so that everyone who performs in the Friday night concert can rehearse in Anderson Auditorium in the morning, and again in the afternoon. At one point I had about 30 minutes free while the middlers were in bells. I went to an area where I could stand in the icy-cold waters of Lake Susan’s tributary and where I was surrounded by trees and rocks and nature. There was nobody around, and so I sang through my recent repertoire, including a solo I’m singing at church at 8:30 in the morning. I’ve found time the last three years to do this. It’s always one of the top things I look forward to doing, right up there with seeing Anderson Auditorium at the first worship service to check out the banners and decorations, and that first bite of Moose Tracks ice cream from Huckleberry.

Here are the children before the morning rehearsal in Anderson began.
children in pew

Clara and James on the deck.
Clara and James

Alex and Mac, Spencer and Donovan, Ozgan, Jamie and Thea, and Reilly ringing in the Friday morning service. Emma and her family left early Friday to make it to a wedding, which is why she’s not pictured.
Alex and Mac ringing

Spencer and Donovan ringing

Ozgan ringing

Jamie and Thea ringing

Reilly ringing

kids on couch

This is a picture taken last night before the concert – four of the chaperones doing their thing at the dining room table. By the way, this is the table where the adults typically eat. The children, middlers and senior high kids typically eat one one of the decks. It’s win/win: The kids can be a bit more loud and rowdy, and it’s also easier to clean up – just sweep any stray bits of food off the deck.
Four chaperones at dining table

Before the concert I did Elizabeth’s hair. This is apropos of nothing – I just wanted to show off my handiwork. 🙂

Elizabeth in French braid

It was difficult to get good pictures at the concert last night. Each choir is positioned in a different place in Anderson, and some were quite far from where we sat. The photos are grainy, but are the best we could get.

If you look carefully you’ll see Emma toward the left (fifth from the left). She is singing with the senior high choir. We weren’t able to get pics of any of the others in that group.

grainy picture of Emma and senior choir

Jackson, James and Harrison on the stage, ringing while all the choirs sang. I believe this is the first time they had all the choirs sing together. It was something!
Jackson, James and Harrison ringing

Bruce and Noah ringing in the Advanced Bells at the concert.
Bruce and Noah ringing

William ringing, third from the right, in Intermediate Adult Bells at the concert.
William ringing

Harrison singing and doing hand motions to their first song at the concert. For this piece, the Middlers were in a line mid-way back on the left, around the front, to the mid-way mark on the right. With the hand motions, it was quite effective!
Harrison singing

kids at Huckleberry

Chilling at Huckleberry after the concert Friday night. This is a long-standing tradition, that Mary treats everyone to ice cream after the final concert.
at huckleberry

at Huckleberry

kids at Huckleberry

Jackson, Lindsey and Marsha

The other tradition is that everyone can stay up as long as they want on Friday night. The only rule was that you can’t wake anyone who wants to be sleeping. We stayed up til midnight playing rummy, and introduced Mary to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis music. Same Love got a thumbs up. I don’t think she cared for Thrift Shop!

We had perhaps the best combination of chaperones we’ve ever had this year. Staying at the lodge means a lot more work for the adults (preparing meals, etc.), but with the right people, it goes really smoothly and isn’t too much to handle. Having the kids help with meal clean-up was a huge help, and maybe they’ll translate that to their kitchens at home! One can hope. 🙂

We really enjoyed all the kids this year. Thanks to the parents for making this investment in their development by sharing them with us for a week at Montreat! They make life-long memories here and grow as musicians and as people.

My son and I have posed for the same picture at Montreat the last three years (didn’t think to do it his first year). For me it’s a visual reminder of what Montreat does for him and all the kids who come – it guides them on their journey from childhood to adulthood. And because their musical and spiritual education began so early, they will have the tools to meet and even surpass us as singers, ringers, and church leaders. They’re already getting taller than us!

– Sharon, the ‘ready to sleep in my own bed’ blogger