Young at Heart Ministry

Young at Heart Luncheon–Jan. 10, 2012

2012-01-10T13:21:00.001-08:00

We always start our Young at Heart Luncheon programs with some kind of prelude music. This month we had Grace Averitt at the piano to play several very nice piano pieces. Thank you, Grace.

We were blessed to have a very good program for our luncheon in January! First, the weather was as good as we could expect in January with a bright sunny 50 degree temperature day! Next, we had an outstanding program by our speaker, Greg Poe, and special music, Marlene Williams.

Marlene sang a couple of very nice numbers.

You can hear her HERE.

Following our other agenda items, we had Greg Poe from Fifth Third Bank speak to us about the State of the Economy. Greg did and out standing job of presenting and providing us with a rather bright outlook. He finished by tying this all into scripture and telling us that our only true security is in the Lord and our final resting place in Heaven.

You can listen to Greg’s presentation HERE.

Following the presentation we all adjourned to the gymnasium for a very nice soup and salad luncheon! This was prepared by Greg’s wife, our very own Lisa Poe and her very able crew of cooks and bakers. Everything was made from scratch! Salad, potato soup, hot rolls, and cookies for dessert. I’ve already been requested to put the recipes in a future newsletter. I’ll do that!

Next month we are planning to have our old friend, Dave Harney come and provide us with a very special vocal concert and speak to us.

Remember, you can always click on an image to see a bigger view, if one is available.

La Comedia–A Christmas Carol

2011-12-16T15:17:00.001-08:00

Our December Day Trip, Dec. 16, was to visit La Comedia in Springboro and see the musical play “A Christmas Carol”. I think everyone enjoyed the experience and the musical.

Our seats were on the main floor just off the stage. This is may be the last time we’ll get these seats because we could go up one level and see a bit better and certainly have more comfortable seating. Floor seating is certainly good for being close to the action of the plays and also for access to the buffet. It is also nice to be able to fill our plates with food and not be concerned about navigating the stairs. Anyway, we will try different seating to see how it works for our groups.

The play was outstanding with great acting and music. I recommend it for great Christmas entertainment and a good meal, too!

Here is the website link for La Comedia.

Christmas Luncheon–Burt Kettinger (December 13, 2011)

2011-12-13T12:23:00.001-08:00

This month we celebrated Christmas in a wonderful way at our Young at Heart Luncheon! We started with some very nice piano and organ music by my favorite musicians, Nancy Jensen (Organ) and Grace Averitt (Piano). Then, I did my normal opening with jokes, prayer and recognition of new people, birthdays and anniversaries.

But our real program was our special friend, Burt Kettinger who came here from the Chicago area to do a Christmas Vocal Concert and speak. Burt has been to our church and here at Young at Heart a number of times and always does an outstanding job. He is a featured vocalist on “Songs in the Night” from the historic Moody Church in Chicago and does concerts worldwide. We are very fortunate to have him here and even more so to be able to have him for a special Christmas program. You can hear his concert by clicking the link below.

Remember: You can double click any photo to see a larger version

Click HERE to hear Burt’s Music!

Of course, we wouldn’t be a luncheon without our meal in the gym. Today, we had ham and noodles, yams, cranberry salad and red velvet cake all prepared by Lisa and her able staff of cooks, servers and the various other help with the tables and cleanup. Greg brought some of the staff from Fifth/Third Bank to assist with the serving as a special service project for the bank. Thank you Greg. Next month Greg will be our featured speaker on the subject of the economy.

It was truly a great day!

Haute Chocolate Day Trip

2011-11-14T18:50:00.001-08:00

We visited Haute Chocolate in Cincinnati for our Fall Mystery Trip this year. Our group has never visited Haute Chocolate, however we did take our volunteers there, earlier this year.

Haute Chocolate designs their chocolates on premise and also have a nice shop for selling. They have some very unique creations. One of the creations that I find most unique is their “Deviled Egg”. I also like their Thanksgiving theme, Turkey! I haven’t decided who will eat either of these but will probably show them off during our Thanksgiving Dinner at home.

Haute Chocolate is located in Montgomery, Ohio very close to the location of Montgomery Inn. It would be a great idea to visit the chocolate shop immediately prior to having a great meal at Montgomery Inn. These are just a short walk apart.

During our volunteers event, we had a much smaller group, so we were able to do everything right in the kitchen of their shop. However, there were 40 of us this time, so we could not all fit in the kitchen. So, instead we were entertained in a very unique setting of a concept place with a large kitchen, dining and meeting area. This was an excellent venue with a very modern setting.

Of course we came here to eat, see how candy is made and try some of their fantastic confections!

As always, you can easily enlarge any image by clicking on it!

Young at Heart Luncheon–Pastor David Kisner

2011-11-08T12:00:00.001-08:00

This month our Lead Pastor, David Kisner, here at Washington Heights Baptist Church, told us about their trip to South Africa. It looks like it was a great trip to visit with missionaries, including our own “Dr D” (Dave Drullinger), our former Preaching Partner.

First we had a great Piano Duet Prelude by Fred Scheffler and David Brandt. We also sang along with them as they played a special number, “People Need the Lord”. Here is their Prelude Music as an MP3. You don’t want to here me sing.

David Kisner used PowerPoint to show photos of the scenery and wildlife around South Africa and also tell about their service there where Pastor Kisner preached and also taught pastors. His wife, Wendy, also taught in a school there and helped around the church and with Ladies Bible Studies.

The larger photo is a little out of focus but you get the idea of our presentation setting and his show and tell table behind.
Remember, you can always click any photo to see a larger image.

Click here to HEAR PASTOR KISNER’S TALK.

Click here to see the PowerPoint slides in an easy to use PDF format.

This may work best if you open the PowerPoint first and wait for the file to download and open, then come back here and click on the audio Talk File.

Here are a few photos taken from his slides.

Dave out for a stroll along the bay.

Pastor Dave with “Dr D” Pastor Kisner preaching at Mountain View Baptist Church Pray four them as they also pray for us!

Customary sunset photo to end the presentation.

Day Trip to COSI in Columbus

2011-10-27T18:07:00.001-07:00

COSI is an acronym for “Center of Science and Industry.” I always think of this as a Children’s Museum and I think this is primarily who they cater to; but there is certainly plenty to see and enjoy for us adults, too. Of course, a lot of that enjoyment is watching the reactions of the kids to different things.

REMEMBER: YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE A FULL SIZE VERSION

This is the entrance of COSI with the pendulum which swings and knocks off iron balls. We had 19 of us, including our driver, Joel Harbaugh, and his family. Thank you Joel for driving.

Many, perhaps most, of the displays are interactive. These range from biology, to physics, to ecology, etc.

I think I had a couple of areas that rated as my favorites. The top of the list was the “Progress” area where we journey back as far as 1898 to as current as 1962. I liked the Diner and the Disk Jockey. Those bring back some fun memories of my high school days.

There was also an interesting outdoor exhibit area, called “Big Science Park,” that included a tiny concept house that is only 100 square feet and could support one or two people. It was totally green with solar power and heat. It included a tiny kitchen, bathroom and living area. I couldn’t figure where anyone would sleep but I suspect it was something like a murphy bed. It might be nice as a cottage in the woods but I cannot see it being used as a primary residence! I wasn’t sold on this concept!

I also enjoyed the “Extreme Screen Theater” with a nice 3D movie about Surfing in Tahiti. I think I need to go visit! Tahiti, again!

Another highlight for everyone was the Rat Basketball Game. Yes, you guessed it correctly. They have rats that play basketball!

An area that most of the kids seemed to enjoy was the “Highwire Unicycle.” Our own Seth Harbaugh was brave enough to give it a try!

Although our group for this event was small, our enthusiasm for the activities and sights was huge!

If you are looking for a fun place to visit, check out COSI!

Young at Heart Luncheon–Louie Giglio

2011-10-11T14:04:00.001-07:00

Today, we had our luncheon program. We had Josh and Erin Hales scheduled as our special vocal concert program. Josh is our Teen Pastor. Both Josh and Erin have excellent singing voices. Erin is also a very accomplished pianist.

Unfortunately, Josh suddenly took ill, and was not able to be a part of our program. Hence, this morning we were scrambling to find something to replace our program for the month. Nancy had a brilliant idea when she remembered a video by Louie Giglio that we have at home.

After the normal opening part of our program, we launched the 40 minute video by Louie Giglio titled, “How Great is Our God.” This video is a very good one and I received many comments about it and people asking how they could get a copy. More on that later. However, I may even have a better deal for you. How is free? I found a copy of the program on YouTube. This is the entire video and the quality is very good for viewing on a computer and maybe pretty good, if you can view in on your TV, too.

I found a place where you can purchase the video for around $10 at ChristianBook.com

Here is the YouTube Link.

Much of this video covers the vastness of our universe but the later part of the video discusses Laminin. Listen through the entire video to catch this part, or do a Google search for it.

Next month, maybe we can get Josh and Erin to sing a special number or two for us. I’ll try! Our speaker will be our Lead Pastor, David Kisner. He is going to South Africa soon and will be here to tell us more about what they did over there. Don’t miss this one!

Fall Trip–Savannah, Georgia (Day 7)

2011-09-24T17:26:00.001-07:00

Today is our final day for this trip. We departed from Flat Rock, NC on time. The mechanics and Doug Porter, our driver, worked on the bus until about 2:30AM to get it running well enough to drive home. Doug never turned off the bus once it started again. Because of his long day/night, the company sent another driver to relieve him as we were nearing home. This saved him a couple of hours getting home. We cannot provide too much praise for Doug and the job he did for us. Incidentally, the bus was a very luxurious bus by Mercedes and was operated by Crown Charter from Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

One of our sore points was that I frequently chose to stop at Cracker Barrel restaurants during our travel days because they could handle our bus crowd very rapidly without any hassle. However, our people were about to revolt on me; so I relented to find other opportunities as we traveled. This is difficult, since we cannot plan far in advance because we don’t always know where we will be at a certain time. But, I would look ahead for places an hour out based on my GPS. This morning, one of our people suggested a place that he had used called the Athenaeum Cumberland Inn in Williamsburg, KY. So, we called and they would be able to handle us. The choice was an excellent one and everyone enjoyed it. The Cumberland Inn provides a way for Cumberland College to offer its students a positive work experience while promoting the college to visitors.

We used the setting of their grand staircase for our group photo.

As you can see, the facilities are very impressive. There are a couple more wings to this facility that are not shown.

We returned back home to Washington Heights at about 6:10 PM, a full hour earlier that our schedule.

All in all, this trip was a very successful trip with only the minor glitch of the bus breakdown to provide a bit of adventure. Even that was handled very well with only minor inconvenience. During our entire trip, we didn’t have any injuries or illnesses (other than minor things).

We had Rick and Janice Bowersox along to help us. Jan is a nurse and helps pass out medications, when needed, and patch people up. Rick helps me with the ministry side of our trip and leads the singing on board the bus. This, along with help from Nancy, really make my job easier and less stressful.

Based on my initial feedback, everyone was happy with this trip. There are always things that we can do different and we will take the comments to help with future planning.

Fall Trip–Savannah, Georgia (Day 6)

2011-09-23T19:17:00.001-07:00

Today turned out to be much more eventful that expected. We planned, primarily, to start the trek home with a stop in the South Carolina State Museum. I must admit that this museum was far better than I had anticipated. The facilities cover 4 floors of the building and includes a pretty nice museum shop.

Click the above image to visit their website.

Along the way we encountered some very hard rain that resulted in a couple of serious accidents. Fortunately, we were not involved and not seriously inconvenienced. However, by the time we reached the museum the rain had subsided.

Much of the exhibits were somewhat common to museums everywhere such as a selection of old cars, etc. However, I discovered several things of interest and things that are new to me.

I thought the train below was interesting and somewhat colorful, too. The boiler looks like a very large alcoholic beverage!

REMEMBER TO CLICK ANY IMAGE TO GET A LARGER VIEW!

There were many cars. Did you ever hear of an Anderson. It was interesting that it made a point of being more expensive that their competitors. But, was it really worth it?

Since my former employer was NCR, I was interested in this telephone system and the cash register. NCR also installed phone systems in department store way back in time. I once helped work on one in Rockford, IL. It was called the OK Telephone System. That isn’t what this one is, though.

Lets take a look inside a very old general store.

Notice the wooden cabinet cash register in the right photo. I’m not positive, but I think that one is a National Cash Register (NCR). I never serviced one like this but my dad would have.

Many of you know that I enjoy guns and shooting. So, It is appropriate that I handled this old black powder rifle.

Finally, its time for a little language lesson. First, how many of you have ever even heard of the Gullah language? I hadn’t; but I suspect some of my African American friends have. As the sign says, this is a conglomeration of English and African languages. Some common words that we used today from this language are YAM (sweet potato), Okra (vegetable that I do not like) and Tote.

Speaking of final, below is a Cooling Table in use. This was used to hold bodies during the viewing! It was a frame with woven material similar to what was used for chair backs.

We ended the day in Flat Rock, NC where we spent our first night. That first one was uneventful but this one was NOT!.Our bus dropped about 20 of us off at a Cracker Barrel after we checked into the hotel. The driver was to return about an hour an a half later. But he wasn’t there. I called him and discovered that the bus was broken down but he was on the phone with the experts at his bus company. Unfortunately, they did not get the bus running, so we hired a couple of taxis to shuttle back and forth between to hotel and restaurant, until we were all safely returned. That was an expensive mode of travel. Don’t think we will use them to return home, tomorrow! But, that’s another day, so we’ll be back with “the rest of the story!”

Fall Trip–Savannah, Georgia (Day 5)

2011-09-22T17:46:00.001-07:00

Today, we actually spent a lot of our touring time in South Carolina, in Beaufort and Parris Island.

We drove north from our hotel near Savannah for about an hour to enter Parris Island. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (often abbreviated as MCRD PI) is an 8,095 acres military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately 5 miles south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. MCRD Parris Island is used for the training of enlisted Marines. Male recruits living east of the Mississippi River and female recruits from all over the United States report here to receive their initial training.

After entering Parris Island many points of Interest were pointed out by guide for the morning, Rose . She was very knowledgeable of the area, including the base because her father was a career Marine. We visited the Parris Island Museum. Because this day was also parents day, there were also many Marines, with their parents, touring the museum.

The museum was relatively small with only a couple of floors and included a small theater. Most of the exhibits were primarily photos. I guess I’m spoiled by the Air Force Museum in Dayton, which is huge in comparison to this one.

One small display that impressed me was the Marine Prayer, shown below.

After departing the Parris Island Marine training facility, we went into Beaufort. Beaufort is a quaint town that was first occupied by Europeans 450 years ago. It was chartered 300 years ago this year.

The weather was not generally conducive to outdoor photography but we had enough dry bright periods that I was able to get a few shots. The city is known for its scenic location and for maintaining a historic character through its impressive antebellum architecture.

These are examples of the architecture in Beaufort. Obviously, the one on the left is very old but I don’t know about the one on the right.

Many of the buildings on the main streets have become businesses, such as these two; housing a ice cream parlor and coffee shop.

Everywhere we looked, we could see lots of beautiful flowers and plants. The climate in Beaufort is sub-tropical and ideal for these plants.

Of course, since Beaufort is on one of the Islands, there is a lot of water all around. Below we can see the waterfront and marina.

While we were in Beaufort most of us took time to find a place for lunch. Nancy and I found a great place for shrimp. The owner is from Ohio!Their fried shrimp was fresh and the best that I’ve ever had. Nancy also wanted to have some fried green tomatoes. I tried them, but won’t ask to do that again!

Tonight we enjoyed dinner at Houlihan’s Restaurant. We all really enjoyed the food and the service. I was amazed that we were allowed to order from a menu selection.

Friday, we load our bus in the morning and head back up toward North Carolina with a stop at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbus, SC. Then, we continue to Flat Rock, NC where we will spend the night.

Fall Trip–Savannah, Georgia (Day 4)

2011-09-21T19:58:00.001-07:00

Another day of touring started a bit dreary but ended up fine! Today, we went into Savannah and toured the waterfront and many of the sights around town.

We started our time after being dropped off ant the Visitor Center near the Hyatt and on River Street. It is always heartwarming to see our people helping each other. We had about two hours to walk along River Street and visit the shops and sights along the way. Many of us stayed on River Street but several also ventured further from the river to some of the Squares and other sights.

I can never pass up a chance to photograph a ship and I really like the sternwheelers! This one would give you a ride across the river for free! I especially like this photo because it includes the suspension bridge and another ship behind the paddle wheel ship.

There is a lot to see along the river but most of it is pretty bland in a photo. However, I liked this statue along the river of a girl who always greeted the ships with a flag during day and a lantern during a night. Her dog would alert her when a ship was coming in.

We provided our group a special opportunity (not part of the Diamond Tours package) with lunch at Paula Dean’s “Lady & Sons Restaurant”. Great food! The food was “buttery delicious”!

After lunch we had a guided tour of Savannah with a step-on guide. Our guide seemed to be very knowledgeable of anything to do with Savannah. First, we visited the childhood home of Juliette Gordon Lowe, Founder of the Girls Scouts. As seems to be common, we were not allowed to photograph the interior.

We also visited a Cathedral. Nancy enjoyed seeing their organ pipes .

Following our Savannah tour, we had dinner at the Johnny Harris Banquet Center. During and after dinner we were entertained by guitar and singing.

He was entertaining but the real entertainment was our very own Young at Heart Dancers!!!

(Remember: All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them)

It was a long day but a fun one. It was certainly more tiring for some than for others!

Tomorrow, we visit Beaufort and Parris Island. I will need to be careful to keep the gals away from the Marines!

Fall Trip–Savannah, Georgia (Day 3)

2011-09-20T19:33:00.001-07:00

Today, we began our real touring of the area around Savannah, Georgia. Actually, we drove a good distance south to St. Simons Island and later to Jekyll Island.

We met our step-on tour guide for the day, Barbara Smith and then drove over the causeway to St. Simons Island. The day started very dreary with showers and we prayed that the sun would come out and we would have a good day for walking around and sightseeing. In a way I don’t like bothering God about something like that but we have a good number of people with us and some are in their late 80s. We don’t want anyone getting sick or slipping because of the wetness. It won’t be any great wonder to most of you that our weather for the remainder of the touring day was mostly sunny and warm. It got cloudy late in the day as we were leaving Jekyll Island and started raining while we were having dinner. Praise the Lord for good weather.

Barbara Smith, our step-on guide

(REMEMBER: YOU CAN SEE LARGER IMAGES MY MERELY CLICKING ON THEM)

Our first stop was to see Christ Church were John Wesley and his brother, Charles first preached on St. Simons, Island. He never saw this church but preached under an Oak Tree a couple hundred feet away. The tree is still standing but severely storm damaged.

The church was built by craftsmen more accustomed to building ships. You can see the result in the construction. There we very few nails used in the construction. There were also a good number of nice stained glass windows. The current building was reconstructed following the Civil War because of its poor condition following the war.

Many of the trees and flowers in the area near the church and around St. Simons were stunning.

There are a good number of places to eat near the peer at St. Simons and near the lighthouse. We chose a place called Zuzu’s. They have very good hamburgers and sandwiches. I liked the quote from Bob Marley on the napkin holder at our table.

Of course, you can’t visit St. Simons Island without visiting the lighthouse. I wanted to climb the steps to the top but it was hot and humid and I didn’t want to distress those near me on the bus!

Once again, we boarded the bus for the trek to Jekyll Island. This is a very exclusive island that has a number of restored “cottages” once known as the “Millionaire’s Club”. The cottages are anything but! We were able to tour some but were not allowed to take photos of the interiors for “copyright” reasons. Hmm, I need to do some research on that one!

We toured Jekyll Island with another guide via a Tram.

Then, there is the Club House, were most of the rich residents had their meals and hung out here. This is a very nice hotel, today; with a 4 star restaurant.

Finally, it is time to leave for dinner. But we stopped at a beach for a short time to let some of the gals get their feet wet!

I’m not sure that this sea gull appreciated the tourists!

The day came an end after a nice dinner and time of fellowship. I think it was a great day and everyone should have a great night of sleeping after a long day.

Fall Trip–Savannah, Georgia (Day 2)

2011-09-19T18:46:00.001-07:00

I’m doing this update from Savannah. Yup, that means that we make it here. The trip down went without a problem and was a very pleasant experience. All made possible because of our excellent driver, Doug.

We dilly dallied along the way, this afternoon, to avoid arriving too early and arrived right on the scheduled time.

Once again, we were extremely fortunate with our lodging accommodations. We are staying for the week in the Hampton Inn near the Savannah/Hilton Head airport. This place gets my highest recommendation for cleanliness and room size, etc. I would certainly be happy to stay here again!

We arrive a little after 3PM, so had nearly two hours to relax and freshen up for dinner. Our dinner was at a place called The Shell House. This is a seafood restaurant but they also served chicken or steak for those who don’t like seafood. The seafood included choices of Boiled Shrimp, Grilled Mahi-Mahi or Deviled Crab. Nancy and I shared the Deviled Crab and Mahi-Mahi and both were good. I wouldn’t rate the food here as exceptional but it was good and there were no complaints.

The Shell House also had a pond behind the restaurant. The pond was home to a good number of turtles and alligators. I went away wondering if perhaps the grumpy patrons were used as alligator food!

Tomorrow, we plan to visit St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. It will be a long day, starting around 7:30 with breakfast together and we will finally return to the hotel around 8:30 or 9PM.

Since a number of us forgot to bring umbrellas (including me but Nancy has hers), we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for these, since the weather forecast here is for rain most of the week!

Fall Trip–Savannah, Georgia (Day 1)

2011-09-18T19:13:00.001-07:00

I debated whether I should even post anything for today. However, even “nothing new” is often worthy of reporting.

We left the Dayton area this morning at 8AM with 48 Young at Heart people destined for Savannah, Georgia via Diamond Tours. We have a great driver, Doug Porter. He is helpful, friendly and courteous. All good qualities for a man who will more or less be responsible for our well being (safe driver) through this week.

We stopped for lunch in the Cracker Barrel at Corbin, KY. The service there was extremely good. This is the main reason for choosing Cracker Barrel so often during our time on the road. They can handle a bus load with relative speed and have us on our way again, in no time.

We were expected to stop again for dinner along the way to Flat Rock, NC; however I chose to push on to Flat Rock and our resting place at the Mountain Inn, primarily because it would be close to dinner time when we arrive, so why not take advantage of several choices to eat. Again, one choice was Cracker Barrel and the others were Waffle House and Zaxby’s Chicken. Neither of the later could handle the bus load but the combination gave some people the option of something different. More than half of the group chose for the low end eating places but Cracker Barrel was outstanding. I also heard that the chicken place went over pretty well with those who chose to go there.

Our evening stay in the Mountain Inn is also very nice. The rooms are nicely appointed and spacious. Tomorrow, we’ll see how their breakfast checks out. But, so far, I would give a high five to the Mountain Inn.

Tomorrow, we press on to Savannah. We’ll leave here at 8:30AM and arrive at our hotel for the Savannah stay around 3PM.

The good news it that so far, everyone is doing very well. God is Good.

Hopefully, we will start posting photos, tomorrow; or at least on Tuesday, after the real touring begins.

YAH Luncheon–Spittin’ Image

2011-09-13T13:53:00.001-07:00

This program has become one of our favorite luncheons each year. This one was no exception with very good attendance.

We started with a very nice piano duet as our prelude with Fred Scheffler and David Brandt. They played a very nice variety of music.

Brian does most of the lead vocals and also adds the harmony to the sound. He is a very good guitar player and pretty good comedian, too. He is the emcee for the group.

Blain is the oldest twin (by 26 minutes). He can play like thunder with his his Gibson 8-string mandolin, but is equally at home on his custom made 5-string mandolin. When he’s not playing the mandolin he is playing his harmonicas or adding his vocal talents. He also has a love of doing pantomimes.

Now, lets see how you do with remembering their names. Which is Blain and which is Brian, below?

And again?

Remember, you can always increase the size of the images
by clicking on them with your computer mouse!

Next month, we will feature our own, Josh Hales! Be sure to join us in October!

Day Trip to LaComedia–Church Basement Ladies the Sequel

2011-09-12T10:37:00.001-07:00

We’ve enjoyed every visit that we’ve made to LaComedia this year and we have one more to go in December. This time we visited to see the sequel to Church Basement Ladies that we saw last year. This one was just as funny as the first and we readily recommend it!

Of course, another reason to go to LaComedia is always the food! Their buffet is always very good!

But even better is the company of each of our Young at Heart people who join us on any trip.

The musical comedy was fun to watch. Several of the characters were the same actors as in the first Church Basements Ladies. See if you can recognize them.

August Luncheon–August 9, 2011

2011-08-09T11:19:00.001-07:00

Our August Luncheon program was changed because Josh was not feeing well enough to sing. Fortunately, we could get the Miami Valley Women’s Center to switch their October program with Josh and do theirs, today.

We had some music today, although it was not our emphasis. Nancy, Sandy Hayward and Marlene Williams sang a trio number accompanied by Grace Averitt. Listen to their music!

Rather than just cover the main emphasis of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, our speakers addressed areas of the Women’s Center ministry that we don’t normally think of when thinking of a Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Sheri Armstrong is the Director of Evangelism and Discipleship. She discussed this very important ministry.

Brad Berlean is the Director of Men’s Ministry and reaches out to the fathers of the babies.

Nancy is the Clinic Director and also Director of Journey of Hope.

You can hear their complete program, HERE!

You can also visit the Miami Valley Women’s Center website to learn more about their ministry.

Cincinnati Reds

2011-08-09T07:03:00.001-07:00

Our July Young at Heart Day trip was to see a game with the Cincinnati Reds. Unfortunately, we did not have a sufficient turnout from YAH, so we opened the opportunity to grandkids and some other individuals from my Adult Bible Fellowship at WHBC. Together we managed to take a bus with 26 people to see the afternoon game against the NY Mets.

We had excellent seats. One row was on the concession deck and then the next two rows just below the concession deck. We overlooked first base. I think it was the best seats we could have had. We were under the deck above so were shaded from the hot sun!

Even though it was a hot day, the Reds weren’t hot enough to win this game. It was a very high scoring game, so was fun to watch. I had planned to leave early to beat the rush but there was no way anyone wanted to leave with the game close and only one run to go!

Final score – Reds 9; Mets 10!

July 12, 2011 Young at Heart Luncheon–Stan the Magic Man

2011-07-27T16:52:00.001-07:00

Sorry, this is so late. I forgot that I hadn’t added this one, yet. Remember to click on a picture to see a larger version.

Tuesday, July 12, we had a very nice luncheon meeting. Nancy and Grace Averitt did a great 30 minute prelude prior to the beginning of our program.

This month we welcomed Stan Goode back to our group. This is the second time he has performed for us. The program was entirely new from last year. He involved me in telling the story of the Shepherd who left 99 of his sheep to search for one that was lost. When he found the sheep, he carried him home and celebrated.

Stan is very good with his tricks and illusions. I never figured them out!

I also enjoyed the way he involved our people. There were a couple of grand daughters present and it was fun to watch their reactions and he also involved one of them.

I forgot to ask is she saw where the rabbit came from!

No magic show would seem right without at least one rope trick.

One trick that I enjoyed involved a group of colored lights that seemed to defy logic. I could never predict what would happen!

And, of course no magic would be complete without a rabbit. I discovered that the children didn’t care so much were the rabbit came from, as long as they could touch, or hold, it!

Next month (August 9), we will feature our own Josh Hales in a vocal concert. Josh is our Teen Pastor (pastor for teens – he isn’t a teen anymore).

B&B Riverboats–YAH Day Trip, June 28, 2011

2011-06-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic day for a cruise down the Ohio River. The temperature was in the upper 70s and it was sunny. This was much nicer than the weather forecast predicted only a day earlier. Twenty-eight of us drove down in our bus in time to arrive before the boat departed at noon.

Our boat, the River Queen, is royal ship indeed. Tastefully decorated and impeccably preserved, the River Queen exudes romantic riverboat-era charm. Two climate-controlled decks include spacious seating arrangements and buffet service. For those of us who preferred the fresh air, they also have an upper covered third deck which offers a great view of the city and a small gift shop with refreshments. This deck is open-air, but covered, so the sun was not an issue. The sun was welcome but there were occasions when some would like a little shade.

We were all seated together and were able to enjoy visiting and eating.

We also enjoyed the company of a Banjo musician and tour guide to tell us about the sights around us as we moved up and down the river. This added an authentic feel and sound to the travel bringing to mind the good old days of river travel. My grandfather worked on a riverboat for a short time. I’m not sure if he travelled on the Missouri River or Mississippi, though. He was a bit of a scoundrel, so the family didn’t talk much about that part of his life! Actually, I don’t think they knew much because that was before he married my grandmother, who was much younger than he was.

Our riverboat was a sternwheeler with the big paddle wheel behind the ship. It looked like it may have struck a log or two along the way!

As we travelled, ate and talked, our guide pointed out points along the way and told stories about many, perhaps most, of them. He was a talker!

One place that we passed along the Kentucky side of the river was a very nice, and probably expensive, condo complex. One of our ladies told us that her husband is the one who designed it. Impressive!

I enjoyed getting to meet several new people during this trip. I always like hearing their life stories. They can teach me a thing or two, and always do!

Of course there are many beautiful places to live, work, play and eat all along this section of the river!

There were also some very nice church settings on either side of the river.

There was also plenty of activity on the river to observe!

But, most of all, the real beauty of the Ohio River in this area is the riverscape on either side of the mighty Ohio!

We wouldn’t go far without the able leadership of our Captain. We didn’t hit anything and stayed afloat the entire trip!

I think a few people thought we might be a pirate ship because of this flag! But, it would only be fair to note that there were plenty of good old American flags strung around the upper deck and I didn’t see any pirates. Perhaps that was put there in the past by another crew!

It would be correct to say that everyone had a great time and enjoyed the ride and excellent weather and company!

Young at Heart Luncheon–Chris Thompson Concert

2011-06-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Our Young at Heart Luncheon this month featured a vocal concert by Chris Thompson. Chris has been active in Washington Heights Baptist for a number of years and often contributes to our music as a soloist and also as part of our Praise Team. He also frequently leads the Praise Team when Charlie is not in town.

In addition to singing, Chris teaches one of our Adult Bible Fellowships and is currently leading a Prophesy series on Wednesday evenings at 6:30PM.

You can hear the concert HERE.

Click on the photo to see it in a larger size.

Next month, July 12, we will feature a magician “Stan the Magic Man”. Stan Goode’s mother is a part of our YAH group. I’m sure she will be happy to tell you about his performances. Actually, we have had him a couple of times before and everyone has enjoyed him. Last time we also featured a couple of our children as musicians and they really enjoyed the bunnies. I think the bunnies preferred their hat, though. Join us at 11AM.

YAH Luncheon–May 10, 2011

2011-05-10T20:41:00.001-07:00

Dayton Christian – Resounding Joy

We normally start our program with a prelude of some kind. This month, we had a Piano Duo with Fred Scheffler and his student, David Brandt. They provided an excellent selection of music, playing individually and as a duet. You can hear them, HERE.

After this excellent prelude, we started our program with jokes, acknowledging first time visitors, birthdays and anniversaries. Then we introduced the day trips for May (Velvet Ice Cream), June (B&B Riverboat on the Ohio River) and July (Reds game against the Mets). Finally, we introduced the program everyone came to hear. Resounding Joy from Dayton Christian. You can listen to this part of the program HERE.

These High School students and their leader, Tracy Miller, always do an excellent job.

They even brought along their own guitarists and percussion.

I thought the soloists and the signers also did a fantastic job, really making their program interesting and unique.

Following Resounding Joy, we introduced our June program. Chris Thompson will be performing a vocal concert for us.

Day Trip–April 26, 2011

2011-05-10T18:37:00.001-07:00

We traveled up I-75 for our April Day Trip to two interesting museums. First, we went to the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. I’ve been there before and enjoy air and space museums, although the one right here in Dayton is far superior. Of course, Neil is an Ohio native who was the first human to step foot on the moon. So, much of this museum focused on this even with exhibits, photos, etc.

After touring the Air and Space Museum, we drove down to New Bremen, Ohio. I was pleased to note that most of the center of this town has been renovated. I think this was done by Crown Industries. Once there, we stopped to have a bite to eat at La Piazza. This was a very nice Italian Restaurant with a very good selection on their noon buffet. I highly recommend this.

After lunch we went one door down to the Bicycle Museum of America. They started us in a theater across the street for an overview and nice video about early bicycles. Then we broke into two groups with guides for each of us to tour the museum. The museum had a large selection of old bicycles and also a number of newer ones that were unique.

This bicycle was used in a Chinese performance and is quite interesting because you rid in the middle.

I’m not sure if this really qualifies as a bicycle or if it is a really big peddle car. One thing I think we will all agree, these gals are true kids at heart! That’s why we are called “Young at Heart”, I guess.

When I was in High School, I had a Whizzer which is a bicycle with a motor. I thought it was cool because it looked so much like a motor cycle.

In my mind this trip was a great one; and I highly recommend a trip into New Bremen for a meal and visit to the Bicycle Museum of America. If you are looking for an interesting place to show to your family or friends, check this out.

March 8, 2011 YAH Luncheon–Trumpet and Piano Concert

2011-03-08T13:07:00.001-08:00

I told everyone that this month we would have a fantastic musical treat, and what a treat it was. We had a wonderful duo of Charlie Pagnard with his trumpets and Dr. Charles Clevenger at the piano. Both are music professors at Cedarville University. Charlie is also our music pastor here at Washington Heights Baptist. That apparently is not enough to keep him busy because he is also First Chair Trumpet for the Dayton Philharmonic Symphony, has his own brass group “The Carillon Brass” and is part of another International group “EuroBrass” who travel the world doing concerts. We count it a real blessing to have him leading our worship music here at Washington Heights and were very pleased to feature him along with Dr. Clevenger, this month.

You can hear the program HERE!

Charlie is a wonderful trumpet musician and can play a wide variety of music, as he demonstrated. He plays Jazz, Classical, Spiritual, etc.

Dr. Clevenger is also very talented at the piano and plays concerts all over the country. I would like to also invite him to do a concert for us; perhaps next year.

They both also proved that they can speak very well. Charlie always has some entertaining stories to tell. He seemed to play some of his crazy stories down this time. Perhaps that is because his mother, Betty Pagnard, was in our audience. Betty is a regular part of our church and Young at Heart. Dr. Clevenger didn’t bring his mom but also spoke very well. I really enjoy hearing about music and some of their tales of happenings on tour, etc.

After the concert, we enjoyed a delicious meal of a chicken casserole, carrot salad, spinach salad and Grasshopper Pie. I insisted that the kitchen staff remove the legs before squishing the grasshoppers! Hey! I’m teasing and I suspect this is called what it is because of the green bits in the pie. However, we had plenty of rave reviews on the food! There was enough for leftovers and many people took some home.

Our theme in the dining room this month was St. Patties Day. So there was plenty of green stuff and pots of gold spread around. As you can see here, Ted really got into the season with the green hat from his table!

DON’T FORGET NEXT MONTH WE MEET A WEEK EARLIER THAN NORMAL. OUR LUNCHEON WILL BE APRIL 5, 2011.
We will feature a couple of our missionary families, including some children! Of course, we will also have another fantastic meal!

February 8, 2011 – Luncheon with Dave Harney

2011-02-09T14:02:00.001-08:00

The weather outside was cold with snow on the ground. However, the spirit of our people inside was definitely warm. The weather kept some people away but we still had nice turnout of 100 people.

Prior to our scheduled program, Fred Scheffler and David Brandt provided great prelude music for this Valentine season of LOVE. The music included, Popular, Classical, and Religious. Fred and David always do a very nice job and provide good entertainment that prepares us for the program.

You can hear a bit of their music HERE.

Later I introduced our coming Day Trip in March to La Comedia to see the play, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”. This will be a fun program, and we all know the food is very good!!

Of course, you all didn’t come to hear the piano or even me! Everyone came to hear David Harney. Last May, Dave had a very serious heart attack and was close to singing for a new audience in Heaven. But, his life was spared and he is able to continue his ministry across the country once again. Dave’s music style is mostly Country Gospel. He intertwines his music with stories and jokes. Listen to Dave’s program HERE.

After David’s performance I introduced our program for March. We will have one of our own, Charlie Pagnard, provide another great Trumpet Concert. Charlie does a great variety of music and also tells fun stories. I have never figured out how so much weird stuff could happen to one guy! You will not want to miss our March 8th Luncheon with Charlie.

How could we have a luncheon without something delicious to eat. This meal was very fitting for the day. We started with a nice Cottage Cheese Salad followed by piping hot Chili and Corn Bread followed by desert of a Cherry Crumble Cobbler.

January 2011

2011-01-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Normally, I would be posting something about our January Luncheon and Day Trips. However, this year we decided to avoid the possibility of canceling winter day trips, so we did not schedule trips for January or February.

However, we did plan a very nice Luncheon program with the Miami Valley Women's Center. God had other plans for us and we had a big winter storm the day before our luncheon. So, we canceled to avoid having people attempt driving in the snow. I don't think anyone would have come, anyway. We will try to reschedule the Miami Valley Women's Center for another time.

You can check out their programs at the MVWC website. We would have emphasized some of the programs you don't normally think of when you think of a Crisis Pregnancy Center, such as the Men's programs and support programs for families who loose babies, etc.

Our February Luncheon will feature an old favorite of our Young at Heart luncheons. David Harney will return. Last year Dave had a serious heart attack and was not doing his programs for many months. We are very pleased to have him return. We will also feature a couple of our men, Fred Scheffler and David Brandt at the piano with some great love songs. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by some of these pieces. NOW, Pray that we will be able to have our February program on February 8. It certainly seems that there is a lot of snow and very cold.

Even though we did not have our January luncheon, remember to read our Newsletters. If you missed the printed one, you will find it as a file in the column to the right. Today, I posted the February Newsletter, so as a bonus you can even read it early!

Christmas Program–December 14, 2010

2010-12-16T13:08:00.001-08:00

Even though it was an extremely cold day for our luncheon, we were still plenty warm in the church. We had a great program and very good luncheon. This was our lowest attendance in a long time but I was happy to have as many as we had, 108. We had a great time of warm fellowship.

Our time together was started with piano and organ duets and solos by Nancy Jensen (organ) and Grace Averitt (piano). They each do a great job alone but having them together is a real treat. You can listen to the music again at the link above. Note, the recording did not get enough volume for the organ but you can still hear it, and the piano is enough reason to listen again.

Following our normal opening and acknowledgments, Marlene Williams sang a very nice Christmas Medley solo. Marlene came in from her post in the kitchen to do her music and then returned to serve us later. Click the link above to hear her.

Grace and Nancy did another duet as a special. This one you can hear the organ a little better; however, there was a audio glitch in the middle, so I won’t be making any CDs! You can listen to this music HERE.

Later, Josh Hales sang a solo about the wonder of Christ’s birth, called “Strange Way to Save the World”. Josh is our Youth Pastor, leading the teen programs and he is also involved in our recreational ministries. He is a regular with our church special music and sometimes leads the music. Click the link above to hear him.

David and Pat Warren led a time of sharing and devotions with us. I really enjoyed the way Pat used past Christmas experiences of our YAH people and Dave tied it into his speech very well. Click the link above to hear Pat and some of our people discuss their Christmas traditions with David providing a nice devotional following this time of sharing. Listen at the link above.

After our program in the auditorium we had a very nice Christmas meal in the Community Life Center. The food was very good. I had people asking me for the recipes, so I will need to have Lisa do a column in the Newsletter again, with some of her recipes.

Here is a short video clip of the meal time together in the Community Life Center. Check it out to see if you can find yourself.

Christmas Luncheon, December 14, 2010

2010-11-18T19:11:00.001-08:00

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November 9, 2010–YAH Luncheon with Gary Lare

2010-11-09T18:26:00.001-08:00

We had a fantastic time with our Young at Heart Luncheon program, November 9. Our program was a full one with plenty going one. We started with Piano Music from Fred Scheffler and David Brandt. Our prelude material is so good that many people come as early as 10:30 AM just to listen to that entire program.

Following the prelude we did our normal opening material including, jokes, acknowledge visitors, Birthdays and Anniversaries. Then, we review the future Day Trips. Finally, we brought on our program for the month. This month, we featured a ventriloquist, Gary Lare. This is the second year that we’ve used Gary. He comes to us from the Cincinnati area and has a very busy schedule. We are fortunate to be able to have him on our schedule with his FRIENDS.

You can view any photo in a larger size my clicking on it! Click on the backspace in your browser to return to this page.

Hmm, I thought this guy looked a lot like our former president Richard Nixon.

I also took a video of this guy and Gary to share here. Click this link to see it! After viewing this YouTube video, you can return to this page by clicking the backspace on your browser.

Of course, a highlight of Gray’s program is when he brings up a number of our people to help with the performance. Gary’s Dummies, so to speak! Gary had the group do “Old McDonald had a Farm” Of course our group performed like animals!

Following Gary’s entertainment, we had a short time of devotions led by John Coons a former pastor from Kansas. John did tremendous job in the five minutes that I allowed him. It worked well enough that I will certainly be including him again. You can listen to what John had to say, HERE!

Of course, this was a LUNCHEON program and what a luncheon it was! Lisa and the staff in the kitchen prepared an awesome meal. Turkey pot-pie in shells, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, green beans and pumpkin pie. I thought the sweet potato casserole was even better than what we get at La Comedia, but Lisa tells me it is the same recipe. Speaking of recipes, Lisa will have a section of our December Newsletter dedicated to some of your favorites! Look for the newsletter late this month.

Next month, we will have a special Christmas Luncheon program with Christmas music and a special friend of our church, Dr. David Warren. I believe the meal will be another special one, too! Be sure to join us.

Day Trip–October 26, 2010 - Hawthorne Hill and Carillon Park

2010-11-01T18:59:00.001-07:00

This trip was another new one and I thought it was a great one. We visited Carillon Park and Hawthorne Hill. I would highly recommend it for anyone who missed this. It is a good mix of history and architecture. Our guide did a fantastic job of telling interesting stories about Hawthorne Hill the home of the Wright Brothers and interesting stories about the family, too.

When we arrived, we split our group in two because they limit home many people can tour the home. One group, mine, went through the park, while Lisa took the other group to tour the home.

I recommended that in Carillon Park we focus on the buildings with material on the Wright Brothers but the groups could do this anyway they wanted.

Orville Wright actually helped with the rebuilding of this Wright Flyer for the park. I had a work friend who actually knew him during that time.

These are a couple of the new additions to the park. On the left is a kitchen, and the right is the Newcome Home.

The building on the left is one of my favorites in the park. This is the Deeds Barn replica and houses some great technology displays relevant to Daytonians. The other is the original barn, and I remember this when it was located by what is now the Glengary Recreation Center in Kettering. Later it was moved to the Moraine Museum. Now it is physically inside the Carillon Park museum. This and other new buildings should be open in the spring of 2011.

Around noon, we had lunch in Culps Café in the park. They had prepared a nice meal for us with soup and a sandwich.

After lunch the groups were to switch with my group going to Hawthorne Hill and Lisa’s group touring the park, with an emphasis on the Wright Brothers. However, while we were loading the bus for the home, a tornado warning alarm sounded. The group touring the park would be drenched, if not blown away to Kansas. So, they decided to return to the church. I continued on to Hawthorne Hill since we would be in out of the rain and this place is as good as any to hide out during a tornado. It is a very sturdy structure. As it turned out, the threat was pretty much over in less than 1/2 hour. There were trees down but no damage other than wind damage and we all survived.

The tour took about an hour and a half and was very well worth the visit. Our guide pointed out many unique features of the home and told interesting stories about the Wright family.

This is a trophy given to the brothers in France for achieving a flight in excess of 60 feet (or was it meters) anyway, they beat the goal handily by flying 90 feet above the ground in controlled flight. The trophy illustrates the brothers under the wings.

I think everyone would agree that this is a trip to recommend to friends and family.

Luncheon Program - October 12, 2010

2010-10-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

We had a program for October. Hmm, actually all of them are very good but this one was outstanding.

We started with a half hour prelude of Piano and Organ music by Grace Averitt, at the piano, and Nancy Jensen, at the organ. Listen to it HERE. There is some background sound during this portion of the program because this is prelude time with people coming into the auditorium. Following this we did our normal routine of things such as acknowledging guests, birthdays and anniversaries. Of course, I also tell a few stories and jokes and also introduced our Day Trips for October, November and December. October is sold out and the other two are almost sold out.
Then, we had an excellent "Trip Down Memory Lane" featuring Burt Kettinger with his baritone/base voice. Burt sings at a large variety of events all around the USA and also speaks at some. He is a featured vocalist on the "Songs in the Night" radio show from the Moody Bible Church in Chicago. This part of the program was truly a trip down memory lane with songs by Stewart Hamlin, George Beverly Shay, and Thomas A Dorsey (not the one of band fame). These were all songs that we would remember from the churches of our youth. You can hear his program HERE.

Finally, we moved into our Gymnasium/Dining Room area for a very nice meal provided by our ladies and men. I heard many complements about the good food.

Next month, we will feature Ventriloquist, Gary Lare.

Cape Cod Trip - Day 7

2010-09-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 25, 2010.

This is our final day of travel. Last night we stopped in Buffalo, NY and began our trek homeward again in the morning.

Along the way we had some activities on the bus, sang and watched videos. Of course, we made our normal stops for lunch and rest areas.
One thing of interest and worthy of a photo via my Smart Phone, was this rest area along the Lake Erie. This was a very nice rest area structure but was also a nice area. There were vineyards all around us and you could smell the sweet smell of the grapes. Behind the vineyards was Lake Erie in the distance.

Cape Cod - Day 6

2010-09-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 24, 2010. This day we departed from our motel on Cape Cod and traveled to Plymouth, MA to see the Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II.

We arrived at the rock and were able to park very close. However, the bus had to move before we returned! Most of us rushed to see the rock and get our photos taken under the sign.

Click the photos once or twice to see larger views.
The largest views could be copied and printed.

It is interesting to note that there is no record of any of the pilgrims actually stepping on the rock, as legend would have us believe. So, actually, this rock has little, if any, significance. I guess the significance is that it is getting lots of tourists to come and buy souvenirs! A number of our people also took the time to quickly tour the Mayflower II. I remember when this ship sailed to America.

All along the way this week we saw buildings with these white chimneys. The significance is the white and black chimney signifies a "Safe House".
This was our final day in New England and we left with anxiety to be home but also regret because there is so much more to see. Our trip was fantastic with perfect weather. Cool but not cold and sunny. The only rain we had during this trip was at 3AM.

Cape Cod - Day 5

2010-09-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 23, 2010 we headed for Martha's Vineyard!

We drove over to Falmouth to meet the ferry across to the island. We arrived at the dock to meet our ferry the Island Queen. I enjoy boats and really liked this one. There were three decks. The lowest was fully enclosed from the elements, the next deck was a combination of enclosed and open and the top deck was all open except for the wheel house. I spent most of my time up there because it was the best location for photography.

Remember: You can click any image to see a larger view
and maybe even click a second time for a full size view.

There were a good number of fantastic yachts and nice homes to look at as we moved out of Falmouth toward Martha's Vineyard.

Nancy and Clara took time to visit and enjoy the fresh air during the crossing. Everyone enjoyed the ride.

We arrived at Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard after about 40 minutes on the water.

We walked about for a bit and had a nice lunch. No! Not at Nancy's Restaurant!
We met our local buses and took a very nice and informative tour of the island. Our bus dropped us off and went back for another group while we did a walk-about (and shopping).
We went into a small Congregational Church with very nice Stained Glass windows.

There were plenty of shops such as this one, because I liked the sign. The store that we enjoyed most was the Black Dog. But everyone enjoyed ice cream at Mad Martha's.

Finally, it is time to board the Island Queen again for the return trip to Falmouth.

We finished the day with a meal at our motel, the Town Crier.

This finishes our final full day on Cape Cod.

Cape Cod - Day 4

2010-09-27T15:48:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 was a fun day on the Cape!

Note: Due to technical difficulties on Cape Cod, these are all being added days later.

This time we headed up the Cape to Provincetown. Don’t ask me why they call this the Lower Cape; but that is what our guide calls it. It’s upper (or North) to me!

Our first stop was at a windmill. Yes, windmill in the USA, not Holland! It was kind of cool. But we have one at home in Washington Township, too.

As always, you can see bigger views by just clicking on the photos.

Next, we saw a neat light house. Actually we saw a good number of light houses but I only got close photos of two of them. I was disappointed by the power wires invading my photo space but this seemed to be common up there.

We arrived in Provincetown in time for lunch. Everyone was able to wander a bit and pick an eating place of their liking. We were in walking distance of the waterfront and the Pilgrim’s Tower. We were disappointed in the upkeep of the monument at the tower. I guess the locals have other priorities!
Note that it starts “In the name of God, Amen”. The next photo shows some of the local color. I had a pretty good cup of strong coffee in the Red Eye Coffee shop.
We traveled on a little way to a nice view of the end of the cape and also the sand dunes. We didn’t get close enough to the light house there to get a very good photo but you can see it in the haze around the bend of the beach and dunes.
We had a great bus driver, Jay, and also a very nice guide, Patricia.
Finally, we end the day in West Yarmouth at the Super Buffet for dinner and entertainment.

Cape Cod - Day 3

2010-09-21T18:31:00.001-07:00

OK, now we officially begin our tours of Cape Cod. Today was a busy day we started with a nice breakfast in our hotel, then met our guide for the week and began our bus travel around Cape Cod. Our first stop was a visit at a Glass Museum. I have to admit that this didn’t appear to be something that I would enjoy but initial impressions were wrong. I did enjoy it. Some of the work was really outstanding. Much of the larger pieces would sell for many thousands of dollars.We also had demonstrations of glass blowing.Across the road there was a neat place for the “fountain of youth”. I watched many of the gals drink but so far haven’t noticed any immediate changes. Perhaps in the morning we will be joined by "younger" girls. Of course, us guys could benefit, too!Next, we went to the canal and learned about Cape Cod as an island. I always thought it was just a peninsula but in the early 1900’s a series of projects began to build a canal across to the ocean. Now, the only way across to the Cape is by bridge. We saw a museum dedicated to the building of this canal. Of course, we visited the canal area, also. There were lots of boats.Next we ate at a nice sea food place. The food was good! After lunch, drove on and did a short visit to a potato chip factory where they make the Cape Cod Potato Chips. This was a self guided tour with the main benefit being that we received a couple of bags of chips at the end of the tour.After our chips, we visited the JFK Museum. This is relatively small with only photos. We also walked the streets of Hyannis and enjoyed the unique shops.
Then, this led us to a visit of the JFK Memorial, where we took a group photo.Finally, we ended the day with a nice meal at the Irish Restaurant where we again ate sea food or other delicacies and were entertained by a pair of singers.

Cape Cod - Day 2

2010-09-20T12:40:00.001-07:00

We are nearing our destination and stopped to put fuel in the bus and our bodies. Next stop; dinner at Lindsey's.

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Cape Cod - Fall Trip - Day 1

2010-09-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

We've arrived at our first night destination of Rochester, NY. We had a morning worship service on the bus as we traveled. Rick Bowersox let singing and we watched a video of a sermon by Dr. David Jeremiah on Heaven.

We are also using a booklet by Randy Alcorn on Heaven for our personal devotional times.

Our driver is a good one, so our travel is uneventful. We had the normal rest area stops and stopped for an early lunch at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant. Then, this afternoon/evening we drove into Rochester and we're staying in the LaQuinta Inn & Suites. There are plenty of eating places within easy walking distance, so everyone got to choose a place and friends to eat with.

Tomorrow, I hope to be able to add photos.

Luncheon Program - September 14, 2010

2010-09-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

Remember: You can click on these pictures to see larger versions!

Our September Young at Heart Luncheon is one of our fun programs and is always very well attended. This was equally true this year. We are fortunate to have the “Spittin’ Image” twins, Blain and Brian with us. They always do good music and good clean comedy. Perhaps most of you don’t know that they just came from Bearcreek Farms were they were filming for a TV show pilot. Perhaps, they will be part of a TV variety show next year. We will be in on the ground floor with celebrities! Follow their plans via their WEBSITE.

Our prelude this month was and excellent Piano Duo with Fred Scheffler and David Brandt. These guys are very good and should also be touring or perhaps have record contracts! We’ve had Fred here several times in the past. He teaches piano and David Brandt is one of his pupils. Both are members of Washington Heights Baptist Church. I am linking their entire program HERE. There is some background noise but that is understandable and OK because we do enjoy our fellowship time during the music.

Prior to our program with the twins, we acknowledged over 15 years of service with Young at Heart from Janice Bowersox. For the last 10 years, Janice has been our chief cook. Prior to that, for 5 years, she was one of the cook staff under Madelyn. She also served as the nurse on a number of trips (one to South Dakota under Pastor Jim Neely), even before she began her cooking responsibilities. We truly want to thank and honor Janice for her many years of service with Young at Heart. Janice will continue as our Fall Trip nurse and is going with us to Cape Cod, next week.

Speaking of food; Lisa Poe and Ann Wamsley have taken on the responsibility of leading the cooking team. They put out a very tasty spread for us this week: Multi-Layer Salad, Beef Stroganoff, Roasted Carrots and a fresh Peach Cobbler with Ice Cream. Doesn’t this make your mouths water just reading it! Well, it was just as good as it sounds.

Be sure to follow us on this Blog through our adventure Sept. 19-26 as we travel to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Plymouth Rock. I will try to post something every day, Lord willing. Of course, this depends on our ability to have Internet access in the hotels or by Cell Phone.

Bearcreek Farms - Brett Family

2010-09-10T21:22:00.001-07:00

We had a great meal and show at Bearcreek Farms near Bryant, IN.

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Young at Heart Luncheon - Medicare Update

2010-08-11T11:15:00.001-07:00

Our Young at Heart Luncheon for August 10, 2010 was a great time together and it held some nice surprises for me. Anytime we do something new it is an apprehensive time for me. This month we had almost an entire program based on NEW!

Because of recent retirements we now have some new people helping us in Young at Heart. Some are helping with the lunch but others are helping in other ways. This month Grace Averitt played the piano for our prelude time and she is always exceptional. Grace is our church pianist and regularly plays for us on Sundays and plays for our choir. Yes, we do still have a choir and they are fantastic. Thank you, Grace, for sharing your talents with our group.

OK, so not all of our people helping are retired! Actually, many of those in the kitchen are younger. Speaking of the kitchen, I want to acknowledge many years of faithful service by our chief cook, Janice Bowersox. I’m not sure how long Jan has been cooking but I know she started long before I came on the scene. Jan has been asking to be replaced for many months and we thought we had a replacement several months ago but things changed, so we kept begging Jan to hang in there a little longer. Finally, Lisa came to the rescue and formed a new team of gals to help with the cooking and food preparation. Her team officially took over this month and did a very admirable job. Lisa and company, you are fantastic. Now I need to warn them, Jan has set a tough example to follow, but I know you will do your best. I hope everyone is aware that everything on the menu this month was made from scratch (maybe not the sugar-free pie). Thank you Lisa and company!

This month we also had one of our younger talents help with special music. Rachel Dudenhoffer played the violin accompanied by her dad (on CD). Her music was arranged by her dad, an AWANA Missionary in Michigan. It was a very nice medley of four gospel songs. You can hear or download her music HERE.

We also featured a special speaker who gave a very nice presentation on the changes in Medicare and also our options for Medicare Supplements. LaDAwn Davis was our speaker and I was very happy with the quality of her presentation and the way she delivered it. Medicare is not the most exciting subject to do a presentation about but LaDawn did a very nice job of keeping a dull topic interesting and sometimes even a bit funny. If you missed it, you can hear it HERE. You can also download and view the PowerPoint slides in Portable Document Format (pdf) HERE. I advise opening the document then follow along with the audio. I know many of you prefer musical entertainment and comedy but this one was a sleeper and very nicely done. Those of you who stayed away missed a nice program. By the way; LaDawn is a nurse with Buckeye Home Health Care and also led our Exercise Program for several months before her promotion.

We also had Emily Bookwalter here from Buckeye Home Health Care and she discussed a program we will run on August 25 starting at 11:30am to help use with the “Vial of Life Program”. Come and get your “Vial of Life” and help with the paperwork. This is free of charge. Even better --- come a half hour earlier (11am) and join us in our Senior Exercise Program. We meet in the Dining Room (near where we eat with Young at Heart.

OK, for those who prefer Music and Comedy for entertainment, next month (September 14) will be your program! We will feature “Spittin’ Image” the Swabb twins. I know this is one of your favorite programs, so don’t miss out. I also know Lisa and her kitchen team will have something special for our meal. We also have another surprise next month, but you will need to be here to know what it is. I won’t even tell about it here.

Day Trip to Cincinnati Ducks - July 27, 2010

2010-07-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 27, we took our Young at Heart group to visit the Cincinnati area and ride the Cincinnati Ducks! This is a fairly new attraction for the Cincinnati area and we were anxious to try it. The Ducks originated as World War II DUWK amphibious vehicles. The designation of DUKW is not a military acronym – the name comes from the model naming terminology used by GMC; the "D" indicates a vehicle designed in 1942, the "U" meant "utility (amphibious)", the "K" indicated all-wheel drive and the "W" indicated two powered rear axles. The Duck we used was build at the end of the war in 1946, but is is very good condition. These are also modified to lengthen them and include large enclosures for passengers.

(Remember to click any photo for a larger view)

Our captain (left) and guide (right) were both very friendly and helpful. In fact, our captain is also a captain for the barge boats that ride up and down the Ohio River.
We always enjoy special times that we have with the friends we know and many we meet for the first time on any of our trips. These trips are always great for making new and interesting friends.
As we were about to enter the water on the Ohio side of the river, we hear a radio contact with a barge. Oops, there it was dead ahead of us! We were all painfully aware of a recent accident in Pennsylvania between another similar Duck and a barge that ended in loss of a couple of lives, so we were certainly apprehensive of making a headlong run at any barge. I thought we would hold back for the barge to pass, but NO - we drove right into the water.; holding our hats for the sudden jolt and splash as we entered the water. Fortunately, the Ohio River at this point is very wide and we did not come close to the barge. In fact, it outran us! But, we did have a bit of an adventure. Notice the view of the Kentucky skyline.
This is the pusher boat. Is it called a tug, or what?
One major highlight of this tour is the view of the waterfront and skylines on both sides of the Ohio River. This is the Ohio side. The photo with the barge above is a view of the Kentucky side.
In Cincinnati, we noticed this sign below telling about a long lost military Powder Magazine that was excavated during the construction of some of the waterfront property. There would have been enough gun power in this place to blow a very large hole and create a tidal wave in the Ohio River. I believe our guide said this was a Civil War Fort, however when you read this sign you will learn otherwise. It was an outpost in the late 1700s and was used for the Indian wars.
Finally, we are headed home again to Newport on the Levee!
This was a great tour and I would also recommend this to anyone as a great outing for the grand-kids.

July 2010 YAH Luncheon

2010-07-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

This month we tried another new performer and he worked out very well. We were entertained by Stan the Magic Man. Stan Goode’s mother is one of our YAH regulars; it is always nice to have “family” perform for us. We also had two sisters and their cousin sing for us. We always enjoy it when kids perform; this trio and solo were outstanding.

The girls, Madelyn, Nicole and Lydia sang a very nice trio together. Watch/listen to their performance HERE. Then, Nicole followed her sister and cousin with a nice solo, "Trust in the Lord". I’ve heard her sing this before and that is what prompted me to ask them to perform. You can watch and hear Nicole sing, HERE.

Following the music, we had the privilege of having Stan the Magic Man bring his premiere performance to Young at Heart. Stan did a number of illusions including card tricks, rope tricks, etc.

Then, his finale was to make the rabbit appear. This one wowed our audience and the kids especially enjoyed the rabbit.

As we always do, we sang "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" but I asked the girls to come up and help. As it turned out, we were teaching them a new song.

Following the program we had an excellent meal of fried chicken and the fixings. Our kitchen help did
another great job.

Day Trip - June 17, 2010 - Church Basement Ladies

2010-06-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day at La Comedia eating and seeing the new comedy musical, "Church Basement Ladies". This was a hilarious comedy program that I believe everyone enjoyed. If you missed it, you may want to consider taking someone special to see it before it closes.

You can click any photo for a larger image!

One of the highlights of any event at LaComedia is the food! I think everyone enjoyed the meal before the big show!

We were pleased to have some special guests with us. Sherm and Pat Bowers (our former leaders) were with us and Clara brought her grand-daughters.

This is the only set needed for the musical and is the Church Basement where everything happens. Preparing for a fundraiser and also a wedding are high priorities.

We weren't able to take photos during the performance but the performers lined up after the musical. Here is the pastor and 3 of the 4 church basement ladies. They all did a fantastic job and two of the ladies (one not shown) were qualified to be members of our Young at Heart group.

We all enjoyed this Day Trip!

YAH Luncheon - June 8, 2010

2010-06-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

We had a full program today with good music and a nice medical presentation that probably worked for me. John Porter talked about diabetes and avoiding it through diet, exercise, etc. I need to work on my BMI.
John is a Physical Therapist with his own practice - Porter Physical Therapy. He also publishes an Internet newsletter that you can request by sending an email to the address that will be published in our July Young at Heart Newsletter.
Today, we also featured Josh Hales with a patriotic music program that he did in the Sunday morning services for Memorial Day. Here is a link to that music, if you wish to hear it again. We took the opportunity to honor our veterans and other service people after Josh's music.

EnterTrainment Junction - May 25, 2010

2010-06-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

Our May Day Trip was a fun adventure for anyone! Many thought this would be a guys only thing but I received many great comments from the gals, too. The EnterTrainment Junction is a fun place for old and young kids, whether you like trains or not.

We started with a nice breakfast at iHop over by the old Voice of America property.
There were trains of all vintages, these are old ones. The trestles were built in the same design as the originals.
Yup, this is not a train. The layouts included water (real) and boats.
This old mine brought back memories of the days that I lived in Denver, Colorado and Rapid City, SD.
Everything wasn't just model trains; they also had many nice exhibits of train facts and history.
Our group even got an extra special tour of the "underground"! This is the area under the train layout and where all that water comes from. Yes, there are train tracks and trains running under the main exhibits. They have to go somewhere after they enter a tunnel. The controllers and computers for running much of the set up is also down here!
Our guide did a great job of explaining how everything works.
As our behind the scenes tour ended, we were fortunate to find a volunteer manufacturing and painting a new scenery set-up. Now, we must return to see the new stuff!
I heard many of our group telling others they would return with their friends and especially the grandchildren.

DCS Jr. High Choir - Young at Heart Luncheon - May 11, 2010

2010-05-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

This month we had a great program by the Dayton Christian Junior High Choir. We always get great programs from Dayton Christian. This is our second program with them this year. We also sent our three daughters to DCS and we highly recommend them for a good education with Christ as the center.

(click a photo for a larger image)

The girls had several ensemble pieces and also a couple of solos.
The boys ensemble also had a number of their own.
This group is led by Sarah Britton.
... and accompanied by Tracy Miller.
Their music included:

Sun in the Morning
Charlottetown - Boys Ensemble
Annie Medley - Girls Ensemble
Seek Ye First - 8th Grade Girls Ensemble
Amazing Grace - Carly Wheeler
Eagles Wings - 7th Grade Girls Ensemble
Safe Within Your Arms - Libby Hennen
Hineh Ma Tov
Love the Lord

You can hear the music and the testimonies of several of the students HERE!

Of course, we also started with a very nice prelude by Fred Scheffler. This is not his complete prelude (I was slow starting the recording). I also told a few stories/jokes.

If you missed our most recent Newsletters, they are available via the link to upper the right on this page.

Don't forget the two extra opportunities that we announced at this luncheon. One is an opportunity to meet with a nurse and have her evaluate your medications for possible conflicts and answer questions you may have about your medications. The nurses will be here to meet with you (on an appointment basis) on Tuesday, June 1st from 1PM to 4PM. We also have a senior exercise program every Wednesday at 11AM. This meets in our dining room next to the gym. If you are interested in either of these opportunities, give either Lisa or me a call at the church. Both are totally free! What a deal!!!

Next month, we will have a health theme with a special guest speaker, Physical Therapist, John Porter. Our newsletter will also feature more health related articles. This will be a special 4 page printed edition, 5 pages here on the blog (bonus page for Internet savvy YAHers! You will not want to miss next month's YAH Luncheon program.

KitchenAid Tour

2010-04-29T19:00:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, April 27, we took our Young at Heart group on a Day Trip to visit the KitchenAid factory and outlet store in Greenville, Ohio. After the tour we had a very nice lunch at the Montage in Downtown Greenville, OH. Unfortunately, we could not take photos inside the factory because of intellectual properties concerns. I fully understand this requirement because of the many years I spent working in development and around the factories of NCR. However, I was able to take photos in the lobby area where they had a very nice display of the KitchenAid products made in this factory.

This display below is a mixer they made to provide to each Fire House that had a part in the 9/11 attack in memory of those who were impacted by this terrorist act.
I goofed and was too wrapped up in making my Apple Dumpling to get a photo of the process! However, everyone enjoyed the experience of making these at the outlet store. After lunch, we returned to eat the finished product with ice cream. I can’t vouch for every apple dumpling made that morning but mine was excellent!

The Montage provided an excellent lunch in a very unique setting. I would highly recommend this version of a family run sandwich, soup and salad place. Their cookies were good, too; but I took mine home for later, rather than spoil my appetite for the apple dumpling to follow.

Dayton Christian Jazz Band

2010-04-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Today, April 13, 2010, we had an awesome group of high school students from the Dayton Christian High School present a great Jazz Band concert! Thank you students and Dr. Brian Stiffler for this entertainment. You are all a testimony to the fine job DCS is doing in our community.
Rachel Herman played piano for our prelude period before the program.
Members of the band included:
Trumpet: Alex Marcum, Andrew Hendricks, Chris Tubb, Jason Carnegis, Justin Brady, Malik Perkins, Michael Gord, Nick Reis and Tony Grubb
Trombone: Ethan Schimmels, Jason Roos, Mike Hurtado and Nick Roberts
Alto: Curtis Booker, Kevin Garber and Matt Morris
Tenor: Alex Roach, Bethany Kindle and Zach Roth
Bari: Chris Townsend
Piano: Rachel Herman
Percussion: John Czyzewski, Keith Green and Nick Townsend
Guitar: Brandon Apol
Peanettes: Katie Sommers, Rachel Ruth and Siera Stuart
I know, some of you are asking, “What are Peanettes”? These are the three girls who played percussion with The Peanut Vendor piece.

The Jazz Band played:

You can listen to the concert by clicking on each of the links above. Or you can hear it straight through HERE.

American Sign Museum - March 23, 2010

2010-03-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

In March, we toured something very different. Maybe many people didn’t even realize there is such a thing as an American Sign Museum. Well there is and it is in Cincinnati. So, we took a good group of our YAH group down for a visit. The current home of the American Sign Museum is small and a new one is in development in the Fort Washington area of Cincinnati. However, it was fun to tour the museum and see the many different signs. Most of the signs were lighted signs but they also had others including many from Las Vegas shows. We did a scavenger hunt to find certain signs and features. For example, we had to find the sign with a bullet hole in it. Actually, I found two but they had one specific one they wanted. The prize for the winning team was a nice coffee table book for each team member.

These are examples of the lighted signs. But I think Sharon was trying to push start this little car.

They even had old neon signs where you could change the letters and numbers much like you do with the small plastic letter mobile store front signs today.

I had fun making this one! How did I do?

They even had something that looked like a Sputnik satellite!

After visiting the museum, we enjoyed a nice meal at the Parkside Café.

2010-03-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

It is difficult to believe that we had our first Young at Heart Luncheon of 2010 this month, MARCH! I sure missed seeing and talking with everyone but it would not have been a good idea to have the luncheons when there was so much snow, so January and February were canceled.

Chris Thompson and Scott Vaughn provided a very nice concert with some good multimedia for our March 9th Young at Heart Luncheon. Many of you came up to me later to let me know how much you enjoyed the concert. I agree, it was excellent. Thank you Chris and Scott. You can listen to the entire concert HERE.

Scott Vaughn & Chris Thompson

I've also updated this blog to include the Newsletters for 2010. So, look in the column at the right and notice that you can click on the Newsletters Link to read the 2010 Newsletters in a .pdf format. Check it out. If you missed a Newsletter or perhaps you want to tell someone else about it and have them read an article, just click on this link and have fun!

2010-02-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 4, 2010 our Young at Heart group went to the Cedarville University theater to see the Shakespeare play, "Much Ado About Nothing". This was a fun play (probably the most fun one that he did). It is interesting that this was written over 400 years ago in 1598. The setting of this play has been modernized to take place in the mid 1940s (post WWII) in Charleston, South Carolina. Interestingly, only the location, costumes and characters were changed. The old English was still spoken. One other significant change to go with the location theme was the addition of Swing music and dancing. All in all, this was a fun experience.
The play was done in the theater in the Stevens Student Center next to Cedar Lake. I even took time to make a quick tour of the book store and cafe in the lower level.
After the play, we went to the Student Cafeteria for lunch. I was impressed with our meals and thought they were very good. Great value for the price!

I believe everyone in our group enjoyed this trip and will be sure to include Cedarville activities in our Day Trips for the future.

December Luncheon with the DCS Choir

2009-12-09T19:22:00.001-08:00

December 8th we had a special Christmas program with a fantastic performance by the Dayton Christian High School Choir. They sang a number of favorite Christmas songs and also did some nice readings.
In addition to the choir there was a men's quintet that did a very nice acapella piece.
Tracy Miller led the choir.A number of the students also gave scripture readings and solos.The entire presentation by the Dayton Christian High School group can be heard on-line HERE.

This month we again met in the new gymnasium and ate a very good meal prepared by our volunteers in the new kitchen.

November 10th Luncheon

2009-11-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Our program this month started with Fred Scheffler playing prelude music at the piano. Thank you Fred!

Nanette Hieb, our new Director of Recreational Ministries at Washington Heights Baptist, sang a solo; "The Touch of the Master's Hand". This was a fantastic solo for a number of reasons; but most important is the way it applies to the lives of babies. Click the music title to hear Nan sing.
Next, the Miami Valley Women’s Center provided an interesting presentation about the women's center and their services for young men and women. Nancy, who is the Clinical Director and Cindy Goode, the Executive Director, did the speaking and used an interesting video. I thought I knew all there was to know, but I did learn something new. Click the names to hear their talks.
Nancy also showed a short video of an Ultrasound for a baby about 12 weeks old still in it's mommy. Who could abort after seeing this? Click HERE to see the video on YouTube.

Nancy and Cindy did an excellent job of presenting the work of the Miami Valley Women's Center but there is more to learn and see on their website. Click HERE visit their website. Also, if you are interested in volunteering, please contact the center to see what jobs/positions are available. Some of our YAHers do already volunteer.
This is the first time we’ve used the new facilities, including the first ever use of the new kitchen. These facilities are going to work out very well for our group. Join us in December and you won't be disappointed!

Charlie Pagnard at Young at Heart Luncheon

2009-10-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

Our program today was an outstanding one with our own Charlie Pagnard accompanied by Dr Charles Clevenger at the piano. Charlie is our Ministry Pastor and leads our band, choir and the praise team. Of course, he also occasionally plays a piece or two on his trumpet for the church.
Charlie's day job is at Cedarville University where is a professor teaching trumpet, etc. He is also a part of several other musical ventures. He is first chair with the Dayton Symphony, plays trumpet with the Carillon Brass and does an annual program in Germany with EuroBrass. Since this doesn't keep Charlie busy enough, he also is in partnership with his son in a local Papa Murphy's Pizza franchise. Dr. Charles Clevenger is also a professor at Cedarville University and teaches piano. We should also plan a piano concert by Dr. Clevenger, some day!
Today Charlie played a nice variety of pieces intermixed with stories from his past. I think I saw Charlie's mom, Betty, cringing a few times as he told things about his childhood that she is hearing for the first time. All in all, this was a wonderful time together.

Thank you Charlie, we will do this again! Everyone insists. You can hear the entire program HERE.

Day Trip - Mrs Wick's Pies

2009-10-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today, we visited the Wick's Pies production facility in Winchester, Indiana. Wicks produces a huge volume of pies and pie shells each day. On a typical year, they bake approximately 12 million pies and shells; sending pies to about 30 states in the USA. They employ about 75 people to work three shifts a day. The third shift is dedicated to cleaning and maintenance.

As you can see below, our group and any visitors, must wear hair and beard nets. There are other clothing and adornment restrictions as well. They broke our group into two smaller groups with a man and his wife each taking part of the group.
Our guides (a man and his wife) explained some of what we could expect to see before we entered the facilities. I was impressed with how clean and efficient the factory was.
I couldn't help taking this photo of Bill Potter. He had a beard that had to be covered, so we nicknamed him Santa! Tease him about this when you see him!
After the factory tour, we went across the street to Mrs. Wick's Pies Restaurant for lunch and some of their famous pie. Most of us also bought a pie or two (or even many more) to bring home to family and friends.

Branson Trip - Day 7

2009-09-25T18:15:00.001-07:00

A fantastic trip comes to an end!

Saturday, September 26 was our final day of this trip. We departed St. Louis
at 8:30 in the morning after a nice breakfast in our hotel. Then we drove across, Illinois, Indiana and into Ohio before arriving in Dayton about 5:30PM. This time is significant and is representative of the way our trip went all week. This is the time of return originally planned. All week we arrived and departed as planned. In fact, often we were a little early.

I think everyone truly enjoyed this trip. Our driver, Donna, was a very good driver and a great assistance throughout the trip. She became part of our group and a real friend to most of our Young at Heart people. She was also a great help when last minute arrangements or changes had to be made.

This trip was a fun one and will live on in our memories for a long time. Of course a lot of the credit goes to the entertainers and our planners, Diamond Tours. However, I believe one other major reason for the success of this trip is our people. Everyone was cooperative and helped each other when help was needed. Some long lasting friendships have been made during the week of our Branson Trip. It is my hope that these relationships will continue and grow.

Branson Trip - Day 6

2009-09-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

All good things must come to an end, so they say. We departed from Branson this morning at 8:30 AM. We truly enjoyed the time in Branson.

We drove across Missouri and stopped in St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch at the Mississippi River. Some of our group rode to the top of the monument and others walked up the street for a better view of the Old Courthouse and the Arch.

Some also walked to the waterfront for a view of the casino, river boats and the mighty Mississippi River.

There is a nice museum under the arch; Mercantile Store and gift shop, too. That is also were we board the cars to the top of the arch.

Branson Trip - Day 5

2009-09-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to believe this is our last full day here in Branson. We are making the most of it!

We enjoyed a show by the Twelve Irish Tenors in the morning. These guys are either born in Ireland or are Irish/American. They did a wide variety of music including Irish Ballads and Dance and popular music.

After the show we went to Old Downtown Branson for more shopping and lunch. They we had time to rest back at the hotel before dinner and also time for our Trip Photo.

Remember: You can click on the photos to enlarge them!

This evening we had dinner at McFarlains Restaurant; then we experienced the Hughes Brothers Show in their theater. At first you would think this is another all guys group, but that is not the case. This includes the families. We had loads of fun listening to the music and watching the children perform with their fathers
.

Branson Trip - Day 4

2009-09-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

September 23 we visited the Americana Theatre to see the Red, Hot and Blue Show. This is a musical show with music representing most decades of the 20th Century. It was a very fast moving show with an extremely large number of costume changes. This show included music and dancing.
After this show we visited the Grand Country Market and had lunch in a variety of restaurants.

This evening we went to the Stage Door Restaurant at the Welk Resort for a buffet dinner and then to see Lee Greenwood & Bellamy Brothers Show. The music style of this program is decidedly Country Western.

Branson Trip - Day 3

2009-09-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Sept. 22, we had another very fun day in Branson. The weather was a bit overcast but we didn't have a problem with rain of any significance.

We left the hotel at 9AM for Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theatre where we experienced the Brett Family Show with singing and comedy/magic. These were two very talented families. Everyone enjoyed the singing and acts. The Brett family is changing with a son away in college and the youngest son stepping in as a baritone. The comedian/magician also involved his family with the exception of his wife.

This photo is Don Brett talking with some of our YAH people.

After this performance we went to Branson Landing for a little shopping and a lot of eating. While we were there, we saw the Fire and Water Show.

We left at 2:30 PM for the Showboat Branson Belle for dinner and another show of music and a very good ventriloquist, Todd Oliver. Finally, we returned to the hotel for the earliest of this trip.

Here are a few photos of our YAH group on the showboat.

Branson Trip - Day 2

2009-09-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Monday September 21, we departed from St. Louis for Branson after a nice breakfast in our hotel. We were on our way promptly at 9AM. We made a stop along the way for candy and cheese (just to take up a little more time). We were running well ahead of time and would arrive in Branson too early to check into our hotel. We also stopped for lunch where we had a choice of fast food or a nice little cafe.

We arrived in Branson at the Stone Castle Hotel at exactly 3:15 PM as scheduled. Our tour company (Diamond Tours) had their person available on site to assist with check-in. We freshened up for dinner then went to the Fall Creek Steak and Catfish House for a very nice dinner. One of the things this restaurant is famous for is tossing rolls. You had better catch them or they got a bit dirty on the floor. Fortunately, those who didn't wish to play this game were gently handed their rolls!

After dinner we went to the Baldknobbers Theatre. In case you didn't know, Baldknobbers were vigilante groups who would meet on the top of a barren hill (bald knob). The Baldknobbers are celebrating their 50th year in Branson as the oldest entertainment. It is easy to see how they have survived so long. They are one of the most fun entertainment programs I have ever attended. The music was great and the comedy was outstanding.

Branson Trip - Day 1

2009-09-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

This will be a running commentary with photos of our Young at Heart Fall Trip to Branson, MO.

We left Dayton Sunday morning promptly at 8AM. There were people arriving at the church for check-in as early as 6:30 and we were there with Lisa to greet them and help prepare for loading the bus.

Several of the other pastors from Washington Heights Baptist Church arrived to help load the bus which arrived promptly, as planned, at 7:15 AM.

The trip continued like clock work with only some minor showers along the way. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Effingham, IL for lunch. Then arrived at the Drury in St. Louis for the night at 3PM as planned.

At 5 PM we departed the Drury for dinner at Bandanas. This is a barbecue place with very good St. Louis style barbecue ribs.

Young at Heart Luncheon with Spittin' Image

2009-09-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

We had a good group of outstanding performers for our Young at Heart program today (September 8, 2009).
Don Rickard led off the program with about 30 minutes of piano prelude music. I’m going to continue to push him to play the organ for us sometime.

Click on a photo to enlarge it

Our headliners for the day were the Spittin’ Image (Swabb twins, Brian and Blain). These guys are some of our group’s favorite entertainers. They do great singing and instrument playing plus comedy.
Don’t ask which is Brian or Blain but I hear that their family knows the difference. I’m betting that they have to say something first.
This time they had a couple of our guys come up to the platform and perform with them as Elvis. The Elvis Brothers were a real hit and had me laughing out loud. You gotta believe that two 80+ year old guys as Elvis is funny but these guys did a great job and played the parts very well. I always say us old guys are really all just teenagers in old man’s bodies and this duo are certainly proof of my theory.

To end the Elvis segment, the guys really let their "hair" down!

If you know anyone who would enjoy good entertainment from the Spittin’ Image they can be contacted via their website. http://spittinimage.org/

Next month we will feature Charlie Pagnard on the Trumpet. He is our Worship and Praise Pastor here at Washington Heights Baptist. Charlie is First Chair Trumpet with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a music professor at Cedarville University; and is part of a group called Carillon Brass and a mission group called Euro Brass who has played worship concerts in Germany for the past several years.

We always have a great time in our Young at Heart Luncheons and Day Trips.

Please join us.

Day Trip to see the King Tut Exhibit

2009-08-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 20 we visited the King Tut Exhibit at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. I thought this was an excellent exhibit and we all had a good time in the museum. Unfortunately, they would not let us take photos in the exhibit area, so this will not include the photos that I enjoy posting here.

After seeing the museum presentations of King Tut, I thought it would be interesting to do some research about the Pharaohs and their interaction with the Bible. I was specifically interested in the time of Moses and the Pharaohs that he would have known or been known by. It turns out that these pharaohs would have been Thutmose 1, 2, 3 and Amenhotep II who followed Thutmose III. These were several hundreds years prior to the King Tut that we visited.

Remember that Moses was found in the bulrushes by a princess (probably the daughter of Thutmose 1). Her name is Nefure and was later known as Queen Hatshepsut who co-ruled with Thutmose II and later Thutmose III (her step-son). She was a very powerful woman and leader in her own right.

Of course, we could find information in the history textbooks but I chose to do all of my research on the Internet. The first place to look for information of historic value is often Wikipedia. So, I did a search and read Thutmose’s wiki. There is plenty of interesting reading about Thutmose III according to Wikipedia. However, we often have to read the wikis with an understanding that these are written by others just like you and me. To be most accurate, much of this is probably written by professors and others with better than average abilities to understand history. The downside of Wikipedia is that it is often written and edited by people who do not regard the Bible as authoritative, so we also need to get information from the Bible and other Bible scholars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thutmose_III

Another history writer about Bible times is Josephus. His lifetime and writing occurred during the first century AD. I don’t know where he got his information about Moses, but I suppose it was passed down by word of mouth, so it could certainly have included some exaggerations. Josephus stated that Moses became a general under Thutmose III but Thutmose took credit for his victories. According to Josephus it was during one of these campaigns that he met his Ethiopian wife. We do know as a fact from the Bible that Moses did have an Ethiopian wife.

http://www.biblehistory.net/Moses_Pharaoh.pdf

There is also evidence in Acts 7 and Hebrews 11:24 that would show the royal importance of Moses. Perhaps he could have even succeeded Thutmose II. Read this:

http://www.bibarch.com/Chronology/Exodus/Hathseptsut.htm

The following link is also a very interesting bit of research from a Biblical viewpoint. It is easy to see how Moses could have actually become a Pharaoh himself.

http://biblelight.net/moses.htm

Unfortunately, you can see that there are certainly a good number of opinions about who Moses was or when he lived, etc. It is most important that we KNOW he really did live and delivered the Jews from Egypt into the Promised Land (Canaan/Israel).

So, I invite you to join my adventure and follow the links above and even find some more on your own. However, please don’t let all of this become more confusing that it should.

August YAH Luncheon

2009-08-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Our program this month featured Gary Lare. Gary is a Ventriloquist and magician.

To start, Gary introduced us to his bird. I don’t know what kind of bird it was but maybe it was a parrot because it could talk.

Next Gary brought out his little boy who seemed to upstage Gary and then their voices got switched! But, don’t worry it all ended up normal again.
Just to even out the age range, Gary had a baby who was a bit of a crybaby then he brought out a more mature lady who had a great sense of humor. I think she would fit in our Young at Heart group very well, so I invited her to join us.Gary even mixed up working with his dummies (puppets) with some magic and also found a genie in a bottle. Unfortunately, he never let the genie out of the bottle. I would have liked meeting him. For his magic he introduced us to three balls that seemed to get their positions mixed up often.

We couldn’t let Gary’s dummies outdo our Young at Heart group, so Gary invited 5 of our people to join him for a little singing.

Helen, Sam, Bill, Paul, and Lisa (dummies extraordinaire).

Helen on the left was joined by Sam for some great seats at the ball game. Their singing voices were Ok but the stars don’t need to worry.Then, Paul and Lisa joined in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”

Paul and Lisa get points for singing enthusiasm even if their singing was NOT up to Broadway standards.

All in all, I think our group enjoyed Gary and his program. We will certainly plan to invite him back!

This month is was also good to have an old favorite back with us. Fred Scheffler was at the piano doing our Early Bird program for us.

We had the best attendance we’ve had since the beginning of our construction project. It is great to have our new parking lot. Next month will be even better with more good entertainment and the construction project completed. We are looking forward to using the new facilities for our Young at Heart Luncheons in a couple of months.

Day Trip - The Wescott House, Springfield

2009-07-29T07:58:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2009 we visited The Wescott House in Springfield, OH. We started this trip with a nice meal at Teaberries. The food was outstanding and they also have a nice gift shop that many of our group enjoyed.

Teaberries is a renovated school house and is nicely done. They have several dining rooms but I think we had the largest one. We had a fine looking group of 27 people.

Remember, You can click on the images below to see larger ones.

After lunch, we drove on up to The Wescott House. This was a forgotten Frank Lloyd Wright structure that had been forgotten. Even worse, it was converted into apartments and then severely neglected. A foundation purchased the building and spent 5.8 million dollars renovating the structure and furnishing it to the way it was when the Wescotts lived there.

Our tour of the house began with a short video explaining the renovation and other information about the house.
Side View of The Wescott House property
View showing the main house and the garage (behind our bus). The garage is currently used for the gift shop and tour entry.
The front of the building is equally imposing. In front of the canopy (behind the white wall) there is a reflecting pool that cannot be seen from this view.
They split our group into two separate tour groups and our docent did a very nice job of explaining the structure and providing information about Frank Lloyd Wright and the Wescott family. Has anyone ever seen a Wescott automobile?
Frank Lloyd Wright often included the physical habitat in his structures so they fit together. This view illustrates how the foliage played an important part in his architecture. This home is his Prairie Architecture.
Now it is time for a test to see how good attention you paid to the docents as they explained the architecture. Everything had a function. What is the function of this structure? See the end for the answer.
Next, our tour took us inside the home. Unfortunately, they would not allow us to use cameras inside, so this part will need to be experienced first-hand. I think it is worth the effort. Most of the woodwork and the glass in the building are original. Furnishings are replicas.

Finally we walked between the home and the garage. We learned that the garage was originally intended to have a turntable because cars at that time did not have reverse. However, before the turntable could be included, cars were built with reverse and both Mr. and Mrs. Wescott had nice new automobiles.
The backside of the home is not nearly as imposing as the view from the front but it is still a nice large home.

This concludes our short virtual tour (minus the inside). If you would like to know more about The Wescott House or perhaps visit on your own, you can check out their website, The Wescott House

OK, did you answer the question above? The structure is a Purple Martin Bird House; to keep the bugs away. Unfortunately, the birds were not attracted to this because these birds prefer round hole openings and Mr. Wright used rectangular opens for appearance sake! Mr. Wright had other idiosyncrasies such as not liking basements or attics. Basements were not part of the natural terrain and attics were for things you don't use, so is of no need, itself!