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

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

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

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

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

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!