Mark Twain–Young@Heart Luncheon

We had a very special program for July with very special guests.

Our grand-daughter, Elizabeth Koerber, did our piano prelude. This is the second time she joined us and she brought her parents, our daughter, Michele, son-in-law, James, and two of her siblings, Nathanael and Abegael. It is always fun to spend time with them. They live down in Blanchester.  Elizabeth did a nice program at the piano! If you missed this part of the program, you can hear some of it, HERE!

Our very special guest this month was non other than Mark Twain; also known as Stephen Hollen, to us! We are trying a number of different programs this year and this is one of those. We will do two more this year and several more next year.  Be sure to invite friends to join us for the fun.  Stephen has a number of different programs, so maybe next year we will try another of his fun programs.  He is a great storyteller, as we experienced, today.

As our Young@Heart people arrived, Mark Twain was here to great everyone!  I think many of you had difficulty thinking of him as someone born in 1835, when you talked with him.

Mark didn’t bring along his key figures from his real stories, Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn!  Perhaps, that was because I mentioned that all children were to be under control of their parents or grandparents!

Unfortunately, our Young@Heart people did not bring many of their grandkids! Nancy and I did our part by bringing three of our grandkids for the program. They got a big kick out of seeing someone who wrote some of their favorite stories. I think Jim Weiss also brought a couple of their grandkids but they didn’t join us for lunch and I don’t think they even had an opportunity to talk with Mark. So, I get to show off a couple of our grand-daughters!

Mr. Twain was a great author (I was a boyhood fan of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn) and also traveled as a lecturer and storyteller. Or course, our real life storyteller, is actually Stephen Hollen and some of the stories that he told were the same ones told by Mark Twain in his speaking engagements across the country and around the world.  One of those stories is the one he told here about the frog. Twain also had a great interest in technology and even hobnobbed with the likes of Thomas Edison.

The following photos were taken during our program. I am also including a recording of the program HERE!

Remember to click on any image to see the large version!

Next month, we will try another new program. Our August 13th program will feature Bill Corfield. No corn, there! Bill is a very popular vocalist and also has a band. He will be here to sing some of your old favorites, Including gospel and popular. I heard his voice and I really like his music and so will you. Be sure to join us in August!

Day Trip–Ohio Riverboat

Today, we went to Newport, Kentucky to Riverboat Row and boarded the River Queen for a slow cruise on the Ohio River. There were a total of 32 of us and we could not have requested a more beautiful day to be on the deck of a large riverboat. The trip was outstanding and we returned to our dock without any mishap, which seems to be so common with the cruise ships these days.

BB Riverboats - River Queen

(REMEMBER: CLICK ANY PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW)

We had a good selection of tables adjacent to the windows to sit while we ate a nice lunch of Pulled Pork, and Barbeque Chicken with the fixins. I didn’t hear and complaint about the food.  Perhaps, this is because they recently hired a new chef.  We also had a good guide who also played the banjo and sang. I learned some very interesting things about riverboats, the Ohio River and some of the bridges and architecture along the way.

After the meal, most of us went up to one of the upper decks. Our meal was on the first deck, and there were three decks available to us for use.  There was a forth deck but it was blocked, perhaps because it would have been uncomfortable without any opportunity for shade.

This is the John A Roebling Suspension Bridge.  It stands as a monument to the genius of its creator. Roebling submitted plans to Cincinnati and Covington in 1846 (yes, prior to the Civil War).  Unfortunately, due to political wrangling and the Civil War, the bridge wasn’t completed and opened until January 1, 1867. At that time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and remained so until he built the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883.  Our guide referred to this bridge as the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge. I would say, as a testimony to his genius, it is still standing and carrying motor traffic to this day.

No trip on the Ohio or Mississippi Rivers could be a true riverboat experience without the paddle wheels.

 

One reason these riverboat tours are so popular is because of the scenery on both sides in Ohio and Kentucky. I would love to have one of those old homes or condos along the riverfront! But, of course, so many people also flock to the riverfront for the sports complexes in Cincinnati. The Reds were playing as we cruised by.

Lest you fear that we weren’t being safety conscious, here is a locker full of life vests.  There were a number of these, so I must assume that there were enough to go around.

But, of course, the best reason for these trips is to make friends and get acquainted with new people. Nancy befriended Greta during this trip.

OK, so “there are other fish in the bond!” Perhaps, next year we will ride on one of the DUCKs!

Good News Trio–June 2013 Luncheon Program

Today, June 4, 2013, we enjoyed the music and ministry of the Good News Trio from Portsmouth, Ohio.  We first heard them during our Mystery Trip, last fall to Scioto Hills. After that, we decided they would be perfect for a program with our group. I don’t think anyone was disappointed in the decision to bring them here.

The group is made up of Ray McGinnis and Mark Bales and Nancy Bales McGinnis. Mark and Nancy are brother and sister and Ray joins the group as Nancy’s husband. They’ve been performing together for 30 years. They write a lot of their own music. Nancy writes the words and Mark adds the music. Mark does some of the music writing, too, I think.

Left, Mark Bales; center, Nancy Bales McGinnis; right, Ray McGinnis

I think everyone there agrees that this was one outstanding program. We will plan to use them again in the future.  If you missed the program, you can listen HERE! Of course, it would be best to hear it first hand.  Join us next Month!

Next month, we will hear from a great story teller - Mark Twain!

Trumpet/Piano Concert by Charlie Pagnard and Chuck Clevenger–May 14, 2013

Our Young @ Heart program was an outstanding musical treat. We started with our prelude music by Fred Scheffler and Nathan Brandt on the piano, sometimes playing together and other times, solo.

But the real treat was our main program with the two Charles at the piano and trumpet.

All Photos are clickable to provide a larger photo

First let’s introduce our musicians. Both of our musical artists serve as professors of music at Cedarville University. Charlie Pagnard is also Principle Trumpet for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, is the Minister of Music for our church (Washington Heights Baptist), and has recorded with the Boston Pops and with the Carillon Brass. He also plays most years with EuroBrass in Germany and the USA. Finally, because he has so much extra time, he has a Papa Murphy’s Pizza franchise.  Chuck Clevenger is a Concert Pianist, teaches Humanities and Piano, and is an accomplished artist showing in many art collections. Perhaps his most renowned series of paintings are of the “Ohio Barns”. He regularly travels for the purpose of painting. If you are interested in his work, check it out at Artline Studio on Facebook.

Cedarville University - Dixon Center

EuroBrass                                                     Artline Studio – Ohio Barn

Charlie Pagnard

Chuck Clevenger

I also enjoyed their explanations and stories of what they were playing. We were fortunate to gain a little music education as we were entertained. Notice Nancy Jensen beside Chuck Clevenger. She was his qualified “page turner”.

I know you all want to hear the concert.  You can hear it HERE!  http://www.whbc.org/media/audio/20130514_Concert.mp3

I also posted a short video of one of their pieces on YouTube. You can watch it at the following link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Pw9w5uszmqM

Our luncheon was served in honor of our mothers and also celebrated the taste of Cinco  deMayo. As always our cooks and dining room helpers did an outstanding job. Thank you ladies and gentlemen!

Resounding Joy–Luncheon, April 9, 2013

WooHoo!  What an awesome God we have!  We saw his handywork today through a great group of teenagers from Dayton Christian High School. The singing group, Resounding Joy, performed for a full hour for our enjoyment!  If you missed it, you can hear it here later in this blog post.

To start, several of the kids played the piano for our Prelude period prior to our normal procedures and their concert. Thank you Luke Goodman, Morgan Beck, Abegael Walkin, and Carolyn Herman. (forgive me if these names are spelled incorrectly) Later these same students performed with the chorus.

Remember, you can double click on any photo to see it in a larger size!

Next, the group performed a good number of songs intermixed with speaking parts.  I will include a number of photos in no particular order except in the order of the performance.  You can hear the entire program (minus my ramblings) HERE!

They even had their own interpreter for the blind and percussion section!

Great soloists, too!

Look out, Billy Graham!

Someone later commented to me that he felt that he’d heard three sermons and praise sessions!  Resounding Joy did a great job representing Dayton Christian Schools and our Lord God.  But, I told him this doesn’t get an excuse for skipping the next three sermons!