2016 YAH Fall Trip - Philadelphia - DAY 2

Our days always start with a Continental Breakfast in the Abraham Lincoln Hotel. Once again, I want to thank Rick Bowersox for taking these photos and uploading them for me each evening. I know this makes his days a little longer and busier. Of course, thanks to Janice Bowersox as our nurse and to Greg and Lisa Poe as the group leaders. Our driver is Mel with the blond hair on the right.

All ABOARD!

During Day 2 we traveled to Philadelphia where the group went to the harbor to view some ships and  board the Spirit of Philadelphia for a cruise and  lunch aboard the ship. The harbor also had a number of other ships including the first warship made of all steel. 

First, the Spirit of Philadelphia.
 I am compelled to add the photo of the Tall Ship, just because I love these old ships.

 Lou is enjoying a view of the Olympia, the first and oldest all steel warship.

Time to settle for a nice cruise and meal!

 Philadelphia skyline

 Remember, you can always enlarge the photo views by clicking them!

Following the cruise the group enjoyed some free time touring Historic Philadelphia on their own. Since all these photos are taken by Rick Bowersox, this represents his tour and others likely saw more or less.

There are a number of important sights to see in Philadelphia. Independence Hall and the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier along with the Liberty Bell are a few of them.

Maybe someone will bring me samples from the Philadelphia Mint. This mint has moved three times as coinage requirements increased. So, obviously this isn't OLD.

 Often, I think our country has forgotten our Religious Liberty!
It is good to see both of these items on display.

Following the tour, our group returned to Lancaster for nice meal at the Deluxe Diner. Each person had already pre-selected their choice of meal. 

2016 Young@Heart Fall Trip

We're always happy to have our annual Fall Trip somewhere around the USA. This year we chose to go to the Eastern area of Pennsylvania around Lancaster and Philadelphia. We wanted to enjoy some Fall color and some of our heritage.

Normally, Nancy and I would lead this trip, however, Nancy is not well, so Greg and Lisa were gracious to take our places. Rick and Janice Bowersox also joined with them as Nurse and co-leaders. Rick is also responsible for most of the photography used in this Blog, during the trip.

What a wonderful group of travelers!

DAY 1

Our first day was primarily spent on the road from Dayton, Ohio to Lancaster, PA with rest and lunch stops as needed. Therefore most of the photos are taken at Cracker Barrel or rest stops. Believe me, the next days will be more fun. However, they were entertained on board the bus will videos, bingo, and singing (just like for Summer Camp as teenagers!  I think a few photos caught someone acting more like teenagers, too!  :-) I always insist that we are all merely teenagers trapped in OLD bodies.

DON'T FORGET - YOU CAN ENLARGE THE PHOTOS BY CLICKING ON THEM!

 The first day ended with a meal at the Old Country Buffet. Following that, everyone checked into the Abraham Lincoln Hotel before retiring for the day.

We'll be adding more photos and maybe even  a story or two, if I can get anyone to rat on the others!

September 13 Luncheon Program - Spittin' Image

Our September 13 Young@Heart luncheon featured Spittin’ Image, the Swabb twins. Prior to this part of the program, Fred Scheffler and Nathan Brandt played nice piano music. You can listen to their music, HERE.

Spittin’ Image always provide good entertainment. They sing a variety of music including Bluegrass and Gospel.

 You can listen to the entire program HERE or see a few video clips.

Next month, October 11, we will feature our own Robert Rhodes. Robert is our Music and Worship Pastor here at Washington Heights Baptist. He has performed in a number of musical programs, including several Cedarville University musicals. 

Kentucky Horse Park Day Trip - August 19

I've been wanting to visit the Kentucky Horse Park for a number of years but this is the first time that I could go when we had a Young@Heart trip. I will admit that I was a bit concerned about the amount of walking for this one. I assumed it was something like a county or state fair. Perhaps this is the closest someone like me could come to describing the park layout. There were a lot of barns and other buildings, but no rides or outside vendors.

The park is really beautiful and is a great place to visit with your family, sometime. But - - - there is a lot of walking, if you want to really see the park. Of course, there are always places to sit and rest a spell, too.

This is the view at the main entrance and gift shop

As we entered the park the first thing to see is the main building where they sell the passes and have a gift shop. There is a huge mechanical horse. It seems to gallop on some kind of schedule but isn't working all the time. I guess even mechanical horses want a rest, now and then!

The first event that we did was to go to "The Big Barn" for a demonstration on harnessing the work horses. A young lady handled the harness parts very well and I was surprised about the weight. It was over 70 pounds. Remember, these work horses are for pulling things such as carriages and plows. They aren't normally ridden but harnessed to pull other things. The horse is the motor that pulls and also the brakes to stop the forward motion. The harness and collar are put on in a way that they can effectively allow the horse to stop.

Of course, the horses can pull a variety of wagons, carriages and farm implements.

There were other demonstrations and even various performance events to see. There is also a very nice museum about horses over the centuries. I didn't realize there is so much history concerning horses. Of course, they are mentioned in the Bible and were created at the beginning of our world. One could easily spend several hours in this very well laid out museum.

Following the tours and museum we had an opportunity to eat in their restaurant. They also have a smaller cafe. I was pleasantly surprised that the food and service were actually very good.

It's always good to tour with our people. One thing that makes is special is that so many of our people have talents that far exceed mine. Bill Speyer with Darlene were part of this group and Bill took an excellent video of the tour which he posted on YouTube to share. So, now you can see it, too! Just click below! Be sure to expand it to full-screen and turn on your sound.

Now. off we go to the gift shop. I like their taffy and Nancy likes the cups.

I'm tempted to call this, "Nancy Rides Off Into the Sunset"

Maybe that is because she enjoyed shopping in the gift shop. They have the normal things like model horses, carriages, candy and for Nancy and I, COFFEE CUPS!

August 2016 YAH Luncheon Program - Chuck Curran

This month we featured a couple of first time events for our luncheon program. Robert Rhodes sang a couple of Broadway musical songs and Chuck Curran shared from his experiences in politics.

However, to start, Grace Averitt and Nancy Jensen played the piano and organ for our prelude period. Grace went on to perform with and accompany Robert.

After our jokes (we use those to bring people in from the foyer) we introduced Robert Rhodes.

Robert is the newest member or our Pastoral staff at Washington Heights. He is the Pastor of Worship and Arts and is a recent graduate of Cedarville University and performed there frequently with the Jubilate Chorus and also in a number of musical plays. Some of you may have seen him in one of those musicals.

This month he performed pieces from two different musicals. First, was Beethoven’s Birthday (from Charlie Brown) and the second was Dream a Little Dream of Me.

Robert will do an entire musical program for us in October.

Following Robert’s music, we did our normal opening program with acknowledgements of birthdays and anniversaries and upcoming trips, etc.

Then, we brought Chuck Curran up to speak to us about the elections and the importance of our votes. Chuck is a long time resident of the Dayton area and has filled a number of political positions. Curran relocated to Dayton, Ohio in 1963 to handle government documents for the Dayton Public Library. He then worked as a Social Sciences teacher at Fairborn High School from 1963–65, and he worked as a Reference Librarian at Belmont High School from 1965-66. In 1966, Curran was hired as a Political Science instructor at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. He served as a Democrat on the city commission of Dayton, from 1970-79. He later served as the Democratic Ohio State Senator from 1979-83. In 1983, Charles began his first of 6 four-year terms as Montgomery County Commissioner (served 1983-2006). In 1996, Curran switched to the Republican Party. He continues to serve as Associate Professor of Political Science at Sinclair Community College.

As you can see Chuck served under both the Democrat and Republican parties. He brings a wealth of experience to his teaching position. After listening to him, I can readily see that he is an excellent teacher. His talk was informative and at times humorous and even spellbinding. I can honestly say that he taught me a few things about politics.

Thank you Chuck. I believe this is an important time in American History and therefore our votes are important. VOTE!

Unfortunately, our recorded audio did not work, except for the video. So, there is no recording of Chuck or of the Piano/Organ music.

Following Chuck we had a very nice picnic meal prepare by Lisa and her very capable volunteers.

Next Month, we will be entertained by the Music and Crazy antic of Spittin’ Image!