Author: Site Administrator

We’re on our 5th day of tour and I finally just now got to do a post. There’s quite a bit to catch you up on.

The first night was uneventful, just the bus ride up to Hopkinsville, KY. The wi-fi at the hotel wasn’t cooperative, but there wasn’t much to say anyhow. On Friday we drove to our first worship service, at Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, KS. There were a few bobbles, but overall it went very well for a first concert. There was a good turnout, and we were fed well. They even had an ice cream social for us after the concert. A few hours of sleep later we were back on the bus to head to Mitchell, SD, home of the one and only Corn Palace. It is a small civic-center-like building with a basketball court and a stage. Every year they decorate the outside of the building with corn cobs of different colors to make a mosaic. Some of them are really creative! This year’s theme was rock and roll, so they had a mosaic of Elvis, one of Willie Nelson, and several others. It sounds pretty cheesy, and in truth it *is* pretty cheesy, but it’s still fun. We’ve gone to the Corn Palace every time we’ve made the trip to Mt. Rushmore, and it’s become a tradition to try to convince the newcomers that it’s a really important landmark.

Quite a few of our group decided to walk the couple of blocks from the church back to the Corn Palace at 9p to see what they call the “light show”, when they light up the turrets on the building. It was fairly underwhelming as a light show, but a success as a social event. Caleb Thome, in a moment of genius, brought his trunk-or-treat costume, an outfit that looks like an ear of corn. He wore it to the Corn Palace Light Show and was an immediate hit. He also wore it for warmup at the church yesterday, and even got props from the minister for wearing it.

Yesterday morning the choir sang for about half of the service at Mitchell First UMC, our hosts. They were a late add to the tour schedule, and their pastor was great about working with Kim on short notice. He was equally nice in person, as were all their members.

On Saturday night I was walking back from dinner and stopped to talk to a man who was sitting outside his apartment across the street from the church. We wound up talking for more than half an hour. He grew up in Mitchell, but had lived in some other places too. He told me a lot about the other religious denominations that are prominent in the area, and about the UMC in that part of the world. He recommended a book to me, “The Heart of Christianity” by Marcus Borg, and I made a note on my phone so I could go check it out. We were loading the luggage yesterday and I felt someone tap me on the back. It was the same gentleman, handing me the book that he had recommended. I’ve just started it, but it seems well worth the read so far.

Yesterday we rode up to Custer National Park for some touring and group time. We didn’t see much wildlife on the way into the park, but that all changed later. There’s a private company that will truck you back into the park on hay wagons and feed you a chuckwagon dinner when you get there. On the ride up, which took about an hour, we saw a lot of buffalo, prairie dogs, deer, and even a turkey or two. They even had a bluegrass band for dinner, whose members led singalong songs on the way up and imparted info about the park and the wildlife. While we were eating dinner, 7 or 8 buffalo wandered up right across the road from where we were. One even ventured into the woods about 80 yards from where were were eating. The guides said that the buffalo don’t normally hang around there, so I guess we were lucky. It was amazing to see them that close up!

We ate and socialized and danced a little bit and then headed back down to Keystone to the hotel. It was only about 10p MT when we got to the hotel, but our bodies thought it was midnight. Everybody I’ve talked to so far today slept well. It is very quiet up here, which helps.

We’ve got some free time this morning and then we’re headed up to Custer National Monument, to Rushmore Cave, and then finally to the amphitheater at Mount Rushmore to sing this evening. We’ll hang around there until they light up the mountain tonight and then head on back to the hotel. It’s always nice to be in the same hotel two nights in a row so we don’t have to pack up in the morning. Tomorrow we’re back on the road to tour the Badlands, stop at Wall Drug, and head to Chamberlain to sing.

I arrived in Frederick about 4:30 yesterday afternoon and took the chance to walk round downtown. Amy Cook Trim, who’d organized the Frederick stop, works right there; hadn’t seen her in probably ten years. And yet, it’s nifty how easily we can pick up on shared experience and shared knowing people and chat uninhibited.

Baker Park is large and beautiful. The Band Shell, where the choir sang, is right on the edge closest to town. The choir went through some brutal traffic on their way south from Maine–we tossed the Frisbee as we waited and enjoyed being outside. (Perfect weather. Last spring evening of the year. God is good.) After long hours on the road, the choir arrived and did one of their notorious 15-minute set ups to sing a service. The usual small number of local family members stuck round for it, and a handful of passersby stopped for short or long whiles.

And did they sound fantastic. I’d not heard God’s Light in a number of years since I was usually off at camp or living out of state. Y’all, as Andrew sang “Light of the City” (which we first sang eleven years ago), it was as though home came to me. To hug these counselors who meant so much during my growing-up years. To hug Kim, who pours herself into teenagers year in and year out. To hug these people who have literally known me from infancy–it’s a brief moment of being at home. All the wee children who sat in Sonshine Singers eight/nine/ten years ago are now tall and grown looking. Many were in 2nd grade Sunday school with me. A few were even my campers. I’d forgotten, how lovely it is to be with people who know you, and whom you have known, for ages beyond measure. At the end, Kim called us up to sing Amazing Grace and Closing Prayer.

There’s my piece of God’s Light 2016 tour stop in Frederick. Through the struggle and weariness, God is strong. Being there last night was an encouragement to me, and I’m thankful for the faithfulness of the students, counselors, and Cal (oh, yes, so wonderful to see Cal who has faithfully taken Bus 1 on 27 tours) for pushing through some real tough things this trip. Thanks, y’all, and come back this way some time.

Hey. It’s been a while. The last time I wrote was 6 years ago—since then I’ve been to college, Scotland, moved to DC, finished half of grad school, and revisited tour stops from ten years ago (New York City, Boston, Annapolis, Philadelphia). Finally, too, I’ve got the perspective to understand just how amazing the God’s Light choir experience is, and how my six years in choir shaped me. I’ve been chatting about it to my friends here, and one of my dear ones wrote back “What an absolutely wonderful experience for a teenager. It almost makes me wish my grands were Methodists!!!!!”

And oh, was I excited last week to learn that God’s Light would be stopping near me! See, there are people who commute into DC from Frederick, which means it’s kind of like calling Rome, GA, “Atlanta”. After a bit of surreptitious facebook research and cross-state grapevine via a text from Mom relaying what she “heard at the pool just now,” I determined when, how, and where to show up. (Gotta love it. No matter how far you go, you can never. escape.) I’ll be leaving work shortly to escape the worst of traffic on 270; you think traffic on 285 is bad (which it is), come drive round the Beltway any time between 12 midnight on a Sunday and 11:59pm Saturday. I plan to hang round downtown Frederick for a while, maybe find a bite of supper or a secondhand bookshop or a Goodwill to drop off the things in the back of my car (a chore I’ve put off for two weeks now).

Last I talked to Jeff a little after 1pm, they were somewhere near Hartford, CT, 6ish hours out. Happily, I’m not 🙂

All right. I’m so keen it’s hard to wait, and I’ll be off now. Will finish writing later tonight once I’ve seen everyone and have something to say beyond I’M SO KEEN.