Sweet Music

Some things are just meant to be shared! First, I know that I am a public school employee, and I understand the separation between church and state. Second thing, I know that overzealous, hard-core, religious fundamental messages tend to turn folks off rather quickly. That is not what this is about, or at least, that is not what it is meant to be.

This past week, I had the unique opportunity to travel to Orlando, Fl as a chaperon for the Gibson County High School BETA Club. Six of their members were attending the National Beta Convention. One of their members was on the program to introduce a speaker, and GCHS was representing the state Beta Club in the individual talent competition. A quartet of talented young ladies had worked on a medley of old-time, religious songs for weeks, since early spring. They performed acappella and they are very, very good. I was initially invited to hear them sing in a practice session at a local church. The performance was recorded and placed on youTube so they could critique their performance. As I recorded the music, I realized that I had teared-up. I think it was a combination of watching the girls' faces as they sang, and perhaps the songs themselves brought back old memories that "flooded my soul". After they won the state competition, they sang at a couple of churches and at a school board meeting. I was at the board meeting, and I had a similar experience. I also noticed that others reacted with an emotional experience as well.

On to Florida, and on to more practice. Sometimes these practice sessions would occur in the motel room and sometimes in other locations. The night before the final competition, the group decided to have a late pizza meal adjacent to a shopping mall. Our traveling group consisted of ten at most meals, and we often had to wait for a table to be set up or cleared for us. It was approaching 11:00 PM, and there we only two other dining parties in the restaurant. Our server was a very personable gentleman. He was originally from east Tennessee but had lived in Florida for the past 20 years. Through casual conversation, our girls learned a little about him, and he began to learn a little about them. "Where are you from?" "What did you do today?" "What are your plans for tomorrow?" "If you go to Disney World, go down Main Street and you can see me." He told them that that he sang there with a barber-shop quartet every day. Our girls then told their story and offered to sing for him. He took our orders, served our food, and brought our checks.

As we were paying, the restaurant was almost empty, and the girls began to sing. He asked them to wait as he called his colleague, a women in her mid-forties. At first, they rested their elbows on the counter top next to the cash register. For the next 3 minutes, that Pizza Hut was filled with something other than the smell and sounds of pizza making. Both servers begin to smile as the girls sang, and then they begin to wipe tears from their eyes. As the sweet music ended, their small audience responded while still wiping at their eyes. "Wonderful! Great...beautiful." The man recoginized the group's talented, harmonious performance. The young lady was now wiping her cheeks. "Bless you. Bless you." She was literally moved to tears.

The next day, the girls preformed again in competetion. There was a couple of piano solos, a yodeler, a dance number, rock band, and a few vocalist. We did not win. Although there was disappointment, I don't think we lost anything. Four lovely young ladies represented their state, school, and communities well. Their voices were heard by thousands. How do you measure the impact of human beings on one another? I don't think it is has a lot to do with trophies, plaques, or blue ribbons. I am still learning.

Here is a youTube video of an early practice session. Enjoy Sweet Music. Thanks girls.