We're on a long bus ride back to THQ from London, ON. By the time we get there we will have travelled about 842 miles in total. This is considerably longer than a regular CSB weekend trip on a bus. It started on Friday evening when we left THQ at 5:30 pm. We drove as far as Lansing, MI where we stayed overnight before continuing on Saturday to cross the Blue Water Bridge that connects Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, ON.
The northbound border crossing was very uneventful and caused us to be more than an hour ahead of schedule. Just north of Sarnia we made a lunch stop with some members heading to Tim Horton's and others having a sandwich at Subway. Special thanks go out to our longtime driver, Ed, who made it possible for us to visit these two places for lunch.
We arrived at the Salvation Army's London Citadel Corps in plenty of time. In fact, we were so early that some of us headed over to a local mall to simply kill some time before joining musicians who had gathered at the corps for workshops led by Bill Himes. Bill concluded the workshops with a “Praise and Meditation Time” that included all of those who had been present for the entire afternoon and the members of the CSB.
A quick sound check by the CSB was followed by a lovely dinner at the corps. We were joined at dinner by a number of corps members and the fellowship of believers commenced.
At 7:30 we began the evening concert at the London Citadel Corps. The hall was packed and the audience was receptive and responsive. Of course, being from the USA we had to endure a little bit of harassment about the 2010 Winter Olympics gold medal game between the USA and Canada.
Following the concert we retired for the evening to homes of members of the London Citadel Corps. Those hosts made sure we were well taken care of and returned us to the corps in plenty of time to prepare for a blessed time of worship.
One last meal and we were ready to get on the bus and head back to THQ in Des Plaines. When we reached the southbound border we were delayed only about 30 minutes as we cleared immigration after crossing the same bridge connecting the two countries.
As a veteran of the CSB this trip felt more like an “old fashioned” band trip. Today we often play concerts in venues built for concerts. On Saturday night our concert was in the Army hall. On Sundays we are often found worshipping in churches different from our own. But this weekend, from start to finish we were in a functioning and healthy Salvation Army corps. The only thing missing was a Saturday afternoon or evening wrap-up. But then because of distance, that wasn't possible for this trip.
Congratulations and thanks go out to all of the folks at the London Citadel Corps for taking such good care of us. Special thanks to Majors Braund, BM John Lam, Allan Bolam, Allan Weatherall, Gillian Weatherall and the LC kitchen crew. This was a visit we will remember for a long time.
Now... for all of you band geeks, here's the repertoire for the Saturday evening concert. My apologies in advance for not including the composers and arrangers in this list.
Saturday Concert
PRAISE HIM
CONCERTINO FOR FLUGEL HORN AND BAND - Mvts 1 & 3 (soloist – Beth Cooper)
SIROCCO
Vocal - SOON AND VERY SOON (soloist – Karl Strand)
Vocal - THEN WILL THE VERY ROCKS CRY OUT
Testimony Captain John Pook
THE GUARDIAN (soloist – Brett Tolcher)
CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
INTERMISSION
I BELIEVE
CONCERTANTE FOR CORNETS AND BAND
LORD, LORD YOU SURE BEEN GOOD TO ME
Vocal - THROUGH MY SAVIOR’S MERIT
FOR TIME AND ETERNITY (soloists – Peggy Thomas; Shaun Thomas)
Scripture - Lt. Colonel Vander Weele
VITAE AETERNUM
STARS AND LEAFS FOREVER