Sunday, March 21, 2010

Report on London, ON Visit

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


Monday, March 15, 2010

Correction! CSB in London, ON March 20-21, 2010

For those of you who have been paying attention my last posting incorrectly trumpeted the dates we are going to be in London, ON as March 22-23. My bad... it really is this coming weekend which is March 20-21, 2010.

Sorry.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

CSB To Visit London, Ontario - March 20-21 2010

It may come as a bit of a surprise to you that I am writing about an event before it occurs rather than after it occurs. Of course I won't be able to provide our playlist in advance but it occurs to me that some of you might like to know details about upcoming concerts and worship services in advance so that you can pray for our ministry and/or support it with your attendance.

On March 20-21 we will be visiting our friends north of the border for a Saturday evening concert and Sunday morning worship service. Bandmaster Himes will be conducting a brass workshop on Saturday afternoon before the full band arrives.

For those interested in more details I'll paste information below from the http://www.londoncitadel.ca/ web site.

The London Citadel Band is pleased to present the famous Chicago Staff Band in Concert at London Citadel on March 20 & 21st.

Saturday, March 20th:

1:30 - 4:30: Brass Workshop - (by reservation only) with Bandmaster Bill Himes. First
come first serve basis as space is limited. The cost of $20.00 includes the
workshop, dinner and concert admission. To register please call the Corps
Office at 472-2500.

7:30 pm: Concert by the Chicago Staff Band.
General admission is $10.00 at the door.

Sunday, March 21st:

The Chicago Staff Band will conduct the morning Worship at London
Citadel.

Please invite your friends to come and share in this special weekend.

Disclaimer

The views, comments, statements and opinions expressed on this Web site do not necessarily represent the official position of The Salvation Army.