This morning we were able to sleep in a little later, since
our meeting time back at the church was 9:00 a.m. Paul and Jonathan Works were busy loading the luggage onto
the bus. A group of boys were playing basketball in the gym. Thomas Hulcher was
helping fill the coolers with ice and water. Ben Con was overseeing the
instruments being loaded in the van. Have I mentioned the Terp van? Every year
when we go on choir tour, the Tregoning family is nice enough to loan us their
van to shadow the bus. We have used it over the years for emergency trips to
the doctor, grocery store stops, CVS supplies and other various uses. We are so
grateful to them for their generosity in lending us their van evey year. It is
a bright red color with a University of
MD terrapin painted on it. The Tregoning family is UMD alumi and the van
proudly shows their support.
Today was Sports Day and participants were asked to wear
their favorite team apparel. Tom was wearing a Brazil soccer jersey. Annie Elliott
was wearing her DHS Track and Field Regional’s championship shirt. Other shirts
included the Nationals, Redskins, Capitals, and West Virginia University. It
was fun to see the diversity of everyone’s favorite team. Connie Morella, our excellent mistress of ceremonies, took
the lead for the morning. First up was the breakfast report. There were a
variety of selections this morning, ranging from bagels, muffins, donuts,
cereal, crumpets and french toast. Definite carb loading today! We had another “Zack Fact” report from Zack Callis. Did you
know that you do not have to actually wait 30 minutes before getting in the
water after you eat? The only time it might apply is if you are planning on
doing extremely heavy water exercise, like back flips and such. Words of wisdom
from one of our resident life guard.
Fork stories were next. Matthew and Jonathan told of a large
bug in their room that crawled from person to person, freaking them out. (There
seems to be a pattern here with bugs and the CWS!) Scott Hembrough told us of a prank from their host who
offered them wine bottles (which were actually filled with water.) We joked
that it was opposite of Jesus. Instead of turning water into wine, they turned
wine into water!
The winner of the fork award was David Hembrough. All I will
say is that it involved
swashbuckling and a group of our younger
boys.
Connie has been working very hard on her Superlative Awards
and was ready to hand out more. Calista Kibak won the “Best Pop Piano
Performer.” She is our replacement for Thomas James, who always seemed to find
a piano wherever we went and started playing for us. We miss him. Troy
Moskowitz won the “Most Confident” award. Helena Colborn won the “Best Suntan”
award and Taylor Cappeluti won the “Most Sunburn” award. Our final award went
to Matthew Baldridge who won “Best Monochromatic Outfits.” His clothes always
match!
Our activity for the morning was a Destination Unknown
outing. It was a mystery. No one knew where we were going until we arrived. To
our delight, the bus pulled into a place called Reed Gold Mine. It is a
National Historic Landmark in NC and the site of the first documented gold find
in the U.S. A man named John Reed discovered gold on his property and opened a
small gold mining operation in 1803. The last underground mining took place in
1912. It is now open to the public for tours, with a small museum explaining
the history of the place and displays about NC gold mining. Visitors can
explore several hundred feet of the restored mine tunnels.
Our self-guided tour started in the Visitors Center with a
20 minute movie about the Reed family and how gold was discovered on their
property, which eventually led to a gold mining operation. We then walked down
a beautiful path through the woods to the mine. As we entered the tunnel, a
blast of cool air enveloped us. It felt wonderful to be out of the oppressive
heat! We walked down to the bottom level of the mine and the kids noticed how
wet and damp the rocks were. Polly wanted us to have another singing
opportunity and had us sing “Ain’t Got time to Die,” which was such a great
experience, being underground and surrounded on all sides by rock formations!
One of the kids joked that the very rocks were crying out (a reference to one of
the songs they sing.)
We went to the 1895
Stamp Mill where the gold was sifted and processed. Some serious, noisy
machinery was in use and gave us an idea of what it may have looked like back
in the heyday of gold mining. Our final
stop was to experience how to actually pan for gold. The youth were lined up in
front of a water trough and were each given a pan of dirt and gravel from the
property. They were taught how to swirl the water around the rocks, dispose of
the larger rocks and continue to swirl and pour until there was a layer of dirt
and small pebbles left in the bottom. The girl in charge told them they did a
“pantastic” job of panning for gold. We also beat the statistics when nine
members of our group found tiny gold nuggets in their pan! Each one was given a
small vial that contained their gold nugget as a souvenir. Of course, some of
the nuggets could barely be seen without a magnifying glass, but it was great
fun anyway.
Back on the bus, it was time to choose Greeters again. Did
you know that every time we stop, get
off the bus and then back on again, we choose new Greeters? That means we could
have four sets of Greeters in one day. This time it was Cecelia Hembrough and
Bryce Taylor. The bus stopped in Richfield for lunch. We found a great
shopping area with several restaurants within walking distance. Of course, no
one was allowed to be by themselves and were reminded again that they must
travel in pairs of two or more. Ben Con ran immediately to Bojangles. This
restaurant sustained him all through college and has since become his favorite.
(Check out the photo with all of the food remnants on his table.) His new nickname
is “Bo-Man.” A large group of kids went for Chinese food while others chose
Subway, McDonalds or Taco Bell. Everyone was full and happy. Our third set of Greeters on the bus were Keely Bautista and
Jonathan Works. They did a splendid job greeting everyone. We also found out that “Thing 2” had struck
again. Sydney Fennington found a note in her backpack saying that she had a
lovely personality and Jessie Marshall found two pieces of candy with a “Thing
2” sticker attached. I am liking this “Thing 2” creature more and more! Connie and Zack knew that we were going hear the NC symphony
play Harry Potter music this evening, so they decided to have a Harry Potter
trivia game. It was a raucous and fun time as everyone tried to answer the
trivia questions. A few of them included: What was Harry Potters middle
name? What was Harry’s wand made of?
Name all of the Weasleys in order of birth. Everyone did a good job answering
the questions, but we found out that Jessie Marshall is the master at Harry
Potter trivia and is rated in the top 50 in Md. I believe it after hearing her
answers!
We arrived at the Hampton Inn in Raleigh around 4:30 and had
about an hour to get ready for the concert. Everyone came out with clean changed clothes,
looking refreshed and well groomed. We piled into the bus and headed for Koka
Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. This outdoor venue is very similar to our own Wolf
Trap. It’s a performing arts amphitheatre located in a lovely park on the north
bank of the park’s Symphony Lake, with picnic tables, a grassy area for
blankets and a small café with table and chairs. Polly and Beth had gone
shopping at the Food Lion during our lunch hour and had bought picnic food for
the evening. The kids each brought a beach towel to sit on and picked out a spot
on the grass. Ben Con was very excited to see the North Carolina Symphony
Orchestra because he has heard the orchestra performing many times and knows
some of the performers. He took lessons from the Assistant Principal
Trombonist, Jonathan Randazzo and performed with the horn player, Catherine
Creasy, in a brass ensemble at UNCG where he graduated. He made a point to go
over and greet them as soon as he was able.
We had a wonderful surprise waiting for us when we arrived
and saw the Bratburd family sitting on the lawn ready to watch the concert with
us! Ryan Celli also surprised us at the hotel and is planning to spend the next
few days with us! Jonathan Colborn was
coincidentally sitting next to a young man who asked him to videotape his
marriage proposal to his girlfriend. Jonathan not only videotaped the proposal
but also took still shots of them. He promised to email the photos to the
couple. Everyone applauded the young lovebirds when they realized what was
happening. It was a romantic, lovely moment.
The first half of the concert was wonderful with songs that
included Night on Bald Mountain, Funeral March of the Marionettes, Firebird
Suite, and Ghost Busters. However, the highlight of the evening that we were
all waiting for was going to be the second half, featuring the Harry Potter
music extravaganza. They had just started the first song when the heavens
opened up and the rain began to pour! There was laughter, mild screaming and a
lot of scrambling as people grabbed their belongings and made a mad dash for
shelter. Someone yelled, “This is the work of those dementors!” (If you don’t
understand the meaning, you haven’t seen the Harry Potter movies.) As quick as
it had started, the concert was cancelled and everyone went back to the bus.
Most of us were wet and bedraggled but still laughing and happy.
Back at the hotel, the picnic food was set out in the lobby
for the kids to snack on. Some kids went back to their rooms, showered and put
on pajamas. Others played cards, watched TV or went to the gym to work out. The
Elliott family arrived to pick up Katie early for soccer camp and we were able
to visit with them for awhile. At the 11:00 curfew, everyone scattered back to
their rooms.
The evening rain and cancellation of the concert reminded me
that even if the best laid plans go awry, the friendship and Christian love we
have for one another is really all that matters. This choir tour has built
friendships that were not there before and cemented friendships that already
existed to be even stronger. My hope for the future is secure knowing that we
have young people who will be leaders,
with a foundation of love and kindness
to pass on to the next generation.
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