For our October tour I contacted Pastor Paul Carlson from the Ladd Springs Church near Cleveland. He also pastors the Village Chapel Church, so as we talked, we went ahead and scheduled the quartet to come to Village Chapel in January.
Since Ladd Springs is very close to the Collegedale area, my new wife Charity was able to come with us. She loves being able to come hear us sing and help with the product table. Another one of her favorite things is to provide us with snacks for the journey. On our first tour she sent some fudge with me that went over very well. This time she brought some macadamia and white chocolate cookies which were also a big hit. We’ve dubbed her “The Cookie Wife” which is a name I think she enjoys.
Charity and I met the guys at the parking lot of The Samaritan Center and Ace Hardware in Ooltewah. Gary drove his Suburban with all the equipment and he met us there with Tim and Ryan. Since we needed to warm up and practice, I jumped in with them and Charity followed us to the church.
Warmed up and ready to go, we got to the church and someone was there to let us in. We started setting up the system and Charity went to work on finding a table and setting up the CDs for honor sales. Pastor Carlson was preaching at Village Chapel, so we didn’t get to see him, but the church members were very friendly and invited us in out of the chilly air. After set-up and sound check we found a room where we could rehearse a few trouble spots and pray.
The concert went very well and although there were some minor mistakes, I think the only people who noticed were our friends and family who've all heard our songs hundreds of times. Our friend Jaclynn Huse and her daughter Shelby came to hear us sing, as well as Gary’s wife and some of his kids and Ryan’s wife JoElle. Tim’s cousin Kerry and his wife Cindy were there too and it was an honor to have so many family and friends there to support us on our second outing with Gary.
After honor sales, we followed the crowd over to the fellowship hall to join in the classic Adventist tradition of “haystacks” which consist of corn chips, beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, onions, sour cream, olives and whatever else you care to toss on top.
We didn't have an evening concert so everyone got to go home with their families for Sabbath afternoon. Gary had invited us to come to his house in the evening for a supper of his "sweet heat" chili. Charity and I swung by Tim's and followed him to Gary's house. The chili was terrific and afterward we all watched "That Thing You Do!" which is one of the quartet's official movies that every member must watch and memorize since we quote lines from it almost every time we're together!