2009 Youth Choir Tour

 

Day 5 - A leisurely start to the morning!  We boarded the buses for a 10:30 a.m. concert at the Boston Home, which was very well-attended and very-well received by all.  Also in the audience were Susan Withrow Baranyi, a youth choir alum, her adorable son Joseph and her mother Lois Withrow, choir-tour chaperone emeritus.  Great to see them there!  Our time was a bit tight for lunch and Boston traffice was predictably crazy, so we avoided Prudential Center and found a food court along our route for lunch.  Food courts abound in Boston, nearly one on every corner!  Mid-afternoon, we performed at Sherrill House in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, after which we had a bit of a window in our schedule, so we relaxed and snacked in a nearby park before making our way to Fenway Park.  We, of course, didn't want to be late for the ball game, so we allowed plenty of time to fight the Red Sox Nation traffic and made it to Fenway in plenty of time.  We were thrilled to discover that we had the distinct honor of singing the National Anthem at the Red Sox historic 500th consecutive sold-out game - which came with several perks!  Free baseballs and free Red Sox t-shirts for all!   The choir sounded great singing the National Anthem from home plate to the crowd of Red Sox fans in America's oldest ballpark.  It was a long and thrilling day!    Corrected photo link:  www.redsox.com/fanfoto (click June 17 and Gallery 35).

 

Day 4 - The day began with a sound check at Fenway Park, where in full view of the Green Monster, we sang our National Anthem - what a thrilling moment!  Following the sound check, we wished we had been on Paul Revere's horse to make our way to the Old North Church.  Let us just say that the narrow streets of old Boston are not meant for a super-sized modern-day motor coach!  We arrived a few minutes late, but were still able to sing our 3 songs in this historic venue.  As we walked back to the bus, through Boston's Little Italy and listened to the cat-calls directed our way, it finally dawned on us that our light purple/blue t-shirts were not the perfect choice of color for a city passionate about their Red Sox!  We quickly made the decision that it would be our red shirts for Fenway!  We arrived at our lunch destination (Faneuil Marketplace/Qunicy Market), just a short walk away from the Old North Church.  We were all amazed at the wealth of choices for a yummy lunch and some great shopping!  We also began scoping out places for our dinner  (back at Faneuil) later in the day.  Late afternoon, we headed to the Science Museum to board the Boston Ducks, for a fun-filled tour of the city led by entertaining Duck drivers extraordinare!  To finish off the day, we saw Blue Man Group, and were thrilled when our very own Hilde was chosen to be the guest star of the production!  A few twinkies and shaky nerves later, Hilde rejoined our group to cheers of applause from the entire audience.  Great fun and a full day!

 

Day 3 - The morning came early for lots of sleepy heads following a 1:30 a.m. arrival in Boston. Nevertheless, like troopers, the choir delivered two fantastic concerts that were extremely well received.  Our first concert was for veterans and the second was for an assisted living community. Be sure to ask your child about the response of the folks at the assisted living center. What a hoot! After the concerts we had time to walk around Harvard sight-seeing and searching for a good spot to eat. After that, we enjoyed a team building time as we got the Pharaoh’s mummy to rest in peace at THE TOMB! The singers are now either swimming or playing basketball.  And, now….on to devotions. 

 

 

First United Methodist Church

1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike

Oak Ridge, TN 37830