This past Friday night I was back singing with the Racine Symphony Orchestra for the second of their two summer Lakeside Pops concerts. What a joy to be back onstage with that group! Much as I love singing with groups like the Kenosha Pops Band or Racine Municipal Band- both absolutely terrific groups - or
I wish that every hard-working teacher could experience what Tony Pavao has experienced this weekend. He was the choral director at Racine’s Horlick High School (my wife’s alma mater) for about a quarter century and built an impressive legacy there- and although he continues to teach privately and also did some work at Carroll College
If there was ever a day when it could have made sense to slip away from the radio station a little bit early, it was today...because I have tonight’s performance with the Racine Symphony to prepare for, plus the house needs to be put in order for an unexpected houseguest who arrives tonight. So this
Tonight, Holy Communion said goodbye to one of its most precious members. Her name was Effie Reitsma, and she and her husband Dick have been amazing pillars of this congregation for as long as I can remember. They have been so loving, so joyous, and so full of life- even as their aches and pains
For weeks - or is it months by now? - Kathy and I have been hearing a strange sound in and around our yard in the late evening hours. The very first time we heard it, it sounded to us almost like it was a cry of pain or hunger of a small animal of
Hurricane Katrina was five years ago this month, and like most of you, I was practically chained to my television set watching the disaster unfold in one tragic chapter after another. (One reason Kathy and I followed those events so closely and with such concern was because we had both been to New Orleans the
I saw two very moving pastoral homecomings this weekend- one for someone who’s actually supposed to be retired from the ministry but who finds himself rather unexpectedly back at it -and the other who is was just ordained this past June and so is just at the beginning of her ministry. To experience these two
Kathy’s Aunt Linda is with us right now, all the way from St. Louis, and she never fails to bring a surge of very special joy and energy and fun with her. The above photo is a great case in point. It’s taken in the parking lot of one of our favorite restaurants, the Yard
Four hours of opera listening? Most people would prefer four hours of weed pulling or teeth flossing - but not Greg Berg and Trevor Parker. We were camped out in front of the TV/stereo with a pile of CDs, DVDs, and even a few LPs featuring some of our favorite singers and operas- and had
I hope it won’t sound too pretentious if I say that Kathy and I love Prague. It’s not like we vacation there every Easter - but I’ve been there twice and my wife three times - and if there is any place in Europe that tugs at our heart strings and calls us back for
