Hesston College Bel Canto Singers- On the Road

Tuesday, Feb. 19- Winter Tour

2008-02-21T15:14:00.000-06:00

Our time together is coming to a close. The last concert. The last bus ride. The last tour together. This morning we gave a concert at Freeman Academy. Miraculously, Josh didn’t break out in his usual solo.

After the concert, we changed and braced the negative degree weather to board the bus and make the trek back to Hesston. We encountered very few surprises, and Alvin did another excellent job with his mad driving skills.

As we traveled, events included sleeping, doing homework, talking and laughing, and watching Shrek 2. We stopped at Wendy’s for supper and revived our minds and bodies just a bit before making the last part back to the college. After getting back on the bus for the last time, some played guitar and sang. Others chose to entertain themselves by discovering the inter-workings of the mysterious bathroom and ended up having a “rave” by means of the single light.

Marsha and I decided it was finally time to write in the journal. We had procrastinated long enough and we reluctantly began to think back on the tour’s events. Smiles and memories came to mind. There was much laughter and joy and we came back to Hesston with both light and weary hearts as the realization that the sophomores must finally say goodbye to the amazing bus driver that is Alvin Horn.

Farewell Bel Canto tours!

~Jonna Buller & Marsha Kanagy

Monday, Feb. 20- Winter Tour

2008-02-21T15:12:00.002-06:00

As I sit here trying to figure out what to write, I realize I should have taken Josh Wiebe’s method of avoiding the journal and faked sleep when it came time to divvy out journal duties. But I digress. Sorry, I don’t even really know what that means. Anyways, this morning we set out from Iowa City and encountered some adverse road conditions. As we passed car after car in the ditch and at least one accident, I could not help but think that we made the right decision to not go to Madison yesterday afternoon. It also makes me realize how lucky we are to have the greatest bus driver in the world. Not only was it icy this morning, but it was very windy too. But Alvin never flinched.

When we got to Freeman, we had some free time to relax and try to limbo through the nursery door. Sorry I almost hit you in the face, Drew. A few people actually made it.

The concert. Oh the concert. It was probably the funniest and scariest concert I have ever sung in. Sarah Hooley almost had another girl fall on top of her when Kory almost fainted in the middle of the concert. Josh Wiebe had another solo when he came in on a women's part, and Josh and Sarah came running out of the nursery after the break looking very disheveled. Oliver had the quote of the night when he said, “Man Josh, it’s too bad the girls came in and ruined your solo.” We laughed so hard about that.

After the concert, me and Drew stayed the night at Bethany’s grandparent’s. I had been there before on a service trip because one of their other sons is my pastor and we thought we would stop in and see his house. Anyways, we went into Freeman and sampled some of the local food. We had chislic which is pretty much just mutton on a stick. Then we went home. If we would have ate all the food that was offered to us, we both would have put on some weight. They were very hospitable people. Then we pulled out the baby pictures of Bethany. Drew took pictures of the best ones on his phone if you want to take a look.

We just have one more concert left on the winter tour of 2008, and the off to Hesston. I wonder if Josh will sing another solo. It has been a great tour so far with lots of good memories.

~Jason Unruh

Sunday, Feb. 17- Winter Tour

2008-02-21T15:10:00.000-06:00

Whoa Nelly! What a day! Our itinerary sure did not go quite as planned- well, actually, not at all. After waking up to heavy snowfall, we assembled at Kalona Mennonite Church to perform a slightly shorter concert. Not surprisingly, the good people of KMC are very faithful in the support of their church and Bel Canto. Many people braved the elements to come and give us a warm welcome. We gave our concert with very few mistakes- only a few voice cracks here and there. While changing, we all contemplated the idea of whether we would really be going to Madison, WI that afternoon. While returning from changing, Mitch and I were ambushed by an army of grade school boys throwing small basketballs (who were coerced into the act by Drew, of course!) The wimp that I am, I quickly ran back into our changing room to leave Mitch to fend for himself. Jason quickly chased after the boys. I didn’t see them anymore, so who knows how that ended.

We were informed that we would not be going to Wisconsin after all and that Linea’s parents were going to host us for the afternoon. After a blizzardous bus ride, we arrived at Linea’s house in Iowa City and made our way to the basement. We decided to sample some Disney classics, starting with the Lady and the Tramp. Ice Age was next, which was quite enjoyable. The rest of the afternoon was spent with a variety of activities- pool, guitar, laughter, Facebook…It was soon time for pizza (but not just any pizza- Papa Murphy’s). Linea’s parents were graciously able to find homes for all of us to stay in for the night. My evening was spent looking at old Hesston yearbooks and recent IMS ones (Yes Bradley, we even saw some of you. Apparently Bradley’s clothing of choice was a wide selection of cardigans adorned with one inch wide ties). Tomorrow we are headed to Freeman, SD to honor Bethany’s church and school with our sweet melodies. Once again, I say Whoa Nelly!

~Joel Kratzer

Saturday, Feb. 16- Winter Tour

2008-02-21T15:09:00.000-06:00

Everyone looked a bit more chipper when we loaded up the bus again this morning. Before we began the trek towards Iowa, we graced some Hesston alumni with our glorious presence at the Best Western in Morton. We shared a few songs and Sarah shared about her Hesston college experience, which almost jerked a few tears from some our sophomore’s eyes. After we sang and had our fill of bite-sized muffins and pastries, we bid the Hesston alumni farewell and started out towards our next destination.

We stopped in Muscatine, IA for lunch. I know my ears perked up when Bradley announced that our Mennonite choir would be eating at the Ol’ Mississippi Brewing Co. To my surprise it was an adorable antique restaurant and the food was incredible. We then took a walk down by the frozen Mississippi River and took the typical group picture. The river was pretty, but not enough to stay out in the cold and watch it flow by, so we decided to further ourselves through the desolate snow-coated Iowa.

After arriving at Iowa Mennonite School, it took us three tries before we found the perfect standing arrangement that agreed with the auditorium’s acoustics. Many of us also watched Bradley’s life nearly flash before our eyes numerous times as he got way too close to the edge of his 5 ft. high platform.

Six of the IMS singers joined us for two of our songs during the concert. I believe the concert was very well received and it was great to hear “groupies” cheer for us.

After the concert, many of us were greeted by familiar faces, those from Hesston who traveled to see us, family members, and long lost friends. We all departed to our host families. I got to go home with one of my friends who I haven’t seen in months, so it is very late as I’m writing this. I hear the weather is going to be very white, so we’ll see what that means for our itinerary tomorrow!

~Jasmine Martin

Friday, Feb. 15- Winter Tour

2008-02-21T15:08:00.000-06:00

Getting on the bus seems kind of like a dream; 6:30 a.m. is not the prime time for most of us. As we peered through “half-mast” eyes we stumbled onto the bus, claimed our territory and settled down. The bus probably wasn’t out of Hesston before some of us were asleep (after saying hello to Alvin, of course).

Our path leads us to Morton, IL which is about a nine hour drive from Hesston. The morning was uneventful, mostly filled with sleeping. Lunch proved to be a bus picnic of sack lunches at a rest stop somewhere along the way. A few of us attempted to brave the cold and eat our lunches on the bowed picnic benches provided by the rest area, but a chilly wind drove us back to the shelter of the bus.

We arrived in Morton at about 5:30. After unloading our possessions (all into the same room, how is this supposed to work? J). We attempted to work out our “bus voice.” We then ate a delicious supper of salad, spaghetti, and fruit. Before supper Mitch decided it would be amusing to give me my first experience of being “swept off my feet” (literally). He must like to rub it in that I am more than a foot shorter than him.

After a good concert with a few glitches, such as Bradley forgetting to give us the pitch for Vamuvamba, we ate again and visited with the people who had come to hear us.

Kory and I stayed with Don and Ruthie Roth who live right across the road from the church. They took us the roundabout way home, showing us every business and church in Morton, as well as the old family farm. Once we got home they, (while feeding us again) stayed up until midnight telling us the history of Morton. She is the head of the English dept. at the high school and he served as mayor of Morton for 8 years. It was after midnight when Kory and I said goodnight and crawled into our canopy bed. What a day!

~Sarah Hooley

Tuesday, October 16- Fall Tour

2007-10-18T16:30:00.000-05:00

It is the morning of our long trip home. Mitch just handed me the journal, and with a feeling I could not possibly have anything interesting to say about a 10 hour bus ride, I made up my mind to reflect on some of the trip. Tara is already fast asleep in her bus seat. It looks like after 8 concerts, 6 home stays, and too much lasagna to measure, even the Bel Canto energizer bunny needs a break. We all worked hard this week and I believe it really showed in the quality of our performances as we went. I was especially proud of our last concert (aside from the horrible bullfrog croak that came out of my mouth when I meant to sing the last note of “Wake Every Breath”). We really put all of our energy into that performance, which was ironic because the audience was fairly unresponsive. The musical highlight of this trip for me was the last time we sang “Ich Freue Mich.” Our focus and intensity was amazing! We were bound and determined to get the audience to clap and we gave it all we had. It was exhilarating to realize what we are capable of, and there was a moment of absolute silent after we finished where choir and audience alike held their breath and nobody moved. Then someone in the audience whispered, “wow…” On our long bus ride home, we stopped in St. Louis to take pictures by the arch and explore Union Station. We were glad to stretch our legs, play hacky-sack, and torment the fish in the artificial river. As it got darker, we turned on some overhead lights in the bus and talked about the trip. The most mentioned favorite memory: laughing. Times we got the giggles before concerts, during concerts, after concerts, in rehearsals (especially the time in Archbold in “Vamuvamba” when Kelsey came in with the tenors and we laughed so hard we had to stop rehearsal…), times on the bus, late at night, or laughing all the time at Ken’s quirky comments, Bradley’s random jokes, and Alvin’s running commentary. This has been an amazing trip, full of fun memories, bonding as a choir, and great music. I’m looking forward to our next tour!

~Caroline Clymer

Monday, October 15- Fall Tour

2007-10-18T16:27:00.000-05:00

This morning we woke up in Archbold. And as I sit in the pleasantly painted yellow pastel room watching Oliver slowly drift into a sweet, sweet slumber, I am reminded of where we have come from and what we have done. This morning’s events at Pettisville High School are all a blur to me except for the distinct Mr. Miyagi form of piano accompaniment that Ken so willingly displayed. After Ken’s outburst, we partook to delectable pastries provided at the school. We then boarded our noble Eliza and headed toward Indy (Oliver and myself decided the bus should have a name, and Eliza was as fitting as any). We arrived in downtown Indianapolis and killed time by exploring a bit of the city. I tried to make a more productive use of my time by exercising and partaking in a little Frisbee. But being the gimp that I am, I merely became a target for pelting blows which I received on the left shoulder, right thigh, and also upon the left temple. We boarded the bus soon after the strike to the temple and continued on to the church. Alvin displayed some impeccable driving as he tackled the treacherous Indiana terrain. After performing for what seemed to be the most unamused assortment of people (for they did not applaud us until the very end), it was time for is to meet those who would be hosting us during our final night on the road. When I met the one boy at our host home, I was taken aback. This young man was the spitting image of what a man would look like if Bob Saget and Jim Halpert from "The Office" stood at opposite sides of a gymnasium, got a running start, and hit each other in the middle. I do not recall him name due to the fact that from the very moment we were introduced I called him Jim Saget. All of the strenuous activity has taken a toll on both Oliver and myself. He is all tuckered out now and very much on the verge of sleep, exhausted from exploring secret rooms and crawl spaces here in our host home (see me for video). Awww…he looks so peaceful when he sleeps. Well, in anticipation for the day of travel tomorrow, I must retire. As I drift off, pen still scribbling across the page, I can only think, “Wow, I can’t spell” and “I wonder how awkward Kory will feel after hearing my free verse poetry?”

Ode to Kory

The redwoods are humbled by your majesty. The bunnies, fawns, and ewes fall at your feet in submission to your felt pants. These pants which encompass legs that seem to travel all the way up to your radiant face. You are the 6’3” whipped topping on our Bel Canto ice cream sundae. The 6’3” cream in our Oreo cookie. The 6’3” fiz in our soda. But above all, Kory, you are our very own gentle giant. And we are proud to hold you in our ranks.

~Mitchell The Stutzman

Sunday, October 14- Fall Tour

2007-10-18T16:21:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, Jason, Joel, and I went with Mitch to go to his house. But since I hadn’t been to Michigan, we decided to go to Michigan, which is very close to Goshen. Then we went back to Indiana. At Mitch’s house, fun things happened! Mitch lives in a hobbit hole. The ceilings and doors are short, so you have to duck to walk inside his hobbit hole. The four of us crowded into Mitch’s bedroom. Then Joel exclaimed, “Steamroller!” So Jason and I rolled back and forth over Joel. Suddenly we fell asleep, sang at Walnut Hill Mennonite in Goshen in the morning, and then drove to Archbold Ohio, where we sang for a large crowd. Afterwards, Jason, Mitch, Caleb and I went to this cool German guy’s house. We learned Jason’s last name means “restless” and my last name means “gizzard.” Then we went downstairs and our host showed us his toy race track. We performed racing adventures with Lego men. It was great fun! Mitch overcame his broken knee and created some incredible cinema masterpieces on his camera, as the brave Lego men try to build a civilization on a race track, but they are killed by race cars every time!

~Oliver Kropf

Saturday, October 13- Fall Tour

2007-10-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

Bright and early (because some of our hosts dropped us off nearly 30 minutes before our time to leave…) a few of us went into Schaumburg’s Ten Thousand Villages and looked around. After browsing through nearly 10,000 gifts, jamming on 10,000 instruments, and nearly interrupting a counseling session that was going on through the thin wall next door, we started the journey to Goshen, IN.

Separately, each pair that had spent the night together wondered what they were going to have for lunch and if the people in the seat next to them on the bus would share some of their own lunch with them. HOWEVER, we soon learned that none of us in the choir had gotten a packed lunch for today due to some miscommunication. But our fearless leader, Bradley Kauffman, didn’t let that faze him (like always) and made a quick decision to stop at a Hardee’s and Fazoli’s for lunch.

Along the way, we made a pit stop at Millennium Park in Chicago. We took some pictures by this ginormous mirrored blob called "The Bean" and made our way through the park. After seeing these huge waterfall faces that spewed water from their mouths and winked, we met our trusty bus driver, Alvin, on the other side of the park and were off again!

When we arrived at Kern Road Mennonite in South Bend, IN we were met again by some great acoustics and friends and family that made the trek (whether across town of state borders) to hear us sing. All in all, it was another great concert!

P.S. We also made a stop at Goshen College where we were led in a tour of their awesome music building and they persuaded every last one of us to attend Goshen after Hesston…ok, so not really. But it was a good effort and some of us picked up applications!

~Kelsey Shue

Friday, October 12- Fall Tour

2007-10-18T16:13:00.000-05:00

Dear Diary,

How are you? I am good. I am not a man of many words. Today we rode on the bus. Tonight we had a concert. Now I am tired, so I will go to sleep. It was a good day. Love, Drew.

Would Bethany not be in charge of this journal, I would stop here. But Bethany’s wrath scares me. And so I write on. This morning we departed from Kansas City around 7:30 a.m. and headed east for the beautiful land of Schaumburg, IL. After driving for about 30 minutes we pulled over to pick up our long-lost 6’1” alto Kory who had previous engagements which had delayed her. I could not help but feel exuberant that the whole group was now together. All of the puzzle pieces were there and we were coming together as one to form a beautiful image of worship. Let me paint you a mental picture. We have the corners who are easy to find and form the basis for the puzzle: Bradley, Ken, Alvin the bus driver, and Caleb, just because he’s kind of square. The edge pieces are all of the veteran singers in the group who hold us together. And finally, the rest of the middle pieces who each add their own part to complete the puzzle and form a pretty image with our dashing looks. We even have the one broken piece (Mitchell Stutzman) that you normally find in the box, but he still fits even though he can’t put his own socks on by himself due to his torn meniscus.When we come together we are truly the image and voices of God and we create a beautiful worship experience, like we did tonight at Christ Community Mennonite Church, even after 10 hours of travel. We had yet another great performance in a renovated barn in the suburbs of Chicago, and I left with the satisfaction of connecting with another group of people. Safe travel, successful performance, and now I am staying at the house of a pretty girl. What a truly great day indeed.

Love,

Drew

Thursday, October 11- Fall Tour

2007-10-18T16:01:00.000-05:00

HACKY-SACK!: The first words I heard on my 1^st Bel Canto tour. Also the 1^st words on this page! Whether these 1^st words are a premonition of many 1sts to come on this tour of the Bel, I am sure this is only the beginning of a great experience.

I’m sure, journal, that the group would agree on one thing: watching Bradley’s little Lucca wave “bye” to us was the most precious little send off. And Alvin, the ever popular bus driver, led us in his unique style to the road heading us to Kansas City, where we would have our 1^st concert. (And I hear everything’s up to date there!)

So I suppose I would start this off by saying: we got shoes, we got robes and harps, but right now, we’re using our super wings! We’re flying away. I guess I look at it as our first flight- away out to spread the word. We fly! On to bigger and better things in Kansas City!

“I couldn’t find my socks. So I called information. They told me they were behind the couch.” This was a "joke" Bradley told upon entry in Kansas City. “I was just trying to keep up with some of the joke telling,” he said. I’m afraid that’s not the 1^st time I’ve heard a joke from Bradley!

And now we sit in Kansas City. Things are similar though, not much up to date. A slight disappointment. And after our 1^st concert at Rainbow Mennonite Church, I believe our group is off to a mighty good start. I may not have found my pot ‘o’ gold, but the group sure found wings tonight in our music. And as a group, I think we’re off to the 1^st home stays and the beginning of getting to know each other better. I was also encouraged by the open sharing in our circle tonight.

Who knows where the hacky-sack may take us, now that our journey is begun, but all things considered, Bel has “pealed” out for an awesome tour to remember forever. I can’t say it for everybody, but from my experience, host parents have been incredible! And now I know we are truly blessed to be with this group of people. May this pen never fail us, our voice never leave us, God ever lead us, and love be still near us. To “heaben” and not beyond! After the amazingness of our 1^st hosts, we’re on to 2^nd helpings. Amen and peace out!

~Tara Harms-Becker

Testing...Testing....1 2 3.....

2007-10-10T16:27:00.000-05:00

Does this thing work?
I think I may become addicted to blogging.
Sincerely,
Bethany R. Miller