Saline County Singing Convention

After the originally scheduled January Convention featuring the Echoes was cancelled due to weather, the Echoes were rescheduled for the February Saline County Convention.  And as it came close to time for the Convention to begin, the snow coming down made us wonder if once again we would find ourselves singing to an empty church.  If so, we decided since we were already there, we would work in a little practice session.

However, the dedicated folks of the Convention began arriving, and by Convention time, there was a pretty good crowd at Dorrisville Social Brethren Church in Harrisburg, IL.

The Echoes kicked it off with some of our older songs, including one we hadn't done in a while, "Been There, Done That."  This one was for Zena Wells, wife of the church's pastor, Jerry Wells.  Zena had requested this song when we sang at the Convention at their church in October 2013.  At that time, we hadn't sung it in about 10 years.  So we had rehearsed it for this convention.  Come to find out, Zena had broken her ankle the morning of this convention and wasn't able to attend.  But husband Jerry connected with her on his cell, and we still got to sing it to Zena.

The snow was still coming down when the Echoes took a break and others began taking their turns at singing.  It was a good time of specials and congregation singing, featuring instrumentalists forming an impromptu band as Steve Hunt and his granddaughter sang.  

A good ole "pickin' and sangin' time" was experienced at this month's Saline County Singing Convention

Then, the Echoes came back to sing a few more songs to wrap up a very successful convention before parting to travel to our respective homes on the now wet and/or snow-covered roads.

Current Convention President Don Haney is leading the Saline County Singing Convention as it celebrates over 100 years of continuous activity, about the only monthly singing remaining in this area.  Each month, singers and those who enjoy good gospel music and singing gather together to worship the Lord in song.  The Echoes always enjoy being a part of this tradition and look forward to our next visit to the Saline County Singing Convention.