Franklin Park Columbus

Wednesday
This evening Roger and I were joining a combined choir for the opening service of the Southwest Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. We had to be up in Columbus, the State Capitol, for a sound check, then rehearsal at 5 pm, then the service was beginning at 7 pm. So we decided to leave home soon after midday to get up there for a late lunch/early dinner. We had picked out a place to eat from Google last night, called Brassica, a casual Mediterranean themed restaurant, something fairly healthy and not too heavy before singing. It turned out to be excellent, and we were very happy to discover from the server they will be opening a branch in Cincinnati area in the Fall/autumn, quite close to where we live! Having eaten, we had chance for a walk around Franklin Park, where the shots in my collage were taken.
The event was taking place at the Capital Center, an indoor sports arena of Capital University in Columbus, a private Lutheran affiliated university in the area of Bexley, Columbus. We had a quick sound check there, then headed over to another building for a rehearsal. The choir represented 25:different churches from around the Conference, and at a guess numbered about 60;singers. We were singing two new songs, and the composer was playing the keyboard, and accompanied by a drummer and two soloists was providing the rest of the music for the service. We had never been to the annual conference before so this was a new experience for us. The hall we rehearsed in was more of a traditional performance space, and there was a proper piano rather than a keyboard, and we sounded so much better in there, rather than in a big indoor arena, but of course it wasn’t anywhere near big enough. The sound was a bit of an issue through the service, with some feedback issues, microphones not working, and even the beginning of the Bishop’s sermon, was barely audible, until it seemed like someone found the right switch! However, despite that it was a great experience, and fun singing in a much bigger choir. After the service, we went for an ice cream at a nearby ice cream parlor, Graeters, an iconic Cincinnati chain, and ran into the other lay representatives from our church, Anne, Amy and Alice, so enjoyed sitting with them while we ate our ice creams!