Big Singing Day Digital Get-Together (Southern Harmony)

Online
Sunday, May 24, 2020

The 2020 Big Singing—which would have been the 137th session—was necessarily cancelled. Mark Cain subsequently suggested to the membership of the Society for the Preservation of Southern Harmony Singing that, even though we would be unable to convene at the Marshall County Courthouse as is our usual practice, we “meet via Zoom on Big Singing Day, 2020 and sing a song or two... or many more.” A poll of the SPSHS membership and other supporters of Southern Harmony singing who expressed interest revealed that a majority of the singers preferred to convene via Facebook Live.

Due to the format, individuals were not able to direct the songs of their choice. Before the get-together, people suggested numbers that ought to be sung; their names appear below in conjunction with the song they requested.

All selections were from The Southern Harmony, 1854 facsimile, 1987 UofK reprint. The get-together was convened at 1:15 p.m. by Lesa Lovett, Kerry Lovett, and Ron Pen selecting 103, Holy Manna.

3t, Primrose - Lisa Sieverts
6b, King of Peace - Erin Fulton
256, The Lone Pilgrim - Lisa Bulawsky
16, Star in the East - David Carlton and Marcie Thobaben and Jim Thobaben (in memory of Tierre Quantrell Williams)
7t, Ninety-Third Psalm - Peter Urquhart
19t, Hicks' Farewell - Brenda Dunlap
83, Thorny Desert - Claire Outten and Matt Meacham
13t, Dublin - Connie (no last name given)
159b, New Haven - Darlene Abell
76, New Orleans - Tom Ivey
332, Greenland - Darlene Abell
57, The Trumpet - Mary Elizabeth Garrison
322, Samanthra - Bob Schinske
296, Newburgh - Matt Meacham
33, Confidence - Tim Reynolds
89b, Happy Land - Darlene Abell
178, Schenectady - Kate Fine
92t, Fiducia - Ray Turner
59, Sweet Harmony - Tim Gregg
133, Indian Convert - Stephanie Davis Taunton
11, Jerusalem - Matt Meacham
43, The Turtle Dove - Emily Ross (by request)
51, The Promised Land - Amy Hollinger (by request)
89t, Dove of Peace - Connie

The group sang 334, The Christian's Farewell, their traditional parting song, and were dismissed.

Though no memorial was conducted, we wish those loved ones of Southern Harmony singers who have died in the past year to be remembered in these minutes. They include Barbara Grossman of Lexington, Kentucky, wife of Mark Klar; Helene Rice Perkins of Lexington, Kentucky, mother of Pat Waggener and mother-in-law of Don Waggener; and Tierre Quantrell Williams of Nicholasville, Kentucky, foster son of James and Marcelyn Thobaben. Thanks to William Ralph Paris for helping collect these names.

Amanda Groves wisely suggested that we seek permission to use the Marshall County Courthouse in Benton, KY for the first “link” in the livestreams. Sadly, the County Clerk's office did not get back to us in time. Erin Fulton, Tim Gregg, and Marcelyn Thobaben hosted a livestream from nearby Draffenville, Kentucky. We were joined by David Carlton in Nashville, Tennessee; Brenda Dunlap in Washington, D.C.; Melissa Howrey Fulton in Amy, Kansas; Tom Ivey in Charleston, South Carolina; Matt Meacham in Edwardsville, Illinois; Saul Jerome E. San Juan in Austin, Texas; Peter Urquhart in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Sumie Zook in Sacramento, California.

Many thanks are due to Saul Jerome and Melissa for helping keep the livestreams running smoothly, to Emily Ross for walking us through the process for the first time, and to Mark Cain for suggesting the whole idea. He wrote in his initial e-mail to the SPSHS membership, “My goodness, what an interesting addendum to our 136-year history this would be!” It was.

Secretary—Erin Fulton