Sometimes stories weave in and out in surprising ways, and thus tell a story that is even bigger and more beautiful. In fact the definition of a tapestry is “an intricate or complex combination of things or sequence of events.”
This is a tapestry of two West Virginia boys with a love of baseball and WVWC who both went to Normandy: one on D-Day itself, and both who had been to commemorate that event in years to come.
Matt was on the baseball team coached by Hank Ellis his very first year of coaching, and by his senior year was elected captain of that team.
(Also) Standout Athlete at WVWC
Captain of the Baseball team in 1952 (played for Hank Ellis)
WVWC Class of 1952 – majored in music
Played in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league organization
Masters degree in Music from WVU 1954
Drafted into the U.S. Army, served 1954-56
Taught music out west 1957-61
Damascus High School, Damascus, MD 1962-1993
Twice representing the United States at the 35th and 40th Anniversaries of the World War II Normandy Landings in Europe. In 1979, the Damascus High School band was the only non-military band to be invited to Europe to celebrate the 35th Anniversary
In 1984, the Damascus High School Band was invited back to Europe to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Operation, a return trip highlighted by a performance at Normandy with President Ronald Reagan in attendance.
As I was reading about Matt Kuhn, I came across his obituary. He died on February 6, 2020.
Matt is remembered as a highly disciplined, loyal and dedicated teacher, mentor, and leader.
It turns out that “A Celebration of Life event will take place from 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday June 13 at the Damascus American Legion, with a short formal opening ceremony from 12:30 to 1 p.m.
That is how I came to discover this tapestry of two West Virginia boys with a love of baseball and WVWC and who both went to Normandy: one on D-Day itself, and both who had been to commemorate that event in years to come.
There has been a word that I can’t get out of my mind this week: Grace.
Grace refers to God’s unmerited favor, love or help.
Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This greeting was present in nearly every one of Paul’s letters in the New Testament. It is the greeting of the Church.
It is also used as a blessing before a meal.
We sing about Amazing Grace. It is one of the most popular hymns of all time.
There are many other ways that this word is used in our language, such as to be graceful or gracious.
Even very literally at times: Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with thee. Mary, mother of Jesus, was literally full of Grace – the unmerited gift from God.
It is also used as a woman’s name in our world today.
This week I have been thinking especially of Grace Imathiu.
Upon her graduation in 1984 from WVWC (Chemistry), Grace wrote an open letter of appreciation to the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. She was a recipient of the Dorothy Lee Scholarship for international students, funded by the United Methodist Women in West Virginia. Her time here was rich and rewarding, even as she was experiencing some homesickness as she had not been back to her native Kenya in more than three years. During breaks and vacations, she traveled around the United States (more than 40 states) to experience this country and spent time with close friends who became like family.
That letter surfaced recently, and I would like to share some excerpts from it.
Grace comes to Buckhannon from Kenya
I remember that day I arrived in Buckhannon I was excited. Excited about America. Excited about the experience of college. I had plans–big plans. As we drove up Main Street, my excitement began to slowly turn to disbelief. Was this America? Where were the skyscrapers, the traffic, the muggers? That was the America I had been presented with through movies and books in Kenya. Something was wrong!
While at WVWC
Grace was active at Wesleyan, and formed many lasting friendships. She was elected to serve on the Community Council.
Murmurmontis 1984
Community Council consisted of representatives of campus organizations, the student body, administrators, faculty, and staff who were elected to facilitate communication among all the members of the campus community. Grace was elected to serve. Also serving at that time were Professor Reginald Olson and his wife, Barbara. The Olsons, active in civil justice issues, and Grace Imathiu serving together on the Community Council! How powerful. And what a foreshadowing of the work of Grace’s life.
As She Graduated in 1984
In Her Letter:
I will never know every person who pitched in to help me. I can not even imagine how I will ever repay you except to assure you that I will pass it on and help someone else in need one day.
And now after graduation one wonders, “what next?” After a struggle that goes back to the days of teaching Sunday School at sixteen, I have acknowledged and accepted God’s call to serve him in ministry. It has been a personal battle. I have always known I have been called and indeed I had made the commitment long ago to serve. Yet to also be chosen for the ministry is a little scary, but, oh, so exciting. Once every so often I have to jump up and close my eyes feeling so good. My cup runneth over.
As soon as I am settled into seminary, I will let you know where I am and how I am progressing. I thank you once again and ask you to pray for me as I take the first step in the direction God is leading me. May God continue to bless you.
She has certainly fulfilled the goal of helping others in need. Her steps have taken her across the country and across the globe.
Within just the past year,
Her strength and leadership was so helpful to many during the Special Session of General Conference in May 2019 – and after. Her work as a fierce ally for the LGBTQ community and gender equality (also the life work of the Olsons) has been powerful. She spoke out frequently and powerfully at meetings, gatherings, and on social media to encourage the inclusion of all.
While on a trip back to Kenya in the summer of 2019 to visit her parents, she received an invitation from Pastor Ken Mwita to come to the Moheto United Methodist Church, located in a very remote village, and to help them to know more about becoming a Reconciling Congregation in support of LGBTQ persons. This was the first church in Kenya to do such a thing, and Grace’s mentorship helped make it possible.
During the COVID-19 pandemic Grace, and the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Evanston, IL have prayerfully and creatively led worship online and have been reaching people far beyond Evanston – including our entire extended family. (Grace and my sister, Sarah, were friends at WVWC and have stayed in touch. They call each other Rafiki…the Swahili word for friend.) The services have been a combination of information, care, compassion, empathy, and respect which address the seriousness of the situation while providing a glimmer of hope through the teachings of the gospel.
This Week
During the past week, Grace’s Facebook posts have been full of pain and concern for the injustice and anguish of the nation and the world, but also for her own son (a brilliant and gentle mathematician). She has called for people like me to speak out about the injustice. Not just about recent events, but about hundreds of years worth of injustice and systems that allow it to continue. I am speaking out now in response to that request. Even though I can’t even begin to know or to imagine the full impact of the horrific injustices that have been perpetuated. Even though I have no words.
Once again this morning, Grace and her congregation in Evanston have managed to offer a worship service full of authentic and meaningful words and music. I give thanks each day for Grace Imathiu, and am also thankful that her journey brought her to Buckhannon all those years ago. I would encourage anyone who is hurting or struggling with the topics of injustice to check out this video.
Of the 405,000 American soldiers who died in World War II, 26 were Sons of Wesleyan. Among those 26, only six were graduates – the others had their education disrupted by the war.
The plaque was meant to honor them, and to help future generations to remember them. As far as I know it may still be in Atkinson Chapel somewhere, but there have been renovations since that time and since 2009, that place has stood vacant. I can’t remember ever seeing it — or maybe I just was not very observant. However, 70 years later it has inspired me to remember (and learn about) these men.
This Memorial Day, I would like to take the opportunity to honor them once more. I will focus on those who were graduates, but the honor and appreciation extends to all of them.
John Francis Elkins ’29
He was a graduate of WV Wesleyan College and taught school in Logan County for 14 years. Although he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, there are memorials in multiple cemeteries in southern West Virginia as well. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)
Boggs Hall ’37
A Graduate of Sutton high School and WV Wesleyan College, Boggs Hall was employed in the land department at the State Auditor’s office in Charleston before leaving for Basic Training at Fort Bragg N.C. Boggs Hall received a Purple Heart. He is buried in Holland, where he died, but also has a memorial in his home town of Sutton. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)
Carl Robert Reger ’43
He was a graduate of WV Wesleyan prior to enlistment and in his senior year president of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Member of First Methodist Church, Buckhannon. Recipient of the Purple Heart and the Presidential Citation. He is buried in Heavener Cemetery in Buckhannon. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)
Francis Clay Robinson ’36
A graduate of WVWC, Clay also went on to medical school at Harvard, where he graduated in 1941. Newspapers tell us that he was a resident physican in Worchester MA prior to enlistment, and WVWC Alumni publicatons indicate that he was a Clinical Instructor at the University of Vermont Medical School as well. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)
Paul Jones Rogerson ’35
He graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College and from the University of Chicago, and taught for a year at Moundsville High School and at Linsly Institute in Wheeling before entering the service. Paul died 5-12-1944, at the age of 31, of pneumonia in Louisiana. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)
Loran Alexander Umpleby ’42
He graduated from WV Weslyan College in 1942. Records show that the plane crashed down at Storeton, near Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. Their base in England was at Tibenham, Norfolk, England. The 24 crew killed in the explosion had taken war weary aircraft over to Langford base in Northern Ireland and were returning to their bases at Tibenham. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)
Memorial Day
Shortly after the Civil War, Decoration Day was a time to honor those lost in that war. Graves were decorated and people remembered the horrors of neighbors and family members fighting each other to the death.
After World War I and World War II, the holiday was expanded to include those lost in all wars. But, it was not until 1971 that it became a national holiday. In our society, holidays mean trips to the beach, parades, and cookouts.
Much respect to these, and all men (and women), who have sacrificed for us.
This week I have become aware of two Wesleyan graduates who have died of COVID-19. I am sure there have been (or are likely to be) more such losses. Each one is heart breaking. Each of them came to WVWC with dreams. Each fulfilled those dreams and touched many lives in the process.
Norm Moyer, Class of 1976
Throughout his years at West Virginia Wesleyan, Norm was surrounded by a host of peers and faculty members who encouraged, challenged, and supported him. Many of these folks have stayed in touch throughout the years.
About a year ago Norm wrote ”Joy is my chosen mission and as John Wesley said, ‘The world is my parish.’ The bible says, ‘Rejoice, Again I say Rejoice!’ The middle of Rejoice is joy. The mission I have set my life path upon to travel is to bring JOY into everybody’s life to assist them in remembering an essential part of their humanity. …It’s my vocation.”
Michael Bari, Class of 1984
Michael Bari was born January 20, 1962 in Toronto, Canada.
He died on May 13, 2020 in Alexandria, LA
Photo by Howard Hiner
A member of the WVWC Baseball team, and Physical Education Major, Mike was active in many areas of campus. He was part of an intramural organization made up of members of various groups and teams across campus. They apparently were a force to behold, and were known as Hecklers II.
He had a very distinguished coaching career, incuding two years as the Women’s Basketball Coach at WVWC. I always enjoyed talking with him on campus! His other creative outlet was his Sports Radio Talk Show, which had an extensive following.
My heart goes out to the families and friends of these two members of the Bobcat family in particular, and to all of those who have lost someone to this pandemic. When reading the numbers of deaths on the news, it is so overwhelming. Each number represents a person. Each person has a story (or many).
During finals week of my freshman year of college, I wandered into the bookstore to procure the dreaded Blue Book. The empty pages between the blue covers were just waiting for me to fill them with all of the things I had learned during the semester.
While there, a sign caught my eye. It seemed like quite the opposite of what I was feeling.
I was in the middle of exams, and packing, and saying goodbye to new friends for the summer.
However, I bought that sign. It was in my dorm room for the rest of my college career. It is still with me, and looks a bit worse for wear. It was with me:
When my college sweetheart and I were newlyweds in Chicago — and homesick for family and the hills of WV.
When our children were newborns — and we were walking the floor night after night.
When family members died or moved far away.
Through new jobs, moves, school activities with the children, and empty nesting.
From time to time I still look at this sign, but with a new perspective.
Yes, those college days were the Good Old Days — in spite of the exams.
Yes, those adventures in Chicago — even during the Blizzard of 1979.
Yes, those wonderful moments (in retrospect) of endless rocking and singing to babies. They turned out to be pretty amazing people!
Yes, when looking back at the great memories we made with family members.
Yes, during each day and in every time in life, there were good things happening.
Good Old Days at WVWC?
Probably was hard to think it was the Good Old Days when, as seen on this 1900 map, the campus consisted of only the Seminary Building and Ladies Hall. And when the main building burned in 1905.
Probably was hard to think it was the Good Old Days during World War I and soldiers were training on campus…and students shipping off to fight in Europe.
Probably was hard during the Spanish Flu Epidemic in 1918.
Probably was hard, during the years that Roy McCuskey was president — during the Great Depression.
Probably was hard, during the years of World War II, and Korea, and Vietnam.
In each of these cases, there were very good things happening at WVWC in spite of it all. There were people (Faculty, Staff, Students) stepping up and being creative, just as there are in 2020. Giants then…Giants now.
2020
It is hard to imagine that we are living through the Good Old Days in 2020.
Pandemics, quarantines, online classes and meetings.
Masks and sanitizers all around.
Maybe, in time, we will remember the time spent with family without all of the running around.
Or the people who were heroic.
Or the people who called to check on us.
Or the creative ways we found to do the things that are important.
Personal Perspective
This year, in our family, there is a brand new baby – born a week before Mother’s Day. We celebrated Mother’s Day 2020 by introducing the baby to family members via Zoom. A good time was had by all.
These may well be Good Old Days yet.
I think I will give the sign to my daughter for Mother’s Day so that it can inspire her as well.
p.s. Congratulations, also to Lauren Weaver (WVWC’s United Methodist Church Liaison and Spiritual Life Coordinator) and her husband Nathan Weaver (class of 2013) on the birth of Ezra Lawrence Weaver on May 2! And to Dr. Katharine Antolini, who was featured on a BBC news story about Mother’s Day as a Mother’s Day Scholar. Yes, these may be the Good Old Days after all.
Things that we have done for years, and taken for granted, are now being done differently.
We connect with family and friends differently.
We learn, worship, celebrate, consume entertainment, and explore the world differently.
The word Virtual is defined as being almost or nearly as described, or almost a particular thing or quality. Oxford describes the origins as in the graphic below.
In many cases, the nature of what we are trying to achieve does not change: teach, learn, celebrate, support, enjoy, explore and so on. It may not be exactly the same. In some cases it is close, nearly, or almost. In some cases it misses the mark completely. In some cases it is just different — maybe even better!
Usage of the word has increased greatly in recent years, and my guess is that this has been especially true in the past few months. It seems that right now all of life has been impacted by the word Virtual.
Virtual Commencement
This past Saturday was a historic day at WVWC. The first ever Virtual Commencement happened. It was obvious that doing things as they are usually done was not possible. Travel was not possible for families, and groups over 25 people were not permitted as per orders from the governor.
With creativity, interaction, and keeping the goals of celebration and interactivity in mind, I think that this virtual effort was successful. Parts of it were really nice! The nature of the college and the celebration of the graduates were captured very well. There were no limits on tickets, no hard bleachers for families to sit on for hours, and it is all available to watch again if you’d like! Later in the day, graduates were sharing the link and other photos from the event with family and friends. The celebration that was happening in all of the comments were not Virtual. They were very real!
It was almost as described. The essence of the celebration was strong. While not what most graduates and their families had envisioned, it did a great job of including participation and celebrating relationships. Students were invited to submit photos from their college years. Many submitted photos with friends, faculty, groups, teams, or activities that had been especially meaningful to them. Some chose not to submit photos, and that was ok too. Various campus folks included short video congratulations.
The ceremony ended, as it does in person, with the singing of My Home Among the Hills. But this time, the choir members sang it together while apart. The tears that came to my eyes were not virtual. My eyes were a bit moist. Click here to watch it — over and over again if you’d like!
Since 1978, the Baccalaureate Service has included a Litany of Commission written by Dr. Sidney T. Davis, Professor Emeritus of Religion and Christian Education and former Dean of the Chapel.
Dr. Davis, himself a student of Dr. Ralph C. Brown, Class of 1915 and a graduate in the class of 1936, has been an inspiration to many throughout the years. A faculty member from 1947-76, Dr. Davis mentored and inspired many church leaders. He continues to inspire present and future graduates of the college through the use of this Litany of Commission.
This is one tradition that does not have to be missed this year even though the COVID-19 pandemic has caused such upheaval in this time of celebration. In fact, as I went through the litany this week, it struck me that it only needed a mention of the situation at the beginning and at the end in order for it to apply to the class of 2020. Here is the litany with those slight additions in italics.
The President:
Members of the graduating class of 2020, the Wesleyan of today: administration, faculty, staff, fellow students, families; are not able to be together physically in Wesley Chapel for Baccalaureate Service or in the Rockefeller Gymnasium for your Commencement exercises as we would all love to be. However, you are surrounded by an unseen cloud of witnesses – wherever you may be – who have given to all of us a rich heritage in love of learning, devotion to truth, concern for people.
Graduating Seniors:
We gladly take this heritage as our own this day. We pledge ourselves to its preservation.
Wesleyan Community:
We rejoice in your commitment to the excellence of great traditions. We support you. We pray for your success.
The President:
You have lived and studied among people of faith. Without the undergirding, strength and courage of faith in God, the Wesleyan community would never have been born and could not survive. Take faith and let it daily be your companion.
Graduating Seniors:
We take heart for we have seen faith at work. We would be people of faith and receive it as our own: Faith in God, faith in our fellow human beings, and faith in ourselves as persons of God.
Wesleyan Community:
We, too, are people of faith and know its sustaining power. May it be yours: Faith to keep you strong, steady and serving
The President:
Go then, for there is now a noble commission given to you. Because of the special gifts with which you have been endowed, because of the nurture of those gifts by the spirit of Wesleyan, you are hereby commissioned to go out into the world to make a difference to change it for the better, to enrich it with your own brand of creative goodness, to redeem it when it falters. Go then, and God go with you!
Graduating Seniors:
We accept our commission. We dare to go because we must. Indeed, circumstances have required us to go long before we were ready. God grant that we shall be of good courage, and be faithful to the trust invested in us by our families, by Wesleyan, by the Church, and by God.
All: Amen
This Litany is not virtual. Yes, we would have preferred to say it in person. No, it is not changed because of the circumstances. In fact it may be more true today than ever! You are commissioned by generations of the Wesleyan community who have come before you to go out into the world, to make a difference to change it for the better, to enrich it with your own brand of creative goodness, to redeem it when it falters.
It happened all over the world. It happened at WVWC.
In 1970, more than 20 million Americans participated and advocated. Thousands of colleges and universities held protests, environmental teach-ins, and petition drives. By 1990, the movement was global. This year, on the 50th anniversary of its founding, more than one billion people will be involved in more than 193 countries. (Virtually, of course, with Social Distancing)
Pharos Coverage
For weeks before the big day, the Pharos was abuzz with plans.
The Family of Man in Balance with Its Environment In A World of Peace
UNITED NATIONS PETITION FOR THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
To the head of the Member Nations of the United Nations, to the General Assembly, and to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In recognition of the great urgency of our need to find solutions to the global problems of environmental deterioration and overpopulation, we urge you:
To formally declare a Common Goal for the People of the Earth, to be achieved within the short period of time that now remains before the THIRD Millennium, of bringing the Family of Man into balance with its environment, i a world of peace.
To add to the formal structure of the United Nations a Population an Environment Council of coordinate rank to the five major organs that now serve the General Assembly.
To accelerate planning for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment that is now being planned for June of 1972, and to schedule it for the earliest reasonable date in 1971.
To work together in advance of the Conference to formulate and informally agree upon specific plans for unified world-wide action to solve our major environmental problems.
To formally adopt these plans at the 1971 Conference of Human Environment.
To use this Conference to launch a unified assault upon those problems of our common environment on this small earth that demand, and will only yield to the common will and concerted efforts of all men everywhere — all races, all creeds, all economic classes, all ages — all over the world.
They Even Had Earth Day Pins!
The Wesleyan community was also invited to purchase a pin to show support for the movement. Proceeds went to the Balance Fund Foundation at the United Nations.
Advocacy: Then And Now
There were several wonderful descriptions of events on the campus by student writers, Cherie Nick (1971) and David Grubb (1972).
The April 14, 1970 issue of the Pharos had an article about the Ecological Teach-In and an article entitled Give Earth A Chance, by David Grubb. The opening paragraph sounds hauntinlgy current:
Earth Day was not just given lip service. There was follow-up. David Grubb also had an article in the April 28th issue entitled Where Do We Go From Here? The article began:
Earth Day, 1970, was more than just a pretty day to sit on the chapel steps and contemplate the potential and eminent dangers that face the world and the United States. It was, in fact, a time to look at the deeper social, political, and economic questions that lie at the very foundations of the crisis. The ecological destruction that has swept our finite planet can not simply be written off as a by-product of the population explosion.
David Grubb, class of 1972, when he went on from here, indeed continued the work that had been started. He dedicated himself to making a difference with a life of public service. According to his profile on the website of The Grubb Law Group, he was recognized as the National Consumer Advocate of the Year in 1983 by the Conference of Consumer Organizations, worked for a time with Ralph Nader in consumer advocacy, served in both the West Virginia State Senate and the House of Delegates, as the Deputy Attorney General in charge of West Virginia’s consumer protection office, and founded and served as the Executive Director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group. He has received the Public Service Achievement Award from Common Cause of West Virginia, the Mother Jones Award from the West Virginia Environmental Council, and the Environmental Initiative Award from Sierra Club.
Progress Has Been Made – But There Is Much More To Do
Since this blog was published on Monday, I have had a great email visit with David Grubb. He enjoyed looking back at all of this.
Also, here are some great photographs of the event in 1970. Howard Hiner was the campus photographer, and he captured these (and more) images. Thanks, and a shout-out, to his son-in-law Danny Green ’74 for sharing them.
Dr. Joseph Mow and his Philosophy classPart of the display in the Social Hall on the third floor of the Benedum Campus CenterLong view of the Benedum Campus Center — many new buildings since then!Signing the petition!John Wesley dressed for the occasion. David Grubb tells me that this was a World War II mask which was procured at the Upshur County Emergency SquadThe Chapel Steps – always a great gathering place
Since 1977, the majority of Easter mornings in my life have included the singing or hearing of Natalie Sleeth’s Joy in the Morning. In fact, it hardly seems like Easter at all if that song is missing from my day – so I have been known a few times to go out and find it on YouTube!
Besides being a very beautiful, powerful, and meaningful song, I have a strong connection to both the song and the composer. Natalie Sleeth wrote it in Buckhannon, and it was first sung by the WVWC Tour Choir at the inauguration of her husband, Ronald Sleeth, as the thirteenth president of West Virginia Wesleyan College. I was present at that debut. Since that time it has sold more than one million copies and been performed all over the world.
In 1987, Natalie Sleeth wrote a book called Adventures for the Soul: 35 Inspirational Poems and the Stories Behind Them in which, in her own words, she shares her thoughts, inspirations, and motivations for 35 of her best-known pieces including Joy in the Morning.
This small, but mighty, volume is available to borrow on the Internet Archive Open Library (free to sign up). In it, she tells about the inspiration for and development of Joy in the Morning. I would like to invite Natalie Sleeth to be the guest bloggist this week to share her thoughts with you.
Joy In The Morning
Ronald Sleeth, 13th President of WVWC and First Lady, Natalie Sleeth
This piece “happened” one August weekend in Buckhannon, West Virginia and began with the phrase, “Joy In The Morning” — which, it turns out was from Psalm 30 though I didn’t know that at the time. I may have gotten it out of thin air or from a book I once read by that title; but whatever the origin, the phrase kept recurring to me, and I began to ponder it. As I worked with the idea and with developing the text into a full “statement” (of related ideas) it began to generate more excitement for me, particularly when it “allied itself” to a strong, minor melody with a sequential section in the middle.
I remember working on it all weekend–until very late at night (since I was by myself) and beginning again early in the morning–and enjoying the challenge of working with four parts rather than just the two I often stop with. Perhaps at the back of my mind was the hope that it might prove suitable for an “inauguration anthem” for my husband’s inauguration as President of West Virginia Wesleyan College, but that was not uppermost in my mind at the outset. The best (most satisfying) part of writing the whole piece came when I had the idea for the ending with the delayed final major chord. I remember feeling excited at the effect it seemed likely to produce. I also enjoyed the realization that the second time through the material, to avoid a total “repetition” (albeit in another key) I could slow down one part by doubling the note values and achieving a contrast this way–especially by making it (virtually) a capella. So, the nature of the idea itself, plus the wrestling with it, brought about its ultimate form. It was not all conceived from the start by a long shot…but that seldom happens anyway.
I wrote out a piano accompaniment and then showed the manuscript to a few people at the college with the idea of its possible use at the Inauguration. But it seemed there would be no keyboard instrument at that occasion and someone suggested “translating” the accompaniment into brass instruments. I did this, with the help of the director of the band at the college, Mr. Dave Milburn, and it was performed at Ron’s inauguration on October 22, 1977 with a brass ensemble (two trumpets, two trombones) and the Tour Choir, under the direction of Mr. Jamie Schuppener.
I had listened to a choir rehearsal or two early in the fall (from manuscript) and made a few minor amendments in the score as a result (for better balance of voices and instruments) and the piece was finally published in the spring of 1977. I dedicated it to the W.V.W.C. Tour Choir, and put a footnote into the piece, giving credit to Jamie Schuppener as the director of the choir.
This piece has somehow traveled farther than any of mine, except perhaps for Baby, What You Goin’ To Be. It has been sung (many times, I understand) by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir over their regular radio broadcasts and by many other choral groups as well. The publisher made available a tape of the accompaniment (no voices), using brass and organ, so that small churches without these resources readily available can still sing the piece.
The cover (front) is very colorful and exemplifies the idea in the text but the back cover is uniquely appropriate to the “place of birth” of the piece, since it is the picture off the college catalog of W.V.W.C, taken in West Virginia not too far from Buckhannon. (The area looks like that!)
Something Worth Singing, and Something Worth Singing About
In the book, Natalie Sleeth ends her preface (which she calls Sharings) with this:
I would somehow like to think that the messages of my texts, especially the “inspirational” ones, have the potential for educating, enlightening and enriching people (rather than simply entertaining them), and perhaps of making them somehow better than they were before they encountered my song. That is a lofty goal, to be sure, but I continue to seek it and to try to write “something worth singing, and something worth singing about.”
This Easter in particular, during the Pandemic of 2020, this song seems even more relevant than ever before. Not just for Buckhannon, or West Virginia, or the United States. For the entire world. With that in mind, I leave you with this video of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church Choir of Singapore singing Joy in the Morning in July 2014. Well done, Natalie Sleeth!!
The Rockefeller gymnasium was packed with 2700 people for a concert featuring the Goo Goo Dolls. This group had been nominated for two Grammy awards that year for their hit song, Iris.
Murmurmontis 1999
At the Grammy Awards (February 24, 1999) they lost in both categories to Celine Dion for My Heart Will Go On, so that was pretty stiff competition!
Alisa Lively, Campus Activities Director, was responsible for bringing this event to campus. That evening they sang their top hits Name (1995), Slide (September 1998), and Iris (April 1998) for the appreciative crowd in Buckhannon.
Murmurmontis 1999
The warm-up band that day was The New Radicals, who opened for the Goo Goo Dolls on this tour (which started on March 30). Their only album, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, had been released on October 20, 1998 and included the song You Get What You Give.
Murmurmontis 1999
The New Radicals must have been having some internal conflict, though, because they ended up canceling their tour of the U.K. which had been scheduled to start on May 17. On July 12, they made the announcement in a press release that they were disbanding.
I don’t know what the New Radicals played on April 5, 1999 in Rockefeller Center, but here is the Set List from the Goo Goo Dolls!
Due to the magic of technology, you can enjoy the setlist from that April 5, 1999 concert in Rockefeller Center. Setlist.fm includes not only the list of songs that were played, but links to videos of the songs (although not necessarily from that night).
As I write this, it is April 2020. Social Distancing is important right now, and our campus is empty due to the pandemic. It is hard to even imagine 2700 people gathered into Rockefeller. But Click Here to Hear The Music From That Concert!
This week I have been thinking especially of Grace Imathiu. 
