Hi, Barb: Maybe Ruth and I shoulda just gone straight from you house. We only ended up getting three or four hours of sleep as is.
Our Sunday morning went beautifully though, despite it seeming that everything went wrong. The other baritone in the Gospel Messengers, Frankie, had to go out of town because of a family emergency, which I discovered when we got home from Branford and got the message on our machine. Our bass, Joe, was in a head-on collision about a month ago which re-aggravated a hip injury and he was in such pain Saturday that he didn't sleep for a minute. When he arrived Sunday morning, he could barely walk. I've never seen him suffering so much. Derrick came flying in at the last minute, so we had a trio. We were singing at a conference of Halfway Houses, and were in a banquet hall with 500 people in attendance from states as far away as Utah, and even representatives from a halfway house in South Korea. Once we started singing, the energy kicked in, and at least for a few minutes,
Joe was able to sing. Every performer knows of those times when you have to drag yourself on stage, wondering where you can find the reserve. And yet, somehow you always do.

Ruth and I are looking forward to a return engagement for Rick, but will make it over to other concerts when we can. We're only a half hour away..

Thanks to all the Branford folks for making such a wonderful evening possible.

Jerry and Ruth