SubscribeGearing up for a gospel concert
I just finished designing the program for Saturday’s gospel concert. The concert will be held 6 p.m. at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Warner Robins, GA. It’s a fundraiser for the Pearl J. Stephens Memorial Scholarship that will be presented to a Houston County (GA) graduating senior in June 2012 when former students of Pearl Stephens High School gather for our biennial reunion.
It’s unwise to handle large back-to-back projects. That’s just what happened to me.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished designing a 76-page souvenir book for the Order of Eastern Star. Just when I ready to start planning for the concert, I was stunned with having to reformat all of the pages for a new printer.
Once that time-consuming task was finished, I dove right into planning the concert.
I had a list of potential performers to contact. It is mind boggling as to how people will volunteer to do something and when contacted, the majority of them request that you call them later for an answer. After a few days of playing the phone tag game, I began crossing names off my list. Finally, five acts had committed to the event and I went with them.
I designed a flyer so copies of it could be posted in various businesses throughout Middle Georgia. I mailed announcements to a slew of churches and sent announcements to the local media. Of course, word of mouth is proving to be quite beneficial in getting a large audience to the event.
I’m most pleased that Hamp “King Bee” Swain agreed to be master of ceremony during the concert. Swain, a 2008 inductee into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, is a noted broadcast celebrity, who was also a musician. Richard Penniman (Little Richard) got his start as a vocalist in Swain’s band, The Hamptones.
Swain also helped launched the careers of Otis Redding and James Brown. He has a voice comparable to that of James Earl Jones. Once you hear their voices, you’ll never forget them. Swain and Jones had roles in the 1976 movie, “Bingo Long and the Traveling All Stars & Motor Kings.” Swain was the announcer during the baseball games. Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor also starred in the movie. Part of the movie was filmed in Macon and Luther Williams Field was used as the Negro League ballpark.
So, I’m hoping Swain’s supporters will follow him to the concert on Saturday. I’m much hyped about the concert because the performers are well-known throughout Middle Georgia. But more importantly, they are VERY GOOD singers!
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When I was an 18-month-old plump and very mischievous toddler, I was stricken with polio. Paralysis stole my mobility and I was only able to move my head from side to side. Then, when I was 2 years old, my mother was killed in a tornado. A year later, my father married and began a life that excluded me.
