In the last segment, I stated that the beloved dinner season was pretty well over. I did mention two venues which were coming up, and I did attend both.
The first was the Bouton breakfast that was held at the Bouton Community Center Dec. 2. This is the final Bouton breakfast for the year. I do hope that it comes back and if it does, it should be the first Saturday in April.
I know a few years ago the Bouton breakfasts were going to end, but several people stepped up to keep it running. The same thing happened with the Perry Fine Arts Concert Series. It takes a lot of work to put events such as these on.
Bouton hosts a good breakfast. I had one pancake, one or two scrambled eggs, ham, potatoes and biscuits and gravy. They also offer a sausage patty and toast, with milk, orange juice and coffee as beverages.
Dan and I came before 8 a.m. I had a gun show in Missouri Valley that I needed to leave for by 9 AM. This is a long drive but it was a good, smaller show. I saw some items that peaked my interest.
Unfortunately, Santa Claus did not make it to Bouton until 9 a.m., so I missed him for the first time in many years. The lady taking the money said Santa had a hard night and wasn’t able to get in until 9 a.m. Just like the rest of us, he isn’t getting any younger.
The following night featured the Advent Alleluia concert held at Christ Lutheran Church at the Four Corners near Bouton.
For many years, Christ Lutheran Church has hosted a concert in the middle of November. If memory serves properly, it was called Honor and Praise. Dan Haymond was worried about this concert not being held this year.
One Sunday morning when I was walking to church, I saw the sign for the Advent Alleluia concert in the window of Ben’s Fime and Dime. I told Dan about the upcoming concert when I got to church, which got him excited. Marilyn Pentico later put up a poster on our church bulletin board about the event.
Christ Lutheran Church Choir Director Karen Menz said they wanted to host a concert this year with a Christmas theme, so they waited until December to host their event. Of course, this also included their hamball dinner.
The concert featured many performances. The group Grace Alone sang several numbers. I have been following them for at least 20 years, and they sound better each time I have the pleasure of seeing them. This group consists of Terri Cooper, Shelly Golightly, Karen Menz, Karen Schulteis, Sue Schulteis and Connie Sheehy.
Other performers included the Christ Lutheran Church Choir, Mickey Lynde, Joanne Smith, Ron Bartelt and Dave Menz. The entire concert captured the spirit and meaning of the Christmas season.
Bartelt gave a very memorable performance in which he played the harmonica and sang “Silent Night” in German. Jenni Schulteis accompanied many of the performances on the piano. I remember her playing for school events when she was in high school.
Ken Cooper runs the sound board. He has his hands full with all of the performer changes, the number of microphones needed for the Grace Alone members, sound monitors, sound for the video camera and running the recorded music. How he keeps the sound balanced amazes me. I have trouble with running one or two microphones at church. Cooper is amazing in his abilities with the sound board, an artist in action.
For a number of years, he traveled around with and ran the sound for the group Higher Power.
Damon Adair recorded the event for Pegasus. It has been running regularly on Pegasus and also can be found on the Pegasus Channel on YouTube.
A free-will offering was taken up for the Acorns and Oaks daycare at the Perry Lutheran Home. The Rev. Steve Ude led the crowd in a prayer.
After the concert was the traditional hamball dinner. There were hamballs, of course, plus cheesy potatoes, green beans, a dinner roll, coleslaw, applesauce and cookies and dessert bars.
I sat by a lady that I used to work with and had not seen for many years. It was good to catch up on what has happened over the years.
Not officially part of the beloved dinner season but a major secular event is the annual Christmas party held at the Raccoon Valley Bank. This was held Dec. 7. For me this marks the start of the Christmas season. It started some 15 or 20 years ago when the bank was the Perry State Bank.
I enjoyed this event, too, but had to leave early to record the fifth grade music program for Pegasus. Dan usually does the school programs, but he claimed to be in Kansas City doing an installation for his job. The fifth graders gave a great performance with a 1950s and ’60s rock-and-roll theme. Watch for this on Pegasus also.
I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
