Motab Tour Part 2

The drive through Wisconsin and into Minnesota was so lovely. There was a whole group of people in the rows behind us that were so enamored with the beautiful farms and RED barns in particular. They were/are such well kept, picturesque scenes to watch. We drove to Black River Falls Wisconsin to place a marker remembering the pioneers that worked the timber there. They were known as the pineries, we learned what white pine looks like and why it was desireable. The logs were floated down to the Mississippi river to Nauvoo, orginally for building the temple but the saints were able to sell them at a high price and most of it was sold for the benefit of the saints. Anyway, a few years ago when the choir approached the town council of Black River Falls about doing this and having the choir stop they were not enthused, not even interested. But as they developed the plan and time went on the entire town became involved and VERY excited.

The choir men got new casual shirts with the choir logo to wear with khaki pants, the women a similar blue shirt to be worn with a dark skirt for this and any other future casual events. As we drove through town in our 11 tour buses it definately caught peoples attention. I saw people stop on the streets, look out their windows and step out on the porch and watch these buses drive by. I'm sure most of them had no idea what was going on. We stopped at the park, the choir got in formation on a stone amphitheater and the mayor got up to the microphone and in his Wisconsin accent welcomed the people of the town, the choir and MARK Wilburg. He also referenced Elder Card-own several times. (Mac Wilberg, Elder Cardin) the choir sang 3 numbers, Elder Cardin spoke for about 5 mins. and then Mac had the choir sing Battle Hymn of the Republic. It was hot for the choir, but not horrible. When the last song was over this little mustached mayor in a mismatched suit took the microphone again and his voice cracked and he was weepy. I felt like he was surprised at his emotion, embarrassed at being that way in public. I'm quite sure he had never done that before! He announced that they would hold the traffic (two cars and a postal truck) so we could all cross the street and have a look at the Black River. This was a non event. You had to look over a high cement wall, and it was not much to see but they seemed to be proud of it. Later that night several choir members discovered they had wood ticks. We boarded the buses after about an hour total time and headed to a memorial park for a catered lunch.

This house was one of hundreds of beautiful American homes we drove by, most with US flags and looked like it was right off a Norman Rockwell print.

This war memorial park was so nice. The local LDS members drove from the concert and met us there and did a little skit in pioneer and indian clothes, etc. A local caterer hosted another wonderful lunch complete with a sampling of Wisconsin cheeses. Then on to MINNESOTA! We arrived at our downtown Marriott just in time to walk 2 blocks to the new Target Field and watch a Twins game with 220 of our closest friends!

It was a great night, lovely weather, a super park and the Twins won the game with home runs and all! More to come........

Motab Upper Midwest Tour

At this point we have been on tour for almost a week now.  I am fully and emotionally aware of the opportunity it is to be a part of this tour. It is such a great opportunity to see this missionary group travel. It's no small task to move 500 people, to feed them and facilitate All of the many needs we have. We left Salt Lake three chartered planes, arrived in Columbus Ohio for the first concert.

We boarded 11 buses and headed to the arena for rehearsal and concert.  Following a wonderful evening we loaded our buses again and drove for two hours to our hotel in Indianapolis. We arrived at 2 AM.  This was a fabulous city and we stayed in a gorgeous new Marriott Hotel. Apparently the choir has some pretty good connections with Marriott. 

I was charmed by this beautiful clean city and it's canals.

We had a day to recover and explore Indianapolis before the concert there. It's so fun to see how the crowds react to all of these songs. I listen to each rehearsal and each performance and I do not tire of it. We find missionaries at each venue, many choir members greet family in their town and there's always a large presence of nonmembers attending as well.  The Next destination was just north of the city of Chicago.  We had a wonderful bus ride along the city and Lake Michigan as we worked our way north to a delightful outdoor amphitheater name Rivinia.  The last few miles of this journey tickets to seemingly endless neighborhoods of gorgeous, multimillion dollar homes.

This was one of the places where the Lord's  tender mercies were apparent.  Every single forecast had thunderstorms and rain in Chicago, but when we arrived at this outdoor amphitheater with its grassy lawns the skies cleared blue.   This was a fun venue because people came early with their dinner - complete with tables, chairs, tablecloths, glass, China, and candles.  Many of the people who enjoyed the choir tonight were drinking wine with Cheese. We enjoyed a serendipitous moment as we were reunited with friends from Minnesota. One of the men in the choir told Karl someone was looking for him and he led us to Tim and Rindy Wilson.  It was nice to see them and they were surprised that I came along as well.  

We spent Saturday night and Sunday night at a lovely Marriott in Schaumburg, Illinois where we had sacrament meeting.  The speakers that day were Elder and sister  Cardin who were the traveling authorities on this trip.  After a wonderful Sunday afternoon of napping and reading we had a fireside that evening.  This fireside included details and information about the process of getting the guest soloists for the choir.  It was filled with the testimony of the Lord's hand guiding this choir.

 

Monday, we traveled to Milwaukee Wisconsin for a concert that evening. This was held in a lovely old theater and again, was well received.  We arrived in time for rehearsal then walked to our hotel for dinner and then back for the concert. We were instructed however, to stay on the marked path only, to travel in groups, and were escorted by police and the church security team. Apparently they were concerned about the neighborhood.

At each venue they introduce the choir and house people who have a association or relationship with that city to stand.  It's pretty fun to see how many people have family in the area, used to live there, served a mission in the area, or otherwise have a connection.  In Ohio, we had just a few minutes after the performance to meet with Karl's cousin, Lee Tobler.  There is not much time to visit with people, we are herded onto buses as soon as the choir has changed from their performance clothes.

This is a photo of some of the women's lockers. They remind me of portable Barbie doll cases that I had as a child. There are cases similar for the men's clothing. They also bring sound equipment, bleachers, an organ, Cases for bells, of course instruments and displays with CDs to sell.  Semi trucks with stage crew Arrives before we do and sets it all up, and then they stay after, take it all down and rush ahead of us to the next venue.

Today we left Milwaukee for a short bus ride to Madison, Wisconsin for tonight's performance.  This is a lovely performance hall, much like Abravenel Hall in Salt Lake, perhaps a little newer.  Every seat has been sold for tonight's show.  

Between rehearsal and tonight's concert  they fed us a lovely meal upstairs in their mezzanine area. 

Tomorrow is a big day, we begin at 5:30 in the morning and head to Black River Falls, Wisconsin for a special dedication.

There is an area where where early Pioneers went to get lumber to send down the Mississippi River for the building of Nauvoo, they are dedicating a small monument in the park there and choir will be singing a short program.  After that, we head to Minneapolis and will be there in time for a Minnesota twins baseball game.  About 100 members of the choir will be in attendance at that game. I have never been to a baseball game in a dress before, it should be a great missionary experience!

I am so excited to head back to Minnesota, I have not been here for more than 20 years. Karl and I are staying two days after the choir leaves to be able to visit our old home town.  Karl did get a nice write up in the local paper, kind of hometown boy makes good type of story.  It's all part of the missionary effort, they encourage people from the Cities the tour stops in to submit how they are connected especially in musical ways. That is then submitted to the public relations department to the local press.  Before we left, a guy from the paper did a phone interview with Karl.

I dictated this whole post from my iPhone, so I hope it makes sense!