October 2019 Update

Welcome to another installment of the Greg Matthews’ Family News.  This month we celebrated Ella’s birthday on 9/21 and Alma’s birthday on 10/6.  And we did a few other things, like…

Our pastor was on vacation on 9/22, so I took a turn preaching again.  CAUTION:  It’s a sermon about money, which I know makes people nervous, but if you want to hear it, you can do so here:  http://www.gracebrockport.org/forms/Media.aspx#/mediafile/276.  I learned a lot doing it, so I trust God used it to build up His church.

Our barbershop chorus district convention and competition was on 9/27 and 28.  This was the first time I’ve participated in the quartet competitions, and both my quartet and my chorus finished about in the middle of the pack.  I’m very pleased for our quartet because this is the first time for two of the four of us, and we got mic tester, which is sort of like honorable mention.  We didn’t compete in the finals on the 2nd day, but we were the first to sing that day to test the sound system to make sure it was ready for the competitors, an honor they give to the best of the non-finalists.  Eventually, I should get links to a private YouTube page where our chorus and my quartet performances recordings will be, and I’ll let you know.

On 10/5, my quartet got to sing again.  We had been hired to perform at a Celebration of Life service for a friend of our lead’s.  We sang one song during the service, and then provided background music during the meal.  It was sort of hard to sing while everyone was talking and eating.  Very few of them were actually listening, I think, but we gave it our all anyway.  The man who had passed away loved trains and had worked for years for the Pennsylvania Railroad (yup, just like in Monopoly), so during the service we sang an arrangement of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”  It was fun and again we got paid both with money and food, so I’m not complaining.

This past Saturday, 10/12, our local families all went to a farm market to enjoy fall activities.  The day was sort of rainy, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.  Watching grandkids enjoy hay mazes, picking pumpkins, doing a corn maze, and laughing at silliness can make any day enjoyable.

Amelia, Alex and me on the hayride

I guess this is a sort of short monthly letter, but we “talk” again in November.