Family and Friends At Seminole Gospel Sing 2023

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from Ohio. I am glad to be home for a few days. This girl is always glad to come back to my Ohio Beach Cottage. Soon we will be off on our next summer adventure.

Today I am here to give you a brief recap of last Saturday. We had a fantastic day! Last week, I mentioned we would be spending the day with family and friends. Dad also talked about the day in his Weekend Dispatch here on Monday.

Several weeks ago, a friend sent me a picture of a concert flyer. This flyer alerted me that the McNeills and The Isaacs would be singing in Seminole, Oklahoma, on June 17th.

The Seminole Gospel Sing has been going on in August for many years. We attended the huge outdoor multi-day event when we lived in Kansas. We have many great memories from our nights at Seminole listening to music.

This year the singing was moved from August to June. I was happy that it lined up with our visit to Crosslight! I was thrilled to be with the Isaacs again!

Due to the weather forecast, Saturday's concert was moved from an outdoor concert to a church. It was a lot of extra work for the people involved. They had to set up ad tear down all their equipment twice! I know the people doing the work were exhausted!

Moving inside was a wise decision. First Assembly, the new location for the evening, also had air conditioning. That is a feature we all appreciated on that 90-degree day!

It was awesome to see some of our extended family. Bro. Jud, Sis. Amanda, Bryanna and Emma Ingram. We do not often cross paths with them. I enjoyed getting to visit with them!

I can not believe these girls have grown up! They are beautiful and talented! Bryanna recently graduated from high school. Click here to check out Emma's Youtube channel here. Subscribe and tell her Odie sent you. 😀

The MC for Seminole Gospel Sing started the night with a few songs.

The McNeills are a Texas based family group. It is a Mom, Dad, nine children and a son-in-law that travel. Later this summer, a grandson is set to arrive and bring a new dynamic to the group. They are incredibly talented! I enjoyed their performance.

This was my first time to see them live. We had met them previously at an Isaacs concert in Texas. They are also big Isaacs lovers like me. Ben Isaacs has produced projects for them too.

Now It was time for the Isaacs to take the stage.

Greg Ritchie is a fantastic musician! I was blown away, once again, by his ability to bring so much life to a song.

The incredible Isaacs! I love every moment of their concerts!

The one the only awesome Ben Isaacs! I am still his number 1 fan!

Between me and the McNeill family, Ben had a big cheering section!

Becky is a walking miracle! She was hit in a head-on collision in December. She spent months in a wheelchair due to her injuries. Thank God today she can now walk. She still has ways to go to make a full recovery. It is amazing to see how far the Lord has brought her!

I really do not know how she does it, but Becky is singing and playing better than ever!

Levi Bowman did a phenomenal job singing an older Isaacs song made popular by his dad, John Bowman.

Josh Swift is an award-winning dobro player! Dobro is one of my favorite instruments. Josh can make it sing and talk like no other!

His crazy antics crack me up. You never know what he will do next!

All three of Sonya's children were with her in Oklahoma. It is fun when they join the Isaacs on stage!

Evya is 6, Gatlyn is 7 and Ayden is 11! All three of them are excellent singers! I am proud of them!

It is impossible to pick a favorite moment in The Isaacs set! I was speechless, amazed and inspired!

Nobody can sing and play the mandolin like Sonya Isaacs! As a girl, I always pretended that I was Sonya. A girl can dream, right? Part of the dream came true. I am blessed to travel on a bus and sing.  I just sing lower than I wished for, and I can not play the mandolin.😍

I love my Aunt Lily so much! Our visits are always short but sweet!

Becky is my hero and inspiration! She has shown that singing lower can be fun too!

Sonya is my encourager! She knows how to make me smile!

Bro. David Toliver and I always text each other from the Isaacs concerts we attend. This one we got to enjoy together.

Sis. LaJeanna Toliver and Kelly Jo, It was so good to see many friends at Seminole.

This is my beautiful friend Samantha Kite.

Terry is the one who alerted me about this concert. I was surprised to see him that night because he was out of state on vacation. Turns out he came back early just for the concert. 

He did not want me to have fun at Seminole without him! Thanks,  Terry, for the extra driving and for cutting your trip a day short. It was so good to have my friend part of these memories with me!

We enjoyed having Pastor Brent Moore enjoy the night with us too! It is exhilarating to share an Isaacs concert experience with a fellow music enthusiast!

Bro. Jud Ingram and I grew up together. Our grandmothers are 1st cousins. We had to have a picture to send home to the Ohio family and friends!

Also, all my fellow Pod'N Me Podcast fans will know this is Hershall and the Souper Fan together. We had to document this moment.

If you are unfamiliar with my favorite podcast, Pod'N Me, click here for more info. Seminole Sing memories from years gone by are often mentioned in the episodes. It was only fitting for some of us Pod'N Me listeners to meet up at Seminole.

Here is another one for my Pod'N Me lovers. This is the Souper Fan, Hershall and the Feedbacker "Talking Terry."

I am so glad we got to attend a night of Seminole Gospel Sing in 2023! 2003 was the last time we attended Seminole Gospel Sing. It was wonderful to see many friends!

We always love a chance to spend time with and hear Isaacs! We love our family! We made more memories that will last a lifetime! 

Thanks for reading today. See you next time.

Odie

Jason Crabb Hillsboro, Ohio 2/10/23

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from the home front. Thanks for stopping by to visit. I hope your weekend is off to a good start already.

I mentioned here in this post that I was able to attend a Jason Crabb last Saturday. Seeing one of my favorite singers live is always a good day. 2015 was the last time that I had been to a Jason Crabb concert. Click here to read about that night.

I always check the concert schedule to see if anyone is going to be in my area, wherever that may be. I like using the Bandsintown app. I have it set to alert me when there is a concert of my favorite groups near me.

Soon after I got home this time, I received a Bandsintown notification. I was thrilled to see Jason Crabb was going to be near me! When I read the church's name, Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene, I expected it to be on Sunday night. Then I checked the date, and low and behold, it was on a Saturday.

Then it was time to investigate and get more details about the evening. I found the concert was free and open to the public. I was excited! First, I contacted my family in Hillsboro, and their schedules did not allow them to go.

I put out a few feelers to see if anyone was interested in joining me from my area. Plans were solidified a couple days ahead of time. Bro. Rick, Sis. Stephanie and Tim Stansell allowed me to tag along with them. We were excited and ready for a great night.

We arrived at the church shortly after the doors opened. Already, the crowd had filled the building almost to capacity. The excitement for the evening was building. A kind gentleman helped us locate great seats for the 4 of us. 

There ended up being 11 people that we knew there that night. We were scattered in 4 different spots. When the concert started, there was standing room only. I heard that some people were unable to get in,

Here are a few shots while we waited for go time.

The concert had been a last-minute addition to the Church's events schedule. The They were thrilled with the turnout.  

The people that attend Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene were super friendly, welcoming and accommodating! They did a fantastic job hosting the event! I will l definitely attend a concert there if it works out again.

The Pastor welcomed us and started the evening with prayer.

Comedian Micky Bell was also on the ticket that night. It was my first time hearing him. He was a funny guy. We will be laughing at some of his material for a while.

Then it was time for the main event, Jason Crabb. Every song was so good. It is hard to pick a favorite moment. I enjoyed it all so much!

Then Jason surprised us by calling his daughter Ashleigh to the stage.

They sang a duet together. 

Then Ashleigh sang another song by herself. She is a very talented young lady! It was great to see her with her dad that night. You could definitely tell Jason was proud to have her on stage with him.

Mickey Bell came out for some more comedy and serious moments.

A highlight of the evening for everyone was when Jason grabbed the acoustic guitar and sang a few Crabb Family favorites! I could have listened to that all evening!

 

It was a fantastic night! I am so thankful we were able to experience it!

It was good to see Jason again and speak to him for a moment.

That wrapped up our night of seeing Jason Crabb. The music and singing were fabulous, and we collected many happy memories!

I hope you enjoyed this look at the Jason Crabb concert at Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene on 2/10/23. Thanks for reading. 

Odie