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Reflections of a long-ago Simpsonaire (1953-55) Autumns in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle) were especially busy times, what with starting new classes, getting parttime jobs lined up, and, for those of us who wanted to sing and were accepted into one of the musical groups, hours of practice and building repertoire. Soon we would also be busy on Sundays accompanying a faculty member-speaker to a local C&MA church where we would be pretty much in charge of the service. And, as our little group became more of a unit, we also broadened our outreach. Instead of just ministering in Seattle and nearby churches, by late October we were taking Saturday-Sunday trips which included Wenatchee, Spokane, Hood River, OR., Portland, Salem, and Silverton, and more. And It wasn't unusual for us to drive all Sunday night after such a mini-tour in order to get back before Monday morning classes. On one such trip we also transported another Simpson student, a young lady, back to the school from a weekend visit at her home in Dallas. A little discreet bonding may have taken place, and less than a year later she would become engaged to this writer. But a significant function of the weekend outreach programs was in something called the "Harvest Home" celebration. These doings had begun way back in earlier times no doubt, when rural church pastors were compensated in money but especially in the harvest from those productive farms. And so it was to them a natural expansion that the good folks also contribute canned goods and even potatoes, or whatever, to the "Bible School." Jars and jars of green beans, peas, corn, cherries, peaches, prunes, etc. were brought to church and then taken home to Simpson after the service: thus the "Harvest Home" tradition - all during the harvest season there in the Seattle area. This writer/former singer helped load many a Mason jar of all sizes and content into that 1953 Ford station wagon. The head cook appreciated those contributions back then, and planned many of our meals around them. During the following week in the school dining hall we often humorously jousted a little over, say, too much of this or that on the menu, and just who brought it in. However, we were grateful for these contributions, for they helped keep our food costs down. But alas, the "Harvest Home" services tradition did not survive the move of the school to San Francisco in 1955. And besides, as the school year progressed and the Renanah choir became ready for programs, the Simpsonaires joined with the choir for local Sunday night concerts as well as for the longer tour(s). So with the end of the harvest season the Mason jars stopped coming. At school year's end that '54-55 Simpsonaire team, the last Seattle-based one, still had a summer of work to do, including helping convince our West Coast Alliance constituency that the San Francisco move was a proper one, and that it held an even more promising future in preparing young people for carrying out A.B.Simpson's great vision. Six suitcases fit nicely on edge completely across the back of the station wagon, covered by six wardrobes for our suits. We were five young men: the quartet and an accompanist. A sixth person, the Rev. J. Harold Howard, was the newly appointed PR Director for the Simpson relocation period. The five included two vocal soloists, a trumpeter, and two fine pianist/organists. We headed east from Seattle, through some torn-up and muddy Idaho roads where we skidded sideways a couple of times. But we stayed on the road, all the way, through Utah, Nevada, many stops in California, Arizona, and finally back to the coast and Dallas, Oregon - our last concert. And did I say that we (excluding Reverend Howard of course) were all engaged? Yep! We wrote a lot of letters that summer; you see, there were no cell phones back then, and long distance calls were exhorbitant !. We sang in a "Monday Musical" concert in Pasadena with the great Phil Kerr, along with then-famed basso soloist Bill Carl and others; we were present at Alliance summer camps in Utah, at Alliance Redwoods in California, Camp Radford (near Big Bear Lake), and maybe at Peppersauce Canyon in Arizona. In Glendale, CA, we sang in six services on one Sunday, including a jail service in the afternoon and a "Singspiration" at the end. We survived a flu bug that went through us, along with a pet bird, with cage, that Ron Fuller just could not resist buying - as long as Tweety-bird lasted. And one of us even got to go snorkeling off So. Cal in exchange for singing a "Shadrach" up at Radford - arrangements made by the late Jeanie (Prowse) Pollock, a high-energy Simpson student from Manhattan Beach, CA. I also enjoyed, with an aching heart, a brief stint as a big brother to a strapping little 10-year-old boy who had just lost his Dad in a logging accident there in the Ashland, OR, area. Ouch! Later, when located in SF, this writer joined the staffs of San Francisco churches as soloist (okay, so that one was a very brief tenure), and, in others, as Church Music Director. Fellow Simpsonaires David Howard and Ron Fuller were employed with us at two of those churches, and served so very capably as pipe organ artists/accompanists. David Howard wound up teaching at George Fox U, and is still busy in that area. Dave Foley worshipped and served at Chico Neighborhood Church for many years. The two others are With the Lord. Eventually I would add full-time public school teaching and even photography to my schedule, which would include thirty years of serving churches as music director (with some brief lapses), and forty+ years as a soloist. We were available to God to serve Him, and what opportunities and fulfilled lives we have enjoyed. "Great is Thy Faithfulness!" And thank you again, Simpson. - Dan Seng |
