Gaither Concert

I was able to attend the Bill Gaither Concert at the civic center last Thursday evening. It was fantastic to say the least. They sang for 4 hours. Guy Penrod is taking a break from the group for awhile, it was the first time I had seen one of their concerts without him there. Ernie Haase and Signature Sound did a great job too.

Mark Lowry surprised us all by appearing on stage about 2 hours into the program.
My favorite song was at the end when they sang "Because He Lives". I also enjoyed Mark's song about going home.

I messed up Holly's picture of her and Mark (sorry, but there were SOOOO many flashes to keep track of...) but she did get to snap a picture of him right before he ran back to the stage.

The concert was meant to be a "memorial" to Jake Hess. For the past 10 or so years of his life he lived here. He passed away a few years ago and the funeral was at my church. I was unable to attend the funeral but heard it was a musical tribute. The volunteers that were helping in the infant nursery this past Sunday were relatives of Jake Hess. Jake's grandaughter Emily and her husband were there with their 5 month old son. They have 2 older boys and they were helping with the infants this time. Emily talked about touring with her papa Jake while she was in high school. Bill Gaither had the Hess family on stage with them during the last hour of the program. Jake's 2 sons and 11 year old grandson (Jake the 3rd) can sing very well, too.