My (Indirect) Claim to Fame 04/20/2010
If you've seen my profile on my Facebook page, you've probably wondered about this little tidbit of information: My big claim to fame is that I know Josh Turner, the country singer, personally. I was responsible for putting him on a "big" stage for the first time. It's true! I have a magazine article to prove it! One of my new Facebook friends picked up on it and was curious about how I came to know Josh and what led to my claim to fame. I promised her I would post about it in my blog, so here it is . . . From 1992 through 1998, I worked for the Pee Dee Education Foundation, a nonprofit that raised money and initiated programs in the 18 rural school districts of the Pee Dee region. I can honestly say, it was the best job I ever had. I have a passion for education, and I loved taking a young organization and being given the freedom to make it grow. The foundation didn't have a huge endowment, so I literally sang for my supper. If I didn't raise money, I didn't get paid! What I know about fundraising is that it's a lot more about friend raising than going out and asking for money. Name awareness and recognition of the organization's work is what brings the money in and keeps it coming in. Since the day I took the job as executive director of the foundation, I had heard countless stories of a similar foundation in Raleigh that held an annual performing arts showcase called "Pieces of Gold" that raised thousands of dollars. The event was so successful that they hired someone to work on it year round. Sometime during my second year on the job, my secretary Joanne Creel and I decided we would go to Raleigh and find out what all the fuss was about. Two weeks before the performance, we had to beg, borrow, and plead to get tickets to the event held in a 1500-seat auditorium! We finally got our tickets and we headed to Raleigh to see the big show. The hype was all true! We were blown away by the talent and professionalism of the show! The following year, the foundation board felt we were ready to stage our own "Pieces of Gold" so, with the help of my trusty sidekick Joanne, I set about to make it happen. We found a director for the show and she recruited stage hands and other help to manage the massive number of children who would perform. We came up with a name and branding so that the show would be highly recognizable from year to year. Our show was called "H'Artfelt Expressions" and was held annually in February to tie in with Valentine's Day. Schools were contacted and asked to submit video auditions and the show's director and a panel of unbiased judges chose the 18 to 20 acts for the show. The first show was held at the Florence Civic Center. Now, that is certainly not a venue that evokes a lot of excitement, but you need to know and recognize that the Pee Dee region is extremely rural. For most of the children who participated, singing on a celebrity-sized stage was a BIG deal. Many of those children had never traveled outside of their own home towns. In discussing the show with the board, we wanted to do our best to include an act from every school district. But nobody auditioned from the tiny, rural school district of Hanna-Pamplico--District 3. It just so happened that my secretary, Joanne, lived in that school district, and when I asked if she thought we could get an act from th district, she said, "I know somebody!" Joanne attends Union Baptist Church and one of the congregants there at the time was a young man named Josh Turner. Josh often sang at church functions and made no secret of the fact that his one aim in life was to go to Nashville and become a country singer. His inspiration was Randy Travis. Joanne contacted Josh and he was more than anxious to send in his audition tape and let the judges take a look at his performance. I believe his audition song was "Diggin' Up Bones." After the judges selected the acts for the show, of course, Josh was one of them. Realizing his talent, they decided that he should be the final act just before the grand finale where more than 500 children would perform together. The audience was literally surrounded by children. Even now, when I think about it, that hairs on my arms stand up! The selected acts were notified and the show's director verified what their performance would include to make sure it was age appropriate and suitable for our goal of recognizing the talent from the schools in the Pee Dee. Josh was still undecided about what he wanted to sing . . . "Miz Maaarrrtha, what about 'Diggin' Up Bones'?" Well, for some reason, I just didn't want "Diggin' Up Bones" to be the last song of the evening, so I pondered on it a while and asked Josh if he would mind singing "Thank God for Kids." The seventeen-year-old boy sort of scrunched up his face, made a little groaning noise, and offered another suggestion. I promised Josh that if he would end the show with my selection that he could sing whatever he wanted to the following year. So he obliged. The night of the show came and it was mass chaos! I was a nervous wreck about all the little details, but nevertheless, I had done my part to make it happen and the show was going on whether I was ready or not. It was time to take my place on the stage to introduce the show and then I would be banished to the audience to worry about whether everything was going okay backstage. There were a few little glitches, but most of the acts were wonderful! I kept looking around at the audience and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. At least nobody left at intermission! It was finally time for Josh to go on. True to form, he was dressed in jeans, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat with his guitar in tow. Josh took the stage like a pro and squinted a little at the spot lights. The orchestra looked at Josh for their cue, and the star in him came out! If it weren't for kids, have you ever thought there wouldn't be no Santa Claus or look what the stork just brought? Thank God for kids! And we don't live in a quiet house without Big Bird or a Mickey Mouse and Kool-Aid on the couch. Thank God for kids! Thank God for kids, there's magic for a while; a special kind of sunshine in a smile. If you ever stop to think or wonder why--the nearest thing to Heaven is a child . . . I was so glad I'd been able to talk Josh into singing that song! It was even better than I'd imagined! All eyes were on him, and everybody in the audience knew this guy was something special! His rendition of the song was exceptional! Just when I thought I couldn't be wowed any more, Josh wound up for the ending of the song . . . he reached up and took off his hat, held it over his heart, and dropped to one knee . . . When you get down on your knees at night and thank the Lord for His guiding light and pray they'll turn out right. Thank God for kids! Oooh-ooh . . . And then in that deep, bass voice that has now become so famous, Josh spoke the final phrase--Thank God for kids! People! The house came down! The audience was on its feet, applauding and cheering! For me, it was one of those mountaintop moments! Josh performed in "H'Artfelt Expressions" the next year, and everyone involved with the foundation was predicting his fame. He graduated from high school and I knew that he was going to school in Tennessee and ultimately, he planned to go to Nashville to pursue his dream. But after that, I changed jobs and sort of lost track. Several years later, I was headed down I-20 after a long day in Columbia. I was scanning radio stations somewhere around the Bishopville exit and stopped searching for a station when I heard a familiar voice come across the car speakers . . . I knew that voice! It wasn't anybody I'd heard sing on the radio before because at the time, I was not a big fan of country music. I listened to the song and kept wracking my brain to try and remember where I had heard that voice. When the song ended, the announcer from WEGX-92.9 said, "That was Josh Turner from Hanna, South Carolina with his new, top-10 single, Long, Black Train!" Woo-hoo! Josh had made it to Nashville! I was prouder than a peacock! And whenever I'm with somebody and one of his songs comes on the radio, I can't help but say: "I know him, you know?" 2 Comments See You at the Rainbow's End? 04/17/2010
As a child, I loved to sing--still do. I was one of those little girls with a soft, sweet voice and I picked up a lot of songs from Mama--songs she sang around the house as she puttered about cleaning and cooking. Other songs, I picked up from my aunts who all have beautiful voices. It's true--the Lane family is gifted with talent, especially singing. I remember my first solo in church . . . it was during a Christmas play, and while I don't remember the song, I have a vivid picture in my mind still. I must have been four or five, and I can see myself standing at the front of the left side of pews in the little country church. There was a Christmas tree in the middle and to the right, there was a huge oil heater. My hair was long and dark with just a hint of a flip at the ends. For my part in the holiday pageant, I wore pajamas. They were white with pink flowers--the kind with the feet in them. And I held a teddy bear in my chubby, little arms. It's funny how that picture in my head has always had a strong resemblance to my granddaughter Brennyn. When I look at her now, the memory of myself that Christmas often comes to mind. I do not remember being afraid or bashful, although I was pretty shy in those days. But I remember the people in the congregation smiling. Big smiles! I don't remember seeing anyone in my family among the crowd. I know they were there, but I suppose Mama was running around in the back somewhere making things happen as was her habit. As my Aunt Mary would say, Mama was "a doer." Most of my later stage appearances happened at Floyd Dale Elementary School. As a second grader, one of our favorite activities during recess was playing beauty pageant. Miss America was a really big deal in those days and since the girls outnumbered the boys, we won out and the boys were the judges. One of the low tables that served as desks for us wee ones was our make-shift stage, and the child-sized chairs were positioned--one on each end--to enable us to step onto the runway. Of course, the only segments of the pageant that we did were the interview portion and the talent competition. To this day, I am kidded about my selection for the talent portion . . . I always chose to sing "Moon River!" Always! This song I learned from my cousin Jo Ellen who is a couple of years older than I am. Her parents lived "in the city (Florence)", and were much younger than my parents. So the songs she heard were a little more current than my repertoire. I still remember her sitting in the front porch swing at Grandma and Granddaddy Lane's house singing "Moon River." I didn't have a clue what the words meant, but I was completely enchanted with the song. And I had no idea there was a movie called "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or that Audrey Hepburn sang the famous song as part of her role. Heck, I didn't even know there was anybody named Audrey Hepburn! The only person I had ever heard sing the song--other than Jo Ellen--was Andy Williams. Still, I loved the song--and I do to this day. Today, I came across a quote from Audrey Hepburn. Her advice was so wise that I felt it needed to be shared . . . For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. Like little girls in a beauty pageant, we often judge ourselves--and others--by how they look or what they accomplish. As for me, I'd like to be judged for my kindness. I'd like to be known as someone who looks for the good in people. I want to be remembered as a woman who shared her blessings with those less fortunate--not a woman who carried around extra pounds for a big part of her adult life. Aaaahh, to have children run their fingers through my hair every day is one thing that I know makes me feel beautiful. Who cares how my hair looks when they're done twirling and mussing it? I know that their little eyes see beauty. And now, more than 40 years after playing make believe as a contender for a crown, I have the poise of a queen. I have the knowledge that I never walk alone because Jesus walks beside me. Are we after the same rainbow's end, my friends? I sure hope so! O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go! 04/16/2010
For almost a month, the wedding of my husband’s daughter Emily has created a bustle of activity around our house. All the pre-nuptial parties have been a little over an hour’s drive for me and the things I’ve done to help Emily prepare for the wedding have been worked on late at night after Rusty was in bed. So while I was planning and partying, I had plenty of time to think about weddings and what leads to them—love! It’s not unusual for me to wake up in the morning with a scripture verse or a hymn stuck in my mind that, no doubt, results from the things that swirled around in my head for the majority of the day before. This morning, the voice in my head was humming the hymn “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.” I have absolutely no idea why that particular hymn came to my mind because it’s not one that was sung very often in any of the churches I ever attended. I may have played it at a wedding a time of two, but the words of the hymn are not ones I could easily recall. The title line was about all that I could bring to mind. But there it was, several hours later, rolling around in my brain. I love music, but it drives me nuts when I can’t get a song out of my head—especially if it’s one I don’t know the words to. So, I finally sat down at my computer and turned to YouTube . . . Pretty awesome, isn’t it? I couldn’t help but wonder what compelled the lyricist, George Matheson, to pen such beautiful poetry, so I turned to Google . . . The history of the hymn is rooted in a wedding! Matheson’s sister was getting married and for reasons only a jilted lover can understand, Matheson stayed home. . . Years before, Matheson had been engaged to be married himself. Plans were being made for his own wedding when he began to experience problems with his vision. After seeing several doctors, Matheson was told that nothing could be done to save his sight. When his fiancé learned that her future husband was going blind, she told him she could not go through life with a blind man and broke the engagement. Matheson, now alone and facing a future without even a hint of light, continued his studies for the ministry. According to some theologians of his time it was believed that Matheson might have been the leader of the Church of Scotland had it not been for his blindness. He had written a learned work on German theology as well as a book, “The Growth of the Spirit of Christianity.” But critics gave mixed reviews of the book. Some declared it brilliant while others pointed out mistakes. Charged with being an inaccurate student, Matheson felt defeated and broken. When Matheson saw that his blindness could possibly be a fatal hindrance, he withdrew from his pursuit of theology and went into pastoral ministry. Finally, Matheson was led to a church where he regularly preached to a congregation of over 1,500. But he was only able to do this because of the care of his sister and now she was married and gone. His sister’s marriage brought a fresh reminder of his own lost love and he despaired over how he would manage to minister to his congregation without his sister’s help. In the midst of intense sadness, the Lord inspired Matheson to pen the beautiful hymn—written, according to his account, in five minutes! Listen to the words—the images they paint. Though Matheson had long since lost his sight, he had not lost the memories of God’s beautiful creations! “O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day May brighter, fairer be.” Matheson seems to be saying that he yields his darkness to his Savior with the knowledge that his sight was only a borrowed blessing and the real light comes from his salvation. He claims the promise that he will one day know a brighter, fairer day in Heaven. Looking back over his life, Matheson once wrote that his was “an obstructed life, a circumscribed life… but a life of quenchless hopefulness.” Hopefulness! Matheson saw his suffering not as a hopeless situation, but as a mere obstruction. How could he maintain such hope in the midst of such trials? What a lesson for us! Matheson starts the hymn by saying he will rest his weary soul in the arms of his loving Savior. And he gives his life back to the one who created him so that his life may be fuller and richer. Then he says “I trace the rainbow in the rain, and feel the promise is not vain” The rainbow image is not for Matheson! He is claiming God’s promise and testifying to the Lord’s faithfulness even in the midst of great hardship! Precious Jesus, may I rest my weary soul in Thee at those times when I feel despondent. May I give you the life You’ve given me to use it as You will, knowing that Your love will never let me go! |
