Music and Trains...what a weekend!

This was another full weekend, but a really good one. Friday evening we went to a local coffee shop which just opened in May, Kava Klatsch. They have music every each Friday giving local talent a stage to show their stuff. This week it was gospel bluegrass. A group of five gentlemen did a really nice job for a couple of hours of fine listening. I really enjoyed the old time, toe tapping , southern gospel style numbers they did. I also learned someone whom I know from way back is a very good musician playing the pounded dulcimer (a pretty neat instrument) and autoharp. I don’t know if Ter was really planning to, but we stayed through the very last number. The music was running through my head the rest of the evening. We will keep a watch on who is appearing in the coming weeks. I also highly recommend the sandwiches and drinks at Kava Klatsch…here’s a plug for you, Wayne and Kenda!!!
It was up early the next morning as we were planning on going to the big train festival over in Owosso, MI. Joining us for the trip would be our very energetic ten year old neighbor, Peter. We got off a little late, but the trip there went smoothly. We parked the car and quickly decided to walk the three blocks to the festival area. The crowd was already pretty large as we entered. It was a pretty impressive sight with all the steam locomotives with their boilers running even though they weren’t moving. The trains had gone through some very extensive, loving restoration and the jobs had been beautifully done. The one which jumped out at me the most was “Leviathan” an engine which evoked thoughts of when the railroad was the most common mode of transportation in this country perhaps in the late 19th century. The fact was “Leviathan” happened to be the newest train on display having been built around ten years ago. It is painted bright red for the major part of the body with wood and black trim. It is certainly hard to miss with the bright paint job. Another train with a bright paint job was the “Daylight” built in the 1940’s and used in passenger service. This was painted in vibrant shades of orange and red making one think of sunrises. It had a long, sleek design. There were similarly painted passenger cars also on display. I wondered how many people made long trips in the cars pulled by this train. I have been on one kind of long train ride from Grand Rapids to Chicago where we caught our flight to California when we went on vacation and I really enjoyed it.
There were several model railroad sets around, too. One tent had four different layouts on display. The most unique was one made completely out of Lego, even the engines. The buildings were very impressive with a couple of them being approximately two to two and a half feet high. I was amazed at the detail in various parts of the set up. While we were in the tent the crowd grew to where you could hardly move…something I can have problems handling. Ter noticed and we did get outside to where the crowd was a little thinner. We went on to other exhibits and looked around. I told Ter I could handle going back to the tent to finish seeing the set ups after a little break. We wolfed down our lunches which we had packed and kept looking around. We were in the museum building when the skies opened up so we looked around for a little while until the rain let up. I was glad to get outside again with the crowd inside.
We did go back to the layout tent and finish up our touring there. Peter had a blast taking picture after picture. The rain started again but this time we ducked out of the tent over to a building where a train seems to be in the early phases of restoration. Looking around one could appreciate the hours and hours of work which goes into putting these great engines back on the tracks to be appreciated by rail fans all over the country. You could feel the enthusiasm even though it was raining.
The exhibit I feel I must really bring out was the bunk (a specific type of car) railroad car which has been restored by a young man from over near Detroit as his Eagle Scout project. This is one of the final and biggest parts of earning the highest rank in Boy Scouts. The Eagle candidate must do a project which will benefit the community and lead fellow Scouts and other volunteers in the completion of it to show their leadership skills. I have been privileged to work on several of these projects and watched these young men earn this coveted rank. The car was in very poor shape when work started and the hours of work and the materials which the young man must have gotten donated are extremely impressive. We both wished this highly motivated youth much luck in earning his rank.
All in all it was a very good day and a little boy had a great time. You can go with us again any time, Peter!! And….thank you Lord for helping me keep my “get me out of here” feelings under control for his sake.