John Palmer (EclectEcon) came to Monmouth

I finally met John Palmer face-to-face (pardon the redundancy).

And he brought a band with him...

Here is the band in concert, at Monmouth's Faith Presbyterian Church, Saturday evening.
(click any image to enlarge it)

If you look just past the director's music stand, you can just glimpse the top of John's head... I think he was hiding from the camera. Because, when you're in the middle of playing music with a fine ensemble, the first thing you always think about is cameras...





(click image to enlarge)

Here in wee Monmouth, there were some logistical... um... challenges, putting some stress on the original plans to have every one of the Goderich Laketown Band stay with members of our own municipal band, so my parents were among the few Monmouth families to be able to accommodate an extra person or two. Jackie & Bill Urban had guests in whom they delighted, and Mom & Dad hosted John and young clarinetist Ryan Bearss.

We didn't have nearly enough time with these two... they were wonderful company, engaging in lively conversation and a little geocaching (if I were able to travel more, I could see myself getting into the game, as well).


Anyway, the John and the rest of the band stayed in Momouth the entire weekend, and only just left here after the little storm (here are pix from a few miles north, in the Quad Cities, where power lines are still down in some neighborhoods) cleared the area, a little after 8 a.m. today. Before they left, we had a photo opp. in front of the off-campus student housing complex where the other half of the band members stayed.

The bus driver was very accommodating about taking group shots with everybody's cameras.

I left my camera in my folks' living room as we packed up Mom's car to get John & Ryan to the bus, so I, this morning, learned to use my new phone to take & send pictures:


I managed to capture John in a more traditional fashion a few seconds later, with Ryan in the near background.


Mom wants to know if she can trade her second-oldest kid for either of these guys...

Update: Pop told Mom that those guys were all right. He'd have them back here any time. Expressed approval from Pop is harder to get than dandelions in January, so John and Ryan certainly did wow the crowd.