What ever happened to those blue robes, anyway?

Valiant in my ongoing battle for creative stimulation amid walls of plastic gray and panel brown (a man OBVIOUSLY designed this office!), much of today's computer/paper work has been done alongside one of the greatest distractions to ever challenge the college student: YouTube! Before you accuse me of shirking my YAP duties and wasting valuable State dollars on downtime leisure, let me assure you that thanks to two things: 1) Observing and learning from the incessant work ethic of my mom and grandpa; and 2) the fact that my job pretty well rocks-my-socks; this is not the case! Lucky for me, those blessed creators of the YouTube site instituted "Auto Play" - look into it if you don't know what I'm talking about. (Maybe YouTube will give me a fat check for directing ALL MY MANY READERS to their site...) Alas, I digress... A LOT! In short, YouTube lets you continually play videos without having to constantly revisit the site and click on a new one. Handy little tool!!! Especially when you spend the day like I have - revisiting my childhood, and specifically reliving my introductory years into the world of Gospel music! Let me tell you about..... Melody Makers!


Melody Makers = the 1990's Children's Choir of Bellview Baptist Church. We're talking somewhere between 30-50 kiddos from ages 3-14ish, fully decked out in blue robes with white monogrammed ?stoles? (I really don't know what else to call the overgrown handkerchief that Velcroed around my neck - one girl really did blow her nose on it during a performance once...) all fully armed with an impressive track list and prepared to belt out tunes choir style or solo at a moments notice! This was no small fete for the two ladies who so bravely conducted our motley crew (and even hosted one MASSIVE camp-out that probably left several of us in trouble for any number of things...)


For a bunch of Baptist boys and girls (with a few Methodists added to our harmony), I must admit that we weren't half bad. Sunday and Wednesday nights while our parents attended preaching/prayer groups/Bible Study, we practiced hard! No pizza or playground until every note had reached perfection (try doing that with a bunch of puberty-stricken preteens). Somehow though, we managed to learn more songs than I could possibly remember and most of us picked up a love for Southern Gospel music that you don't find among too many - now 17-25 - year-olds.


I'm willing to bet any fellow Melody Maker could hear any of the following phrases, and pick up right where we left off some... ?TEN? years ago. (For those of you who can't, utilize YouTube and you, too, can (re)learn some awesome tunes!)


"Out of His great love, he picked me up..."

"I need you like flowers need the sunshine..."

"Everybody outta know..."

"Who can do, who can do, who can do anything..."

"Soon and very soon..."

Bottom line: at the mere age of 7, I was perhaps the best performer I've ever been. Backed by a multitude of friends (some participants more willing than others), confident in my instructors' preparations, and assured by the words in the songs I sung, I never thought twice about standing in front of the masses -err... 250 people in a BBC Homecoming service- and being proud of my passion.

So what happened? Somewhere on our road to rivaling the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Melody Makers lost it's luster. Other extra-curriculars somehow replaced nights spent practicing vocal solos and on-beat hand claps, and by the time I hit middle school, our robes were hitting most of us at the knees. For whatever reasons, the group disbanded. There really isn't a sob story attached. We don't all hate each other and most of us are still active in Church (probably largely thanks to those early influences). Some of us take the occasional opportunity to sing on our own or with a few buds. Alls well that ends well. Just a bunch of kids who grew up in an era of a pretty good thing.

I, not realizing it so much until... well, now, owe a great bit to Melody Makers. Among the most lasting of those impressions:

1.) An avid love for Pizza!

2.) Respect for any woman (and particularly THE WOMAN) who can hem (and re-hem) THAT MANY blue robes and never complain once!

3.)The realization that coming in on the wrong cue happens... rather frequently... and at the end of the "show," you still get lots of hugs and candy.

4.) Knowledge that when you absolutely go blank on your words, MAKING THEM UP is not always the best option.

5.) Gaining the ability to Stand/Speak/Sing before a crowd and not be the kid with wet pants...

6.) And, all jokes aside, maintaining an avid love for and becoming a PROUD-to-be fan of Southern Gospel Music, and an EVEN MORE PROUD-to-be Christian.

We're all grown up. Some are married, a few have kids, one or two are now serving our country, the youngest are just graduating high school, we're all fighting to get and keep jobs, and whatever path each of us have chosen, there is little doubt in my mind that we aren't all thankful for this part of our history. If you were a Melody Maker, you knew how to have fun, you knew how to sing (slightly) on cue, you know that your faith is the most important decision you could ever make, and you sure as heck know that you'd better not EVER blow your nose on that darned white thing!