Opinion: Parents, church and events
I saw a very unusual thing on my way to work last Thursday: A father, in a front yard on Granada Drive, was drying the hair of his teenaged daughter — with a leaf blower. She was laughing, but the air from the leaf blower was practically blowing her over sideways. She had a big shock of hair. I would guess that when she wasn’t getting it blow-dried, it would have been close to 2 1/2 feet long.
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I had the pleasure of enjoying a Friday night steak fundraiser with members of First Christian Church, thanks to friends Betty and Bud Smith.
The entertainment was extraordinary: music by the Gilly Girls, who play bluegrass, Southern Gospel and old-time string band music. And can they ever sing and play! Lorda mercy! If you ever get the chance to see them, don’t miss it.
The Gilley Girls are two sets of twins from the same family. When it comes to country, gospel and bluegrass, they sure know what they are doing.
They grew up on a ranch in the Nevada foothills. They are home schooled by their mother.
Their principal instruments — besides their beautifully tuned and trained voices — are the fiddle, the bass fiddle, the mandolin and the guitar.
When Ken Burns was in Fresno while he filmed the National Public Radio special on country music, which ran last fall on KVPT-TV in the Fresno market, he held a competition for people who wanted to perform on that exceptional special. The Gilley Girls won their competition, and as a result were introduced to the nation.
How lucky we were Friday night to be able to listen to them in the First Christian Church Social Hall.
If you had been there, you would have known there was a God if you hadn’t already been convinced of it.
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And speaking of Gospel music, you should not miss any of Wilbur Daniels and the Chordsmen in concert on third Friday nights at Peoples’ Church in Fresno. Nor do you want to miss the Friday Night Gospel Sings at 6 p.m. at Good News Ministries, 1930 Modoc Street (Call Ted Beck for information). Nor do you want to miss any performances of Baloney Creek.
Madera County is indeed blessed by all this American-grown gospel, bluegrass and country music.
