Joyful concert

Harry and I received a note last week from Jim Cote of Westbrook, telling us of the concerts by the Watoto Children’s Choir from Uganda, East Africa. They were to perform in our area, at the Clark Memorial Methodist Church and the Central Square Baptist Church. I was pleased to attend the 5:30 p.m. concert at Central Square in Portland.

The children’s choir is made up of children who have lost one or both of their parents and who live in Watoto Children’s Village Homes. They must audition for the choir. There are 16 children in this group. Another group is singing now on the United States on the West Coast. These children travel the world, performing a blend of contemporary gospel and traditional African rhythms and dance. On a large film at the back of the stage at the church, we saw pictures of the village, its attractive buildings and homes, and the interior of many of the buildings.

The children all looked so healthy, smiling throughout the performance, and dancing with constant motions of their arms and legs. They were full of energy and very appealing to watch. The costumes were lovely, too. Jim said that they have two outfits. The girls wore skirts and separate blouses, the boys wore long pants and colorful shirts. They all wore small turbans, too. In the group were older girls and boys, who are assistants or leaders to the children.

I was very pleased when they all sang “America the Beautiful,” which we frequently sing in this country. The words were written by a Maine woman, Katherine Lee Bates. One of the girls sang one verse, solo, and they all joined in.

One of the leaders asked the audience to join in on one of the songs, and they did enthusiastically, raising and lowering their arms, and bending over, as the chorus was doing.

Many of us wished that we had the energy of these young people. They were healthy and happy and showed the good care they are receiving in their Village Hoes.

It’s the G, not the C

In the Jan. 25 Ramblings I wrote about pronunciations that bother me when they are mispronounced on TV. Instead of lux-ury, they say lug-shury. I wrote that there is no letter G in lux-ury, but last week’s article misspelled it, saying, “there is no letter C”. It’s the G sound that bothers me. I am still hearing it in ads on TV.

Protestors’ efforts resonate

I read last week in the New York Times of the protests of three elderly ladies in Berkeley, Calif., ages 76, 86 and 90, who climbed an old oak tree by ladder, and mounted a platform about 15 feet up, where they sat for an hour. They were protesting the cutting down of 50 coastal oaks just outside of the Memorial Stadium at the University of California, Berkeley, as part of a $125 million project to build a new athletic training center.

Doug Buckwald, an organizer of the protest group, said the oaks, which create a shady area just outside the stadium’s western gates, were too precious to lose: “An urban forest is a rare thing to have, and we have a beautiful one here,” he was quoted as saying. The tree the ladies were in was about 90 years old, but Buckwald mentioned one of the oaks there is 200 years old.

Reading this made me wish that our Westbrook Saccarappa Park had a few big trees surrounding it. I’m sure that any number of people living near that park would be glad to tree-sit in protest of selling that land for a big building project. The location, just off Main Street and overlooking the Presumpscot River, has been a park for years. That land should be left as it is, bringing back the benches and tables – and replanting the trees that were all cut down at the park’s borders.

It is a beautiful setting, and the only such land except for the popular Riverbank Park, a ways up Main Street from this present park.

It is a beautiful piece of property for nature lovers to enjoy.

Repeat performance

In 1973 I printed this recipe for bread, which we have made often at our house. It is very easy to prepare, too.

QUICK BREAD

1 cup molasses

2 cups buttermilk or yogurt

2 teaspoons baking soda

3-3/4 cups of whole wheat flour

1/4 cup of wheat germ

Salt

Raisins and nuts (optional)

I used a few raisins, but no nuts. Also I do not use salt.

Now you simply add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix, and bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. It fills a bread pan right up.