Visiting on Sunday

Long before we started keeping in touch through the decidedly unsocial and impersonal "social networking" of Facebook et al, it was traditional that the Sunday car ride usually found the family visiting others, relatives and friends.

I can remember clearly the times when we drove to North Grosvenor Dale, Connecticut, to visit Aunt Mary and Aunt Louise.  They were actually my grandfather's aunts, so to us children they appeared quite ancient.  They were also very, very Swedish!


It was also common not too many years ago for people to gather around the parlor piano or organ and sing.  If it was Sunday, the song list included a number of hymns.

I imagine not many follow those traditions any more.  They seem a bit quaint for our time.  It could be, though, that we are the poorer for it.

We can, however, participate in the Sunday visit and the sing-a-long vicariously with the help of the internet.  Perhaps, short of actually getting in the car and physically going somewhere, we can travel in our minds back to simpler times and traditions.

The old time radio show "Down Our Way" which I wrote about last week, always ended with the town choir singing a hymn.

For a Sunday experience, I have taken the hymns from a few of those shows and compiled them into a video.

So let's head on down to the General Store run by Eli Jenkins.  He and his wife Jenny live above the store.  It's Sunday so the store is closed today, but the town choir is gathering at the Jenkins' home to get in some practice. Eli leads the choir, and Jenny accompanies on the parlor organ.

Eli and Jenny are happy to welcome you into their home.  They do expect, though, that you will join in the singing.  Well, why not?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThtumJnFqo4