Southern Oregon & Northern California, 25-26 June 2011

Saturday was the main day of the CCC reunion. After breakfast at St John's Lutheran Church, we met in the church for Morning Chapel. It included the Healy Willan Te Deum, a favorite from the Oakland days.

Following Chapel, Rod Gehrke gave a mini recital. Yes, the kid can still play very well! (Not that he's much of a kid any more.)

Class groups then met. Our HS class of '62 had been assigned its own room, but a different room for the college '64 year with a couple of other years. So we combined them. It made for a large group, but was great to hear everyone's story. We also shared news of other class and school mates not there.

The afternoon began with a Chorister rehearsal, just like in college (Prof Gehrke always said on tour they fed you a big meal and then expected you to sing a concert, so get used to the pattern.) The director was the musician from St John's. We quickly learned about six pieces, most of which we had sung before in Choristers.

Following the rehearsal, an alumnus gave a talk about his experience going to a Mt Everest Base Camp. It sounded interesting, but he advised against doing it.

The Alumni Choristers at the Banquet

We gathered at the Hyatt Hotel for a banquet. The meal was good, and the bar was open. The program was reminiscences of the history of CCC. A little long, but interesting. The Choristers then sang three of the pieces we had rehearsed. It was overall a very good evening.

Sunday morning we all went to Trinity Lutheran Church for a service. The alumni choir sang. It was a bit long, but a very good worship experience. After church there was a reception for some final sharing with friends and classmates before heading out.

We headed east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains for a three-night stay in Jamestown, which will be a base camp for us to revisit Yosemite after too long an absence.  On the way here, we stopped in Murphys to try a couple of wineries on friends' recommendations. We found a couple quite good ones. We stayed there for dinner at a bistro, which was very good.

We are now settled in for the night, ready to head to Yosemity Valley in the morning!