OH MY GOODNESS… last night, Dawn and I attended the PrimeTime Christmas Banquet at Englewood Baptist Church, their main campus. It was a nice evening with great food, fellowship, and music. I have included a lot of pictures below to let you see a bit of what I saw. 🙂
The evening started with a pleasant surprise as we walked down the hall, near the fellowship hall. I looked up and who did I see? It was Mamma Nell Wimberly and Pops (Perry Wimberly)! They were with their family – Endless Highway. I had forgotten that Jason Griggs and his family would provide the entertainment last night. More on that later. Now, back to Mamma Nell. I haven’t seen her in many many years but she grabbed me and hugged me just like we were long lost best buddies. That warmed my heart more than she could know. You see, a long time ago, I traveled with a local Southern Gospel Quartet by the name of Kindred Spirits. Actually, I was one of the founding members and sang baritone. During those 20+ years of singing with my friends, we often sang at larger gatherings where multiple groups would be present. Many times, the Joylanders would be singing too. This is the group that Mamma Nell, Pops, and their crew sang with and founded. The Joylanders were one of those super-dedicated groups who sang and traveled for many years, spreading God’s love through music. My, my… this brings back a lot of memories!
Today, Endless Highway is made up of Jason Griggs, Vanessa Wimberly Griggs (Nell’s daughter), and their two children (Jay & Allie). I knew Jason when he was a young teenager, way before he even knew Vanessa Wimberly. My mom and dad knew his mom and dad, etc. I must mention that Jim Griggs (Jason’s dad) is an awesome musician in his own right – a guitar-man extraordinaire! Moving back to Van, during those 20 years that I spent traveling in the local SG world, I basically watched this young lady grow up in the biz, as they say. She is very talented and plays several instruments… well, I think that everyone in Endless Highway does.
With all of the reflective nostalgia happening in my head right now… now I am really feeling old!
They put on a wonderful performance last night. Highlighting their tight family harmony, they featured several Christmas songs and testified of God’s goodness all along the way. I was thrilled to see them call up Mamma Nell for a song and later, even Perry sang one for us, after a bit of memory-smithing of his own! It was SO good to see both of them again last night. Let me finish this part of the post by saying how proud I am of Jason and his family. It is awesome to see a local group of gospel singers gain the notoriety that they have. After growing up in the SG world and sticking with it, they are now producing their own material, signed to a professional label, and are presently touring with Mark Lowry. How cool is that???
Ok, ok… back to the PrimeTime event. It truly was a nice event and as you can tell from the photos, it was well attended. Here’s a shout-out to Dan Morris who leads the PrimeTimers and does a great job. Thanks for all you do sir! God bless you all and if we don’t see each other in person or digitally before the 25th, Merry Christmas to you!
