(June-uh-luh-ska, for those of you who are tempted to mispronounce it as I was). It is a Methodist retreat center, but it is unlike any retreat center I have ever seen before in that it is incredibly expansive and replete with buildings on three sides of the lake: hotels, cottages, auditoriums, chapels and what appear to be private residences. From what I can tell, the lake itself is man-made, but that makes it no less lovely.Some of the buildings are stately, grand and ornate. Others are simple, boxy and utilitarian. The building where we stayed fit in the latter category. The walls were constructed of cinder blocks and painted an institutional white. The furnishings were mismatched and worn. It mattered little, since we spent so little time in our room; it was for sleeping and showering, and it fit that bill perfectly. At some level, the design was genius: they effectively drove guests outdoors into the beauty of the lake and mountains, or at least into the common room where other reunion participants would gather. My favorite detail of the building, I must confess, was that the rooms numbered in the 600s. Room 666 was two doors down from us. Scott, the one-time student body president, stayed there with his lovely family. I just giggled as I walked by. (Nobody said I was known for my maturity).
Part of the lodging arrangement was that we would take our meals at the dining hall. I am told that the green beans they served at that first dinner were dead ringers for the green beans at Ben Lippen 20 years ago. The food gets full marks for nostalgia. Breakfast was my favorite meal. Then again, I am a sucker for bits of fried pork and hot, fluffy biscuits with gravy.
After dinner on Saturday came my favorite part of the weekend: the Torchlight reunion concert. Torchlight was a band that formed on-campus during Dan's senior year at Ben Lippen. It was headed by Mr. White, or "Cliff" as he's known to alumni, on Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, lead vocals and acoustic guitar. It was filled out by Abner on drums, Keiichi (class of 88) switching between bass and guitar, and Daniel on flute and bass, with all of the other instrumentalists contributing vocals. They practiced in the chapel after lights out, and played at chapel, with a few shows off campus... such as appearances at a youth group and a juvenile detention center. I don't quite know how to describe them except as a sort of "praise band" with a bit more rock sensibility than was strictly necessary, and with a lot more creativity than is typical for the genre. They wrote their own material, and when I listen to these songs 20 years later and understand that in many cases they were written by 16-17 year old kids, I can't help but be impressed. The band continued for several years (13 or 14? with a break or two) under Cliff's leadership. The reunion, however, boasted the original members (sans synthesizer).
Tom, one of Daniel's classmates, told me that Dan made flute "cool" when they were in high school. He did so by being darn good at it! Dan says that he didn't make it cool; the only reason people didn't think that flute was cool already is that they didn't listen to Jethro Tull. I have to wonder if Jethro Tull made it past the music committee (or, as I shall choose to refer to them, the Culture Cops).
Now for some back-story. The weekend before the reunion, Dan says in passing that Mr. White was bummed that Dan wouldn't be bringing his flute. Dan wouldn't be bringing the flute because it wasn't in playable condition (and hadn't been for a long time). I think I had seen Dan goof around on his flute once in all of our nearly 6 years together, and that not for long. So, without his knowledge, I called around Raleigh on Monday and Tuesday looking for someone who could fix his flute in a hurry. He figured out what I was up to because I had to ask him things like "do you even know where your flute is?" and "what's wrong with it?"... What he didn't tell me is that he was reluctant to play it, fixed or not. That is, he didn't tell me that until it was in the shop. By then it was too late. We managed to get it into playable condition, and, as a bonus, it was polished and the dent that had been in it since high school was removed. So, Daniel no longer had an excuse to go fluteless.
I, for one, am so glad he was without excuse! I was floored when I heard him pick up the instrument an play it in rehearsal like 20 years ago had been only yesterday. I was so busy being impressed that I didn't notice that not only was he playing the songs with only one run-through, but he was playing several of the songs in different keys. There is no capo that magically transposes for a flute - it meant all new fingering! I can't tell you how many people raved about his playing. I was too busy swooning to count. Torchlight also played for the worship time in the morning. This time, Dan was winging it on the bass. He tells me he was just guessing what the next chord would be most of the time. I must say... I married a very talented guy, and I continue to discover new ways in which that is true.
After the concert we rounded up a few people to help us sing a Rimsky-Korsakov setting of the Lord's Prayer and one of Dan's original choral compositions (this I brought without telling him) as part of the service in the morning. After a few substitutions, we ended up with a nice quartet consisting of Dan on Bass, Jeff on Tenor and April on Alto, and I sang Soprano. I heard quite a few lovely voices in the rehearsal process -- even from the people who ultimately declined to sing with us because they had to leave early or preferred not to sing on such short notice! I think we managed to pull them off quite nicely in the morning.
The worship service consisted of singing (led by Torchlight) of songs Dan and I hadn't heard in about 15 years (with the help of a trusty overhead projector and a whole box of filed transparencies), special songs shared by Mahima and Mr. Mehegan, extemporaneous prayer, a message from Tom, and the two pieces our little quartet pulled together. After the service, we met for lunch at the dining hall. The meal came with plenty of hugs and goodbyes as people began to trickle out to head back home.
The whole weekend was really lovely, even for a spouse who had known 2 people there before the event. I hardly touched all of the things that I had brought with me to keep myself occupied, and I feel like I left with new friends. Debbie did a fantastic job of planning and leading the weekend, and her husband Drew quietly did a whole lot to make sure important details (like live sound) were taken care of. I'm sure there were other people whose contributions I have forgotten. I'll claim ignorance and hope to be forgiven. :D
In short, I cannot imagine enjoying a reunion any more. My own reunions (should I even choose to go) will definitely pale by comparison. The fact is, this particular class was very special. More than half of the graduates showed up 20 years later, and everyone who was there was really great. I just hope that all of the members of Ben Lippen class of 1987 realize how blessed they are... and I thank them for letting me tag along!
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Ben Lippen moved from Asheville, NC, to Columbia, SC, shortly after Dan graduated. Here's a video from Keiichi (James) of the old campus. Dan didn't get to visit, so we will visit vicariously here.
There are several other reunion videos from James. Click through to YouTube on the video here, then click on his account name.
