Posted by Garry Polston on August 31, 2009
Several months ago Kenny Roberts, tenor singer for Witness out of Franklin Indiana, and I talked about having a Jim B. Polston Memorial concert that would honor my dad, his grandpa, and feature the groups that are singing now and a part of what Dad always referred to as the Polston Tribe. We got in touch with Jeff Minton who attends the Bethlehem Separate Baptist Church in Russell Springs Kentucky to see if he could and would be willing to help us with the promotion of the event since neither of us lived near Russell County where Mom & Dad lived most of their life. Jeff agreed to help and Pastor Darrell Coe was pleased to host the event. Next we got in touch with Mike Wiggington, who is a grandson of Mom & Dad's and sings with Mercy Road from Nashville Tennessee. We found a date that we could all work into our schedules and as they say, the rest is now history. August 22 was the big day and it turned out to be even bigger than any of us could have imagined.
Just a few weeks before the event I found out that The Mark Polston Family had recorded their first project so I called them and invited them also to appear on the program.
My daughter Laura who now sings solo was also invited to sing.
We got to the church shortly after noon and began to set up sound and product tables. My friend Rick Smith brought his video crew and set up for taping. The groups all got a sound check. The church family had prepared a wonderful meal for us and we went to the fellowship hall to enjoy some good food and fellowship together. People began coming in and filling the place. They came from Ohio, Tennessee, even Connecticut, and all around Kentucky. By the time I got off the bus from changing clothes, the place was almost full. It wasn't long until they began caring in chairs and people filled them up. Some even stood up during the entire three hour concert. It was exciting, electric, and we were so pumped we could hardly talk to each other.
I invited the Mark Polston Family up to sing. This is Mark, his wife Lisa, and their two sons Jordan and Jonathan. They are awesome. What beautiful blend! They sang a song that my brother Rev. Jimmy Polston had written, a song that Mark had written, and a song that Jonathan had written. We were off to a good start and this was before starting time.
Pastor Coe opened the service with a welcome and a prayer.
Then Allen Wiggington came forward to introduce The Polston Family. This group was made up of my Mother Eva Polston, age 94, her three sons Jimmy, and twin brothers Larry & Garry, and our sister Phyllis Wiggington played the piano for us. We sang some old Polston Family songs that Mom, Dad, Larry and I used to sing many years ago. Mom was a pro. Even at 94, her voice is still clear and she sang on pitch. When she sang her signature song, "Well Glory," Mom got happy and so did the audience. We had to sing it again. I tell you, the glory came down.
After a few of our songs, we picked up the music to a song and sang the shaped notes. Everyone got a kick out of that too. It is almost a lost art, but we are trying to keep the art alive. We even raised some money to send students to the Do, Re, Mi School of Music in Tennessee next year. Since Dad Died we have set up a Jim B Memorial Scholarship Fund in his memory. After the Polston Family we had the entire tribe to come to the platform to do some class singing. It was great fun and we also did some note singing.
During the offering, Laura Polston sang and even let her Dad sing one with her. I was very honored. Then she did How Great Thou Art and brought the entire crowd to their feet with her Sandi Patty rendition of that great song.
Then Mike Wiggington of Mercy Road introduced the group Witness. These guys brought the house down. They have an awesome sound and they had lots of fans there who really cheered them on. Mike said this was his all time favorite quartet, and Mike has heard them all.
After Witness serenaded the group for awhile Kenny Roberts introduced The Garry Polston Family. We had a good time and the crowd was nice to us in spite of the fact that I forgot the words to Hey Baalam.
I brought on Mercy Road and these guys were hitting on all cylinders. Their stage appearance was professional, their sound was big and full, their love for God and each other was easy to see and Mark Smith is an awesome Emcee. When their tenor Gene Miller sang Till the Storm Passes By, the place erupted not only out of respect for his great singing, but the spirit in which he sang it. He had to encore the song and once again nobody wanted them to leave the stage, but time was passing by swiftly.
Then to my surprise, Jeff wanted to say something. He brought up 4 young boys who had been practicing singing like Witness. They mimicked them singing a couple of their songs and it was a riot.
At the end of the concert there were hugs and tears and a promise to do this again next year.
We are in the process of getting DVD's made of the concert and will let you know via this web-site when they are available.
My thanks to everyone who helped make this such a success.
I especially want to thank Pastor Darrell Coe and the Bethlehem Separate Baptist Church for hosting the event. They have agreed to host it for us again in 2010 as well.
Until we meet again,
Garry Polston