by frozen one 42 Replies latest jw friends
No Apologies
Thanks for letting me know I was remembering correctly about the bad weather there. And that campground, I remember visiting there during the convention as some friends were staying there.
I'm sure you weren't drinking any Black Label, you were too young. Drinking age must have been 18 in Manitoba then like it was in MN at the time because I was only 19
I remember the name and that is about all I remember about it. If it was held in LA it was the one where I was baptized. If it was held in San Diego I had completed my first year in the cult. Fortunated I've blank most of those days out.
I was 4 years old at the '69 Kansas Assembly, we were there again in '73. The best thing about 73 was that my dad had found a large stack of comic books at a garage sale just before we went on the trip, and that kept us entertained all the way there and back, and in between.
It's funny:I can remember quite a bit about those comic books (mostly Archie, Richie Rich, Sad Sack), but I can't remember much about that convention.
Oh, except for the David and Bathsheba drama. That's where at the end of the drama, a character says (and I am NOT making this up!) "This is such a happy moment, let's all sing song number such and such!" So the audience gets to sing this song, afterwards, the session conductor then sheepishly says, "Before the session close, let's all sing song number such and such." No kidding! Another song to be sung before lunch! That is the first time in my memory that we ever sang two songs back to back at a meeting of any kind....
'73, yes I was there. I even went to two assemblies that year - glutton for punishment
Five days of "You know what"
I can also recall the one and only time that we had Wembley Stadium (1969) Total chaos . I can recall complete gridlock as nobody could move in or out. Mind you, everyone was good humored, would it be so today?
For sheer stamina the eight day 1963 bash must have it. I slept in a tent at Twickenham stadium .
My memories? Alternate heat or cold and rain, meals on trays eaten standing up in big marquees, grotty toilets (even worse for the women) Meeting lots of people - and somebody must have said some things from the platform but of course that is soon forgotten.
Captain, I have never seen 2 songs sung back to back; I'm thinking he announced the wrong song and had to have the right song sung then. Did they have an orchestra? An orchestra could have adjusted, taped music would have been tricky. Of course, I only went to assembiles (I think DCs were called assemblies until the late 70's),for the last 50 years.
Oakland Coliseum. 50,000+. I was in a drama in a fake beard, robe, my head wrapped in some kind of a turban. My line was repeating Jesus words about paying taxes as he held a coin, "Gods things to God, Caesars things to Caesar...etc". I remember they never had a character representing Jesus in a drama. I also remember the rule that if a married couple were portrayed they had to be a real married couple. I guess they didn't want anybody to get confused and think they could have sex with Sister Jones because she was their wife in a drama! Lot of rehearsals at the KH every weekend before the convention.
You want hot? Try Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GA. That was damn hot. I seem to remember people passing out from the heat at that one. I got sunburned myself sitting in the hot afternoon sun without any sunscreen.
Each day was an all day affair. Get up before sunrise, take the bus to the stadium, stand in line to eat overcooked eggs and greasy bacon (had to stand to eat and the tables were too high for us kids) and then sit through THREE sessions. We either brought a bag lunch or ate some nasty concoction at the concession stands. For dinner we were on our own, if memory recalls correctly. We'd get back to the hotel after dark each night. I remember one day had a designated field service session. I remember standing in downtown Atlanta handing out flyers and brochures to downtown workers as they scurried about. I was scared shitless. I had never been to a big city before and the noise, traffic and people terrified me...and here I was handing out religious tracts to strangers. I hated every minute of it.
Being born in 56 it was at these conventions my main objective became to collect the names and #s of as many bedable sisters as possible.
Captain, I have never seen 2 songs sung back to back; I'm thinking he announced the wrong song and had to have the right song sung then. Did they have an orchestra? An orchestra could have adjusted, taped music would have been tricky. Of course, I only went to assembiles (I think DCs were called assemblies until the late 70's),for the last 50 years
Blondie, The song was PART of the drama. The story "ended with a song" intentionally. Then, since the drama usually closes the session, the next part was the announcer, asking us all to stand to sing a song to close the morning session. I was only 9 years old, but I remember that very vividly, as it was such a change from the ordinary. Mind you, it's never been repeated....
Was 1973 the year they had the big assembly in the Houston Astrodome? I think it was either 72 or 73 - and I will never forget how hard it rained all week.
Astrodome was the scene of the fiasco of the semi-trailer refrigerated truck failure, and meat was cooked and put on the line which had gotton a little warm before being refrozen.
Thank God we didn't light off an e.coli incident. Some of us cafeteria volunteers were pretty worried at the time.
