Long assemblies

by freedom96 40 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  cruzanheart

  Hey, Makena, we probably passed each other in the halls! I was 2 1/2 at the 1958 assembly and we were sitting in the Greek section with my grandmother, who spoke no English. Dad was in the sound department so Mom had me and my incontinent grandmother to deal with the whole time. And we drove back to Horsham, PA every night (near Philadelphia). I remember sleeping A LOT, except when Freddie Franz was talking, and watching the trains go by on one end of the stadium (don't know if it was Yankee Stadium or the Polo Grounds).

  Nina (who will be 47 on Tuesday )
• 

  TR

  Well, at this rate, with FS hours going down, assembly days being widdled down, 'hovahs will have no more FS OR assemblies to go to. YAAAAY!

  TR
• 

  r51785

  How did you happen to end up in the UK? That is a long way from So. California.

  Okay I confess, I'm not in the UK.

  I'm in Chino...
• 

  El Kabong

  I found this link that has the programs for every year from the International Assembly in 1969 to the present.

  I thought this very interesting. I remember being at Yankee Stadium in '69 as a kid during the assembly.

  Here's the link. http://www.geocities.com/jrista/master.htm
• 

  freedom96

  El Kabong-

  That link is great! What a relief not to have to go anymore!
• 

  Makena1

  Mulan - you and my mother's style of handling children sound a lot alike. Before we could read, write and somewhat pay attention, she was perfectly happy to let us color, play with quiet toys, take a walk with some of the relatives and friends, take a nap etc.,

  Fulano - do you recall at the '69 Nuremberg assembly the loud clap of thunder and huge rainstorm immediately after the closing prayer and Knorr's final talk? We were sitting in the Dutch speaking stadium - lots of superstitious ooo's and aaahhh's from the folks around us.

  Cruzan - we drove to the 1958 assembly from Indiana and stayed at a private home. Remember taking the subway each night to get there. We were seated in Yankee Stadium most of the time, but took pictures at Polo Grounds too. My uncle (Greek) was no doubt in the section where your family was a good bit of the time. Dad translated for one of the Eastern European language groups. Oh, and happy almost 47th birthday!

  I suppose for many who lived through or read about the deprivations of the depression or horrors of WWII, giving up your vacation, selling possessions to travel to a strange city, and sitting for 8 days was not too much to ask.

  Edited by - Makena1 on 27 November 2002 16:57:20
• 

  orangefatcat

  Awe yes the sweet memories of eight days of physco behaviour from my mother. She was a bitch the whole time. I suppose she was cause we were four girls who could drive her around the bend at any given moment Now I know why I have such back problems today. hard seats sitting from 8am-9pm and fighting an hour to get out of the stadium. and buy the time we got out of the stadium my mother was ready to pull here hair out by the roots. My father took everything in stride. He always tried to keep her cool but even somedays he gave up. Us girls always had to be with each other we were never allowed to make friends with other witnesses even at conventions for fear of meeting someone who might be bad association. My mother was paranoid and she still is to this very day. She fears anything in life, in case it might destroy ones relationship with Jehovah. It is really sad cus she is afraid of her own shadow. Conventions were always difficult for us growing up because of the way my mom was. I dreaded going to them because of that. I am so glad I am no longer a JW. Because I know God didn't expect us to live like that.

  Orangefatcat...
• 

  crownboy

  Great site El Kabong, certainly brings back some memories.

  Since I'm not even of legal age to drink alcohol in the US as yet, obviously I cannot have any recollection of those grandiose 8 day conventions or anything. However, I am old enough to remember a couple of four day conventions, and a couple of Saturday circuit assembly days that would end at close to 9pm (because there was only an afternoon and evening session. They arranged field service in the mornings, I think). And yeah, the conventions were definitely too long for really young children. My parents didn't care too much about us paying attention, just as long as we were quiet. I got alot of crappily drawn art done during that time (but at least I'd be prepared to clap at the end of every talk . You know when a talk is about to end because the voice of the brother giving the talk raises, and alot of times they'll start with the phrase "yes, brothers".). However, I did enjoy the dramas very much, and preferred the 4 day conventions to the 3 day ones because the former contained 2 dramas instead of one .

  I still clearly remember the Friday drama of the 1990 convention (a "mordern day drama"). If you remember, it was about a teenaged JW kid who was a really good basketball player and very popular with his "wordly" peers. However, his basketball games and practices would interfere with some of his meeting attendance, and even though an elder spoke to him about it, he didn't think it was such a big deal and still felt he was very "strong in the faith". Towards the end of the drama, a female classmate of the JW kid invited him over to her house for "pizza", but it turned out she wanted to share more than just a meal with our innocent young brother (of course, the female worldly girl always has to be some sort of Jezebel slut, out to deflower unsuspecting JW guys ). Even though he contemplated doing something, he decided against it at the last moment because he realized how damaging it would be to his relationship with Jehovah, not to mention the fact he could be dissfellowshipped. Of course, in the end he quit the team and dedicated more time to the Borg., and it all went happily ever after.

  Since they didn't directly mention what it was the girl wanted him to do, I ask my grandmother what the JW kid in the drama was talking to the elder about. She said to me "oh, she just wanted him to have sex with her, that's all", to which I responded "ok". It was the first time I had actually heard an older family member use that word, actually. However, I did finally get what was going on .

  On an ironic note, the girl who played the "temptress" in that drama (a person from my congregation at the time), was eventually dissfellowshipped for fornication. Talk about researching your role well .
• 

  Swan

  Mulan wrote:

  And the one in 1969 was 8 days in Vancouver BC, where we went. I was pregnant with Princess at that one.

  I was at that one too Mulan! Almost got crushed to death as a child in a throng of adult people pushing in to get cheap new books. I have been phobic about big mobs ever since.

  I hated that assembly. I was so sick on their hamburgers I threw up. 8 long days. Up early. To bed late. Up early. To bed late. ya-da, ya-da, ya-da. Awful.

  Isn't that also the one where the JW woman got killed crossing the roller-coaster tracks?

  The best thing that happened was that on the way back home we stopped near Virginia Mason hospital so my aunt could check in to an hotel. She was to have an operation the next day before flying back to Alaska. In the hotel lobby we got to see on the TV that the men landed on the moon! Most people don't care about it now, but that was a big event for a small child.
• 

  Pistoff

  I was in Vancouver in 1969; YES they were interminable, but for some reason we put up with it. Of course, back then we only had about six years before we hit the paradise, you could withstand anything for that.

  I miss the biggies in a masochistic way.