BEMIDJI — When scholarship recipients John Kirk and Johnny Pfaff carry out on the Bemidji Space Church Musicians recital on Wednesday, June 26, Ken Wold will likely be within the viewers at Evangelical Free Church, with a smile on his face and pleasure in his coronary heart.
Wold stepped down this 12 months after 36 summers as chairman of the recital sequence that has turn into a preferred Wednesday gathering.
“I think the recitals are both enjoyable and a way of connecting with people,” 84-year-old Wold mentioned. “People seem to enjoy the luncheons and just getting together. It’s another form of worship in a very real way. Most of the musicians who perform play things that are, should we say, churchy.”
Each summer season since 1988, musicians from Bemidji space church buildings have offered Wednesday recitals which can be adopted by luncheons. Attendees give free-will donations, and the cash raised is used to offer scholarships for college students who’re pursuing a music diploma on the school of their selection and who’re lively of their church music ministry. And every year these recipients are requested to carry out at one of many recitals. This week’s occasion will characteristic Kirk on trombone and Pfaff on string bass.
It has been a labor of affection for Wold, a farm boy from rural Tenstrike who taught music and directed choirs at Oak Hills Christian Faculty for 42 years earlier than retiring in 2010. He additionally has been an organist and pianist and directed choir at Evangelical Free Church for a few years, and performed the cello in symphony orchestras in St. Cloud and Bemidji.
Sarah Carlson, organist at First Lutheran Church in Bemidji, mentioned the Bemidji Space Church Musicians appreciated having Wold as a pacesetter.
“He was the point person to connect everyone and get us to meet and plan,” Carlson mentioned. “He took care of a lot of the background work, marketing and promoting. People respected him. He always came with a plan and was forward thinking.”
Wold additionally was cautious to respect everybody’s time.
“Our meetings were always an hour,” Carlson mentioned. “He kept us on track. So to honor him, our last meeting was no longer than an hour.”
The group honored Wold with a plaque of appreciation at this 12 months’s first recital. He might not be main the BACM, however after 36 years, he enjoys sitting again and listening.
“I’ll still be there every week,” he mentioned.
Dennis Doeden, former writer of the Bemidji Pioneer, is a characteristic reporter. He’s a graduate of Metropolitan State College with a level in Communications Administration.
“Well bless their hearts.”
