Tori’s Excellent NQC Adventure *UPDATED* (For Momma Lloyd)
OK, why does everyone who sees me walking around at the National Quartet Convention do a Jerry Lewis double-take and say something like, “What are YOU doing here?!” It kinda hurts my feelings, I totally thought I blended in.
I am officially here to promote Homecoming Radio, and I am having an inordinate amount of fun. I have only been to NQC twice before– once, a couple of weeks after Russ and I got married and he had just joined the Imperials, and then another time a few years ago when I drove up to interview George Younce. This is the first time I have actually spent a few days here, and been able to walk around and soak up the atmosphere. Honestly, if you were not a southern gospel music fan before you got here, I betcha you would be by the time you leave. There are so many great performers here– some of whom I can actually name! (It would be a lot easier for me to keep these people straight if A) they would all wear name tags B) they WOULDN’T dress alike and C) family groups would quit marrying into other family groups– I keep getting the Crabbs/Bowlings/Hoppers connections confused, for example.)
I have seen some incredibly colorful characters and completely unexpected booths while walking around these halls. I’m doing my best to get lots of pictures for you guys, but to get the full effect you’re just going to have to come see it for yourself! Here’s just a taste:
**Did you know that artists are not the only ones with booths at NQC? There’s also this:
**It’s a very popular aisle.
**It has a wide variety of goods.
**And apparently addresses a wide variety of concerns as well.
** The purchase of a new toe ring should not be taken lightly. It requires careful thought and a custom fitting…
The food court is another very popular place. At the fried everything chicken booth, business was booming…
The salad booth? Not so much.
And finally, here’s a quick little clip of an unexpected encounter I had this evening. I’m still not sure what he was doing there, but to be honest I now have a few concerns about that whole ‘naughty or nice’ thing…
*UPDATED TO ADD*:
