Saturday night's harp concert by Gillian Grassie was the last official event in London Grove Friends Meeting's 300th-anniversary celebration, and it was a delightful and well-attended evening. The potluck supper preceding the concert was an absolute feast, with turkey, ham, salads, pasta, vegetables, bread and more delicious side dishes than I could count, followed by a well-stocked dessert table (the chocolate cake with mandarin-orange sauce deserves special mention).
In true island-of-Unionville fashion, Gillian (who went to London Grove's kindergarten), her mother Babette Jenny and her step-father sat at our table, along with the doctor we've all gone to for years, and one of her sons. The conversation ranged from prion disease in sheep to the exotic Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst.
Gillian was a charming performer with a lovely voice, and it was fascinating to watch her play her big Celtic harp, flipping little levers on the strings to create sharps and flats. In her hour-plus set, she played a funny version of "Santa Baby" (she noted the irony of singing the materialistic song in a Quaker setting), Tom Waits' "The Last Rose of Summer," Regina Spektor's grim "Laughing With," Rodgers & Hammerstein's "It Might As Well Be Spring," and a few of her own compositions, one inspired by the Coleridge poem "Frost at Midnight" and another, "Hinterhaus," by the German custom of having a "back house" that passersby can't see from the street.
She closed with a sing-along of "Silent Night."
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