{"id":252,"date":"2011-02-24T10:22:19","date_gmt":"2011-02-24T10:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/?p=252"},"modified":"2012-03-02T14:20:59","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T19:20:59","slug":"emc-folk-band-celebrated-album%e2%80%99s-40th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/2011\/02\/24\/emc-folk-band-celebrated-album%e2%80%99s-40th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"EMC Folk Band Celebrated Album\u2019s 40th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-253\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2011\/02\/IMG_1795_opt-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>It started on Maplewood 3rd West, when hallmates <strong>Dwight Roth \u201969<\/strong> and <strong>Arlin \u201cRich\u201d Yoder \u201970<\/strong> began teaching themselves to sing and play  the guitar. Soon there was a third \u2013 <strong>John Longacre \u201970<\/strong> \u2013 and then two  more: <strong>Ruth White \u201970<\/strong> and <strong>Rosey Ross \u201971<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The five friends began practicing in EMC\u2019s Northlawn basement,  playing folk, gospel and other popular songs. The called themselves The  Optimists; by the late \u201860s, they were performing for whoever would take  the time to listen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just kind of took off,\u201d said Ross, who sang and played tambourine with the group. \u201cWe did a lot of programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During their short career together at EMC, The Optimists  performed for youth groups and churches in Virginia and Pennsylvania, at  talent shows, and even at a Virginia state penitentiary, behind locked  gates and under guard.<\/p>\n<p>In 1969, the group recorded its first album, \u201cThrough Any Storm,\u201d  at Ridgeway Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg. The following year was a  big one: Dwight and Ruth married each other, The Optimists recorded  their second and final album, \u201cThe Song We Sing,\u201d in the EMHS  auditorium, and, upon Rich, John and Ruth\u2019s graduation from EMC, the  group dissolved as members went their separate ways after college.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-255\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2011\/02\/IMG_1862_opt-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-254\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2011\/02\/IMG_1859_opt-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>\u201cWe had a good time,\u201d said Dwight, who now lives with Ruth in  Rocky Mount, N.C. \u201cFor me, [it] was probably one of the highlights of  going to EMC.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The five friends have kept in close touch ever since, reuniting  periodically to sing old songs and spend more time together. In the  summer of 2009, on the 40th anniversary of their first recording, The  Optimists got together in New Holland, Pa., where Rich and his wife,  Rachel, live, for a weekend of singing and enjoying the bond between  them that hasn\u2019t faded a bit in four decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe developed a really good friendship,\u201d said Rosey, now a family  nurse practitioner at a rural health clinic in Fairview, Mich. \u201cWhen we  get back together again, it seems like just last week that we had been  together [before].\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 Andrew Jenner \u201904<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It started on Maplewood 3rd West, when hallmates Dwight Roth \u201969 and Arlin \u201cRich\u201d Yoder \u201970 began teaching themselves to sing and play the guitar. Soon there was a third \u2013 John Longacre \u201970 \u2013 and then two more: Ruth White \u201970 and Rosey Ross \u201971. The five friends began practicing in EMC\u2019s Northlawn basement, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[18,55,98,148,173,177],"class_list":["post-252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fallwinter-2010-11","category-magazine","tag-arlin-yoder","tag-dwight-roth","tag-john-longacre","tag-music","tag-rosey-ross","tag-ruth-white","issues-fallwinter-2010-11"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":964,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions\/964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}