It has been over a week since the 11th annual Sing Out! for Martin Luther King Jr.

Our committee, and I’m sure many of the 400 people who attended, are still feeling the glow of harmony on so many levels.

We were lifted up from the opening of a freedom song followed by the recorded words spoken by Dr. King to the closing song, “Ex-cell-ent.”

The extraordinary cellist Serena Tideman returned to Bainbridge for her second performance in six months and played a lovely requiem she composed for the occasion.

The afternoon workshop and evening audience included all ages and many ethnicities from Kitsap County and beyond, including two women newly from Hawaii, another woman originally from Botswana and three adopted children from Haiti.

The Island Church is a perfect venue for musical performances and our hosts were extraordinarily helpful and gracious with the sound setups and coffee for our meetings.

The event seemed to brim with goodwill as Pat Wright talked about Black History, and Karen Vargas read a poem by BHS student Imogen Hawley.

Akila Benton, who knew (the late) Luke Chadwick, honored him as an inspiring role model because of his friendly and spontaneous nature.

Luke sang with Sing Out! for eight years.

Jerry Elfendahl used his endless energy on every detail and especially on signage.

Rudy Rimando and family, along with Judie Elfendahl, kept us well-fed with a good dinner and snacks.

We thank so many for their generous donations of time, money, clothing and food for Helpline and the Salvation Army.

We’re already talking about next year – on the Saturday a week before Super Bowl Sunday!

Kathryn Keve,

event co-chair