Editor’s Note: Southeastern Christian College was a 2 year college and 3 year Bible Institute located in Winchester, KY until it closed in 1979.
The old maroon and white bus served us well at SCC. But one night in Tennessee he gave up.
The choir had completed the Texas-Louisiana tour and was headed home to Winchester, wanting to make the 800 miles without an over night stop. With Schreiner, Weber and Rogers taking their turns at the wheel we were well on our way by mid-night when things got really exciting.
Sometime after Memphis, much to the dismay of Ann, it was Sam’s time to drive. With Ann settled in the seat behind the driver we were making good time. We approached the hill descending into a little town called Parsons. Sam rightly thought to slow ol’ Henry down by lowering the gear. He touched the brake and found no resistance. The next thing was to clutch and force the lower gear, but Henry was going too fast to allow that. Sam kept his foot on the clutch, hands on the wheel, foot off “the gas” while the other guys worked the shift – just didn’t work.
The town was in view, the bus was a “runaway.” (There I was responsible for 32 of the greatest kids on earth.) There was no way to stop ‘Ol Henry’, and to make matters worse we saw we had no chance of slowing down on level ground as a “T” in the middle of town loomed in front of us. We had the option of going left or right at full speed. With the help of 32 praying young people, somehow Sam made the left turn. No wheels of the left side touched the ground.
‘Ol Henry’ came down solid on level ground and started to slow down. The town cops were alerted by that time and stopped in front of us while we were still in motion. They finally realized we were not going to stop and stayed with us until we stopped. We spent the night in a nearby hotel.
The next morning 32 Church of Christ Kids were ready to go to church while ‘Ol Henry’s brakes were being repaired. So Bob Yarborough led a crew around town to find a church. They found one, but Bob came back frustrated and fuming because this bunch of college students from a “pre-mill” college would not be allowed to worship there.
On the way back to the motel they bought a custard pie and a bottle of grape juice. They ate the custard (chocolate?) and found the crust suitable for “bread” at the Lord’s Supper. We enjoyed a fellowship that I will never forget.
‘Ol Henry’ was retired. Neil Phillips arranged for the choir of the following year to produce a record that purchased a new bus from the proceeds of the sales of that recording.
John Fulda is a retired Choral Director and a part-time preacher in Amite, LA.