From the Country Star

Come together: Power outage doesn't stop gospel show

From staff and submitted reports

LONGTOWN, July 9 — People attending the Longtown Opry’s gospel music show Friday got something more than they’d anticipated, as musicians joined the crowd in the parking lot to perform.

The show began as usual at 7 p.m., with a full house and many singers and musicians. At the end of the first hour, there was a loud “boom” and the lights — and amplifiers — went out. The entire area had lost power.

People went outside and began mingling in the parking area. Not to be daunted, Paul Maloy took his guitar and, followed by Mattie Maloy and her big upright bass, went to the parking lot and began to sing and play gospel music.

All the musicians and singers gathered around in the parking area and sang for about 30 minutes until the power was restored.

An animal had gotten into the Kiamich Electric Co-Op’s system, causing the outage that affected between 500 and 700 customers, according to Kiamichi spokesman Todd Minshall.

That didn’t deter musicians or fans, however. “It felt like a old time dinner on the ground gospel singing,” one person reported. “The crowd loved it.”

When the power came on again, everyone returned inside for another hour of the show.

“It’s times like this that brings the community together and makes memories,” Mattie said.

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