Singing on the Mountain Sunday

On June 28, Grandfather Mountain will host the 85th annual Singing on the Mountain in MacRae Meadows.
Mountain authenticity, joyful singing voices and solid preaching will again grace the hills just as they have for the past eight decades.

This year is extra special because Singing founder Joe L. Hartley’s granddaughter will bring the message.

The Hartley legacy began when Uncle Joe started the Singing on the Mountain in 1924 as a family reunion.
As the event grew, it became an opportunity for the people of these isolated mountains to fellowship and praise God as a community. The celebration features performances by top Southern Gospel groups and stirring preachers, such as this year’s speaker, the Rev. Freida Hartley Hobson, the granddaughter of Joe L. Hartley.

Hartley Hobson entered the ministry 14 years ago and has served several churches in North Carolina.

She and her husband have two children and two grandchildren of whom they are very proud.

Hartley Hobson said that what she enjoys the most is “seeing the joy in Christian faces as they worship, visiting with my family, listening to beautiful gospel music surrounded by the majesty of God’s creation in those mountains, ‘from whence my help comes.’”

Featured performers for 2009 include The Greenes, Michael Combs, George Hamilton IV with George Hamilton V and Tim and Roddy Smith, The Primitive, The Cockman Family, The Melodyaires, Jubilee, Four Anointed, Naomi and The Segos and The Gospel Enforcers.

The 85th annual Singing on the Mountain will be held Sunday, June 28, on U.S. 221, two miles north of Linville and 1 mile south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Music starts at 8:30 a.m. and continues into the afternoon with a mid-day break for the message.

Admission is free and camping (without hookups) is available on a first come basis.

For more information, phone (800) 468-7325 or visit www.grandfather.com.