Green Pastures Fundraiser
Each spring Ken Bradbury hosted a benefit variety show under the stars at the Green Pastures Campground to raise money for the camp's youth programs. Green Pastures is an independent, interdenominational Christian retreat center set on 41 acres of Morgan County woods, founded in 1978 by Bud and Doris Groat, and home to a Christian Performing Arts Camp (PAC) that hosts hundreds of campers and volunteer staff each summer. Because the camping fees for most youth are partly or wholly covered by donors — "no child is ever turned away for lack of funds, no questions asked" — the fundraiser became a yearly tradition. The idea originally came from Two by Two member Wes Hendricker.
There was no admission charge; donations supported the camps. Bradbury emceed an evening of music, dance, and comedy drawn almost entirely from performers who had been campers or counselors at Green Pastures — "It's especially appropriate since nearly every performer that night has been either a camper or a counselor at our Green Pastures camps." The area southern gospel group Two by Two (John Rohn, Ray Anderson, and Wes Hendricker) traditionally opened and closed the night. A recurring cast of camp alumni returned year after year: pianists John Love and Brock Gwaltney, vocalists Hope Cherry, Becky McCartney, and Rick Barger, the "Let's Make Up" comedy improv group, choreographer Brittany Davis and her dancers, and many more.
Beyond hosting, Bradbury was the author of the evening. He wrote the running order and the emcee introductions, performed in the multi-hand piano numbers, and authored original comedy-sketch material for the benefit — among it "The History of Mankind in less than ten minutes," a two-narrator piece performed at the show (by Travis and Brennan in one staging).
Individual editions are documented in their own pages where a program survives (see the 2016, 2017, and 2018 fundraisers).
Songs
A variety bill, the program lists performers and acts rather than song titles; the explicit titles that survive are:
- Two by Two's southern gospel set — the area trio opened (and traditionally closed) each evening
- "This Little Light" — performed as a closing 6-hand piano number (Ken Bradbury among the players) in 2018
Recurring Performers
- Two by Two — area southern gospel trio (John Rohn, Ray Anderson, Wes Hendricker); ministry began 1987; traditional opening and closing act
- John Love — piano (first met Ken in 4th grade; later wrote music for Ken's plays; studied with Second City in Chicago)
- Brock Gwaltney — piano (Routt, Millikin, University of Illinois)
- Hope Cherry — vocal (Green Pastures counselor, SIU School of Medicine)
- Becky McCartney — vocal
- Rick Barger and Roger Wainwright — comedy and music
- "Let's Make Up" Improv Group — comedy (Erin Washington, Hope Cherry, John Love, Nate Saint, Maddy Albers, Kyler Miller, Brandon Coniglio, and others)
- Brittany (Brit) Davis — dance / choreography (came as a camper, became head of the dance department; Southwest Baptist University)
- Roger Davis — piano, vocal, and comedy (one of the camp's first counselors and a minister)
About Green Pastures
Green Pastures Christian Retreat Center began in 1978 as a simple block building on 41 acres of Morgan County brush near Meredosia, Illinois, founded by Bud and Doris Groat. By the 2010s it had grown into a modern retreat facility hosting around 400 campers and volunteer staff each summer across roughly a dozen camps, plus weekend rentals for family reunions, church groups, and scout troops. After the Groats retired to Texas, Cary and Sharon Coker became the campground's hosts. Ken Bradbury served as a board member and led the Performing Arts Camp.
Production Notes
Each show ran in two acts per Ken's running order. The "Let's Make Up" improv segment used a rotating set of scene formats — The Onion, Last Man Standing, Nightmare, Genres, New Choice, Hitchhiker, Hands Behind, and "Scene 3 Ways: a place, a problem." The benefit's documented years span 2015 through 2018; the early press release set the date as March 5th at 7 p.m., the surviving 2017 recording is dated February 2017, and the cover production photo is dated March 3, 2018.
Photos