After four decades apart, singing 'ex-Cons' to reunite in Canby

By JOHN FORTMEYER
CNNW publisher
   CANBY — Four decades ago, dozens of young people came out of the Portland area to launch a music ministry that has become known worldwide.
Today, they aren’t nearly as young as they used to be. But the joy of singing praise to the Lord together is still there — so much so that it is bringing many together after 41 years for a big reunion next month here in Oregon.
  “Most of us haven’t seen each other in 40 years, but I have never seen such a drive to reconnect,” says Ron Keeling of Springfield about the members of the original Youth for Christ “Continentals.”
   That group became the foundation of musical ministry that was to incorporate in 1967 in southern California under the name Continental Singers. The ministry of The Continentals has continued to this day with successive generations of young Christian performers.
   Yet it’s those original YFC Continentals who will meet Friday through Sunday, Oct. 28-30 at the Canby Grove Conference Center. They will share memories, rehearse their music from years ago, join in worship, and present a Sunday morning concert for the public.
   Keeling, a Portland native who currently is pastor of Gilham Community Church, an Evangelical Methodist congregation in Eugene, is spearheading the reunion. He also is well known in the Portland-Vancouver area for many years of funeral ministry and as former pastor of the Eastside Free Methodist Church in Portland.
   The original Continen-tals performed in 1963-65 and were comprised then of young people ages 15-23.
   Keeling said the reunion was the brainchild of Maureen McRoberts Sims, one of the “Ex-Cons,” — which Keeling says the former Continentals jokingly call themselves — but because of time constraints she asked him last May to take over planning for the reunion.
   After seeking the 78 members of the original group, it appears at this point more than 60 will attend, said Keeling.
  “In searching for Ex-Cons, our current tally is 68 found, eight MIA’s and two deceased,” he said.
   Also planning to attend and lead the singing is Continentals’ founding director, Cam Floria,. He also became well known as founder of Gospel Music Association’s Seminar in the Rockies, held annually in Estes Park, Colo.
   Keeling said many of the former Continentals went on to leadership in various Christian organizations and ministries. Some notables of the group include Paul Fleischmann, co-founder and president of the National Network of Youth Ministries; John Coulombe, a member of the pastoral staff at Chuck Swindoll’s church in Fullerton, Calif.; Ken Waggoner, an executive with Focus on the Family who has headed the National Day of Prayer Task Force; and Patti Holcomb Roberts Thompson. She was once married to Oral Roberts’ son Richard and appeared for several years on their TV shows before eventually divorcing Ri-chard Roberts and then later marrying well-known Christian composer John Thompson.
   The original Continentals got their start in late 1962 when Portland Youth for Christ hired Floria to develop a top-notch youth choir for their Saturday night rallies. In those days Portland YFC had the largest weekly rally in the nation, drawing 1,500 to 2,000 people.
   Floria viisted many Portland high schools to recruit the best Christian singers available. Taking the name Continentals, they took a three-week tour back to Indiana in 1963 and won the national YFC Choir contest.
Following that trip, they recorded their first album, Sing a Happy Song. That album, consisting mostly of youth choruses, became Word Records’ No. 1 seller.
   Floria, wanting to keep expanding the group, did his second round of recruiting in August 1963. That is when Keeling, at age 15, was accepted.
The next year, the Continentals performed at the weekly rallies, on YFC’s weekly show on KGW-TV Channel 8, and in local churches. During the summer of 1964, the group did a 10-week tour of the United States, with a four-day excursion to the Bahamas, where they sang for the Bahamian premier. On their way home, they recorded two more albums at Capitol Records in Los Angeles: Sing a Song Along and Life is a Symphony.
More auditions were held, bringing in even better talent, and a second group was formed of the older and more skilled singers.
    “I actually got to sing in both groups, which meant I was singing five nights a week as a Continental,” Keeling recalled. “I loved it!”
   During the summer of 1965, the Continentals did another 10-week tour around the U.S., with a three-week excusion to Europe, where they visited eight counries. This included a two-night performance for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to help pave the way for their 1966 London crusade.
  “That summer also marked the release of the movie Sound of Music, and we just happened to spend four days in Salzburg, Austria, visiting all the local sights in the movie,” said Keeling.
    Assisting Keeling in organizing the reunion are fellow ‘Ex-Cons” Shari Maier Kragud, Sue Schlicker Moen and John Scheelar.
   “We plan to rehearse a good portion of the day Saturday, with a concert to be given Sunday morning, probably around 10:30 a.m.. It will be open to the public. There won’t be a charge, but perhaps an offering,” said Keeling.
   For more information, contact Keeling at 541-554-6222 or rkeeling@comcast.net.