En route from Oklahoma City to Denver, somewhere west of Ft. Hays, Kansas, 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has some signature songs, two of which are "Come, Come, Ye Saints," and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

I suggest they add one more: "On the Road Again."

That's where we are -- on the road, in 11 buses making our way into the homeward stretch. The choir will perform its last concert on this year's tour tomorrow evening, Monday, June 29, at Red Rocks Amphitheater and then return to Salt Lake City.

When people learn that I have traveled with the choir on its tours since 1991, some ask, "Do they sing on those long bus rides to entertain themselves?"

Not usually. By the time they get onto buses they're about sung out. However, they do sing in places other than concert venues.

This morning, we had breakfast in a large convention hall of the Sheraton Hotel in Oklahoma City. Because of the tight schedule, everyone sat at the tables where they had breakfast (the dishes were cleared away) for sacrament meeting.

Although I've heard the choir sing in some of the world's great concert halls, I'm always moved when I find myself sitting among its members and they begin to sing. After I swallow the lump in my throat, I sing along. Imagine having the Tabernacle Choir sing in your weekly church meeting!

Along the way choir members sing to people who help them with their journey. Today, we stopped for lunch at Timberline Steakhouse & Grill in Wichita. The choir and members of the Orchestra at Temple Square sang "God Be With You" for the restaurant staff who had speedily fed us all. (The tour group divided; six buses went to one Timberline property the other five went to another.)

Down the road a bit, we stopped at Fort Hays State University for dinner. A catering company brought in a delicious meal. Members of the Fort Hays Ward served the meal, waited on tables and gave us the warmest welcome possible.

Put yourself in their shoes: You're a Mormon, among a minority in your community, and attend a small ward. Then 569 members of your church show up. And those aren't just any fellow members of your faith. They're members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. And they sing -- just for you.

Tissues, backs of hands, shirt sleeves and aprons were put to use as the Fort Hays Ward members wiped tears while listening to the choir sing "Come, Come, Ye Saints" and "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again."

Bob and Jan Dysart fought their emotions, and lost. Tears brimmed.

"We've never had nearly 600 members of the church come to Fort Hays," she said. "I didn't get to go to the concert (in Kansas City). It was amazingly powerful to have the choir sing just for us."

Fort Hays Ward Bishop John Moore said he had no problems getting volunteers to help serve dinner for the Tabernacle Choir. "My problem was that more people wanted to come than we needed. The choir people told me that we would need 15 people; we had about 30 who came. Everybody wanted to come."

As the tour group entered the building where dinner was being served they were greeted with piano music. Maureen Miles of Dearborn, Mich., decided to come to Fort Hays to visit her daughter, Jennifer Riggins, and attend the concert in Kansas City, Mo. She ended up tending her grandchildren while others went to the concert.

"I cried when my daughter came home and told me about the concert, how wonderful it was.," she said. "I decided to come over here today and play for the choir just so I could be close to them."

I wanted to ask Maureen what she thought about having the choir sing to the small group from Fort Hays. But in the rush to get onto my bus, I missed seeing her. I hope she will send me an e-mail and tell me if having the personal concert in some way made up for her missing the real thing. And maybe some other members of the Fort Hays Ward also will send e-mails. I need to write about this in a Church News report and there was literally no time to interview any of them.

Note to self: While on tour with the Tabernacle Choir, never go anywhere without your camera gear. My "real" camera was on the bus. All I had with me was a small point-an-shoot camera. I missed some great shots.

E-Mail: gerry@desnews.com