“I’ll Fly Away,” “When They Ring Those Golden Bells” and “If We Never Meet Again were  just a few of the songs echoing through the sanctuary of Poplar Springs Baptist Church in Newton County last Saturday for the Newton County Gospel Singing Convention.

Jeff Hardy, who was hosting the event, said the annual convention attracts local people, and even some from out of state.

“We do one a year in Newton County at different churches – this is the eleventh one I have helped with,” Hardy said. “Most of the people who come have grown up singing gospel songs, or attended a singing school.

Alton Blanton, who lives in Ackerman, said gospel singing is a tradition in his family, in more ways than one.

“I grew up going to these singings with my family,” Blanton said. “My wife Cheryl and I met in the Blue Ridge Mountains at a singing and it was hundreds of people there. My mom and dad even met at an all-day singing.”

Hardy said gospel convention singing is different from Sacred Harp singing in that is uses seven shaped notes (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) rather than the four shapes in Sacred Harp.

“Each one of those pitches has a shape,” Hardy said. “It’s a system of teaching music to people without having to learn the lines and spaces – they can learn the shape of the pitch.

M’Kayla Duncan, who is from Mt. Olive, and one of the youngest in attendance at Saturday’s singing, said she has always loved to sing – but it wasn’t until she attended a singing school on the Coast in 2013 that she would know how much attending those schools would completely change her life.

“I was there for three weeks and I loved it, I thought it was heaven on earth,” Duncan said. “That opened the door to me meeting a lot of other people, which led me to other schools.”

Duncan said the schools teach people how to read and write music, something she believes is a lost art.

And when she is not attending schools in the summer, she tries to attend as many gospel singing conventions as she can – locally, and other states as well.

“A lot of people grew up going to singings with their parents, but for me, I was the only one,” Duncan said. “It’s great for me because I know when I have children of my own; it will give them something else to do in the summer besides sports.”

Joel Germany of Columbia, Mississippi, said he frequents the gatherings.

“ I come to these often because I enjoy the music and fellowship,” Germany said. “I have friends from all over the South, Texas to South Carolina. We meet up at singing like this – it’s a spiritual thing, but also a social thing.”

And in addition to the singing, those attending were treated to a good old-fashioned dinner on the church grounds.

Hardy said the singings are a great way to praise the Lord, express one’s Christian faith, meet up with friends, and fellowship.