Union Terminal

Sunday
In our service this morning, we were joined by a young missionary family that our church will be helping to support - they will be leaving in October to serve in Jamaica. They have three young children, who were with them, ages 5, 3 and about 10 months - that’s a brave undertaking! We also welcomed back our diminished Praise Band, for the first time in person, since the church first closed due to Covid last year. I say diminished, because they have lost Dan our former Music director and his wife Debbie who have retired from their position, and Dan used to play percussion, and Debbie keyboard. Throughout this time they have recorded music items to be played in the service, but due to Covid and other personal issues had not wanted to play in person. It was great to have them back. We also enjoyed Tom, our organist and pianist, playing the cello, live, and accompanying himself on the piano (pre-recorded)!
When we got back, we had a coffee while deciding what to do with the afternoon. It was another very hot day, and Laura suggested going to see the documentary IMAX movie Great Bear Rain Forest at the Union Terminal. However, we wanted to get some exercise in as well, so we went walking first at Shawnee Lookout Hamilton County Park, out on the west side of town, just north of the river, then we drove along the river road into the city, passing Anderson ferry (see extra).
The Union Terminal building was built in the 1930s, in the Art Deco style popular at the time, in an effort to consolidate the previously rather disorganized city network. Union Terminal was very successful in the 1930s and 1940s, but by the 1950s it began to face stiff competition from automobiles and passenger airline service. The number of trains continued to decline until 1972, when the last train service to Union Terminal ended. After a failed attempt to convert it into a shopping mall in the 80’s, the building was finally opened once again in November 1990 as the Museum Center. The renovated Union Terminal now houses the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science, the Cincinnati History Museum, the Cincinnati Historical Society Library, the Cinergy Children's Museum, and an OMNIMAX theater, and has proved to be a great success. The movie was terrific on the huge domed screen, taking you to the exquisite and secluded wilderness on Canada’s rugged Pacific coast, a land of grizzlies, humpback whales, wolves, sea otters and the unique Kermode bear or Spirit Bear, a white subspecies of the black bear, found in the Central and North coast regions of British Columbia. The scenery and photography were amazing!
Step count: 8,316