Dalton Sterling is Real Silver Ware – Part 2

Second in an eight-part series.

“The entire Sterling family were churchgoers. We went to several churches – Pentecostal, Baptist, and Seventh-Day Adventist. I started to sing in the church choir when I was about nine years old.

“My favourite song had the lines:

If God was like man
Many bad things would happen to us…”.

That was also one of his father’s favourite songs. Another of Dalton’s favourite songs had the words:

“There is no way like God’s way
There is no other way I know
His name is Cleanliness
His name is happiness and joy…”

“I would even sing this song while doing my chores at home or going to the field with my grandpa.”

“My bigger brothers would make guitars out of bamboo and used fish lines as strings. They would cut the green bamboo which they split in two. These were about three joints in length. Nails were used to which fish lines were attached to make sounds when it was struck by the thumb of the fingers.”

“I had my own guitar and later formed a four-member church choir. We sang in churches across several parishes including Manchester, St. Elizabeth, and St. Mary.”

“We were permitted, on most occasions, to sing three or four songs depending on the number of choirs participating.”

“We would travel on our church bus. And although we did not get any financial rewards, just doing something for the Lord made us happy.”

The group lasted for some five to six years before members began to leave, some migrating.”

Next: Dalton Sterling at Maldon Secondary School.

(Photo courtesy of Dalton Sterling)