Bonnie Allen

     I am first a child of God - wife of Kenneth Allen - mother of four wonderful children and grandmother of five.  I have sung in the choirs of various churches since the 7th grade, from Blue Island, Illinois to Bartow, Florida.  Teaching young children was my life for twenty-five years at Oaks School in Bartow, and I am still teaching piano and voice to twenty students.  Twenty years of coaching Miss Bartow contestants was great fun for my husband and I.  We are both musicians and met in a dinner theater in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Our lives have centered on music and farm life.  We have an eighty-acre horse and cattle farm south of Bartow.  It is a lifestyle that we both love and are very thankful to have experienced.
    One of my great joys in life has been performing in many musicals such as:  Sound of Music, Carousel, Oklahoma, Brigadoon, and many more.  I have received many honors:  Who's Who Among American Teachers in 1994, Pride of Bartow Award, Rotary Medal of Honor for service, Chamber of Commerce Award for service, and WFLA-TV award for service, all to my great surprise.  After I semiretired, a sign kept pulling me to the First United Methodist Church.  Choir Director needed!  I responded to that need, and have been thoroughly blessed by the people in this church.  Their love and support has been overwhelming.  It is my privilege to serve this great church.