About 500 people spent their lunch hour Friday celebrating the homecoming and accomplishments of the Voices of Unity Youth Choir, the local ensemble that earned two gold medals during its first-ever appearance at the World Choir Games in China.

The group showed off its talent for the crowd, which grew with each song, in between comments by Mayor Tom Henry and County Commissioner Nelson Peters and a rousing “Thank You!” speech from choir director and founder Marshall White.

The hour-long event on the plaza at Summit Square was capped off by an official invitation to the 2012 games in Cincinnati. National organizing committeewoman Lori Lobziger said the games’ organizers were so impressed with the Fort Wayne group that they wanted to personally invite the choir to participate again.