Simple Gifts
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.
The Ottumwa Municipal band and Community Chorus gave a concert in Central Park Thursday evening. The group is Iowa's oldest continuously operating municipal band - founded in 1865 and celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.
It's not an easy task to keep a small town band going these days, even in the state where Professor Harold Hill extolled the virtues of bandsmanship. Judging from the average age of the audience, it will be even more difficult to sustain in the future. A shame, I think. People don't know what they are missing if they can't appreciate the simple joy of music in the park on a summer night.
I couldn't imagine a nicer place to be on the eve of the country's birthday this year. Central Park is a little old shaded, sloping pocket of green on the edge of downtown. Above it, on its northern edge, looms the 1894 sandstone, Romanesque Revival Wapello County Courthouse and the 1930 Gothic Revival St. Mary's Catholic Church. Hugging the park on either side is Ottumwa's 1901 Neo-Classical Carnegie Public Library and the 1912 Renaissance Revival Federal Building (now City Hall).
Below the park sits the grand old 1917 Hotel Ottumwa, still welcoming overnight guests. Walk on down to the next alley and you can be transported back to the 1930s with Ottumwa's own "tavern style" "loose meat" sandwich at The Canteen. Then you'll come to the Burlington tracks, with the depot a block or so to the west. Beyond that, ever present, and oh, so old, the Des Moines River rushes by carrying some of the rain that fell on Iowa farmland on its way to the Gulf. (There's a lot to carry this year, we've had plenty of rain. Flooding soon!!)
Well, I guess you can tell . . . I love this place! : )
Thursday was a beautiful blue-sky evening, perfect temps in the 70's - just gorgeous! The band played the usual patriotic themes, and they played Simple Gifts, and an Irving Berlin medley . . . but they also played Elvis! Ain't that America? ;-)
I am so cheered by an old fashioned band concert. But I was lucky enough to be part of a fabulous, proud and mighty instrumental music program in my Texas high school and the effects of that have never faded. Maybe it's time to get the clarinet repadded and see if I can still play! : ) Heck, it's only been 37 years . . . maybe it's like riding a bicycle??
As that sweet music floated out into the night, we heard Amtrak blowing, the California Zephyr coming and going. Ahh, another sweet, sweet sound. I looked at my son, smiled and said, "Is this heaven?" And he said, "No, it's Iowa."
Well, for a little while there, I could have sworn it was Heaven. : )
Happy Birthday, America!
Simple Gifts
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.
The Ottumwa Municipal band and Community Chorus gave a concert in Central Park Thursday evening. The group is Iowa's oldest continuously operating municipal band - founded in 1865 and celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.
It's not an easy task to keep a small town band going these days, even in the state where Professor Harold Hill extolled the virtues of bandsmanship. Judging from the average age of the audience, it will be even more difficult to sustain in the future. A shame, I think. People don't know what they are missing if they can't appreciate the simple joy of music in the park on a summer night.
I couldn't imagine a nicer place to be on the eve of the country's birthday this year. Central Park is a little old shaded, sloping pocket of green on the edge of downtown. Above it, on its northern edge, looms the 1894 sandstone, Romanesque Revival Wapello County Courthouse and the 1930 Gothic Revival St. Mary's Catholic Church. Hugging the park on either side is Ottumwa's 1901 Neo-Classical Carnegie Public Library and the 1912 Renaissance Revival Federal Building (now City Hall).
Below the park sits the grand old 1917 Hotel Ottumwa, still welcoming overnight guests. Walk on down to the next alley and you can be transported back to the 1930s with Ottumwa's own "tavern style" "loose meat" sandwich at The Canteen. Then you'll come to the Burlington tracks, with the depot a block or so to the west. Beyond that, ever present, and oh, so old, the Des Moines River rushes by carrying some of the rain that fell on Iowa farmland on its way to the Gulf. (There's a lot to carry this year, we've had plenty of rain. Flooding soon!!)
Well, I guess you can tell . . . I love this place! : )
Thursday was a beautiful blue-sky evening, perfect temps in the 70's - just gorgeous! The band played the usual patriotic themes, and they played Simple Gifts, and an Irving Berlin medley . . . but they also played Elvis! Ain't that America? ;-)
I am so cheered by an old fashioned band concert. But I was lucky enough to be part of a fabulous, proud and mighty instrumental music program in my Texas high school and the effects of that have never faded. Maybe it's time to get the clarinet repadded and see if I can still play! : ) Heck, it's only been 37 years . . . maybe it's like riding a bicycle??
As that sweet music floated out into the night, we heard Amtrak blowing, the California Zephyr coming and going. Ahh, another sweet, sweet sound. I looked at my son, smiled and said, "Is this heaven?" And he said, "No, it's Iowa."
Well, for a little while there, I could have sworn it was Heaven. : )
Happy Birthday, America!