Good Afternoon, Believers Concert Band,
I hope all of you are having a restful, relaxing summer. We took the first three weeks off and forgot band things for a while and then vacationed on Lake Oconee with the family – great fun. After that it was back to work, like Jill said when I gave her some new names for the email list, “It’s good to see that you aren’t sitting on your back side all summer!”
I write for several reasons. Probably the most important is to remind you of a very special birthday, Col. Rudy Lanier will celebrate his 90th Birthday, next Monday, August 8! If you get a chance to drop him a line, his email address is Rudy Lanier, Rudylan@comcast.net or a Birthday card to 7210 Pine Valley Road, Cumming, Ga 30041
Other Birthdays that we did not celebrate in July and August are:
July Birthdays:
Tommy Johns , Trombone – 5
Suzanne Brannan, Flute – 8
August Birthdays:
Jerry Butler, Euphonium – 3
Harold Westbrook, Trumpet – 5
Wayne Stradley, Clarinet – 6
Rudy Lanier, Trombone – 8
Beth Bryant, Clarinet, 17
Ginny Enzore, Clarinet – 20
Jim Becker, Tuba – 22
Rita Petty, Percussion – 24
Kay Folsom, Flute – 27
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of you!
The second topic of interest is – Tuesday evening, September 6 – BAND RESUMES at 6:00PM. We will have a lot of new music to sight read and a lot of new players to “Meet n’ Greet.” It looks as if we could have a flute returning, a new clarinet player as well as another bassoon, another French horn, another alto sax, possibly another trumpet and two +? percussionists.
Thirdly, we have some really great music to play. I will send the complete list out next week. A partial list includes The Whistler and His Dog (a piccolo feature), a Henry Mancini number, It Had Better Be Tonight, a couple Scottish Folk songs, Annie Laurie and Scottish Ayre, John Williams’ fantastic arrangement of Tara’s Theme, from Gone With The Wind, The Longest Day March, Victory At Sea and other great selections.
Fourth, please mark your calendar for the Veterans Concert which is set for 3:00 PM on Sunday afternoon, November 8. We have nine rehearsals to get the music prepared. Also save the date of Sunday afternoon, February 12, 2017, for the Cowboy Concert and April 23, 2017 for the Spring Concert.
Now is the time for you to get your friends back playing again. As we spend more time warming up and refreshing some old notes, it is a perfect time for new players to dust off their horns (if they can find them) and get to band. Sometimes just a little “persistent” encouragement will do the trick.
Enjoy the remaining time off – you could start practicing some.
Be safe – looking forward to another fantastic season.
Richard