On Veterans Monday I had the opportunity to merge two of my passions, my pride for my sons in the Marine Corp and my love of music, specifically the Elmwood-Murdock choir and band. Just wanted to share a preview of the the choirs song, “Brother My Brother” before I put together the full post, which will recap both schools and the local G.A.R museum.
It’s obvious this song was written with the American Civil War in mind, but I couldn’t find any other history. If anyone can point me in the direction I’d love to add it to the post.
Brother my brother One blue and one gray Will meet upon a quiet field The morn of judgement day
Brother my brother God has heard your battle call Now he’ll watch his precious children Learn how to stand, learn how to fall And his eyes will look away
For his heart will so be torn As his fields of gold turn scarlet From the rage of battle born And the silence of the night Will be broken by the cries Of the ones who’ve been forgotten On the quiet field where honor lies
Give me now a splendid sun With all his light full clear Give me now a gentle autumn Before the dying of the year And some green unbloodied grass While I can still see far Give me one night on a river And one unfailing star
Brother my brother One blue and one gray Will meet upon a quiet field The morn of judgement day
Brother my brother God has heard your battle call Now he’ll watch his precious children Learn how to stand, learn how to fall
My favorite Veterans Day piece the choir sang, by far, is the one a did a few years back of the choir singing Flanders Field. Take a look you won’t regret it!
Giant pumpkins and jack o’lanterns weighing 800 lbs can be found in Nebraska. Possible? Yes, if you use a little creativity. Welcome to the Midwestern version of a Jack O’Lantern, country style. Happy Halloween everyone!
Every first Saturday in October a certain tunnel in Nebraska fills with music. I’ve heard about it, my kids have told how awesome the music is when it reverberates in your ears, but I never witnessed this phenomenon until this year.
It is the tunnel at the start of the Harvest of Harmony parade. What else did you think it was? Over the years I’ve sat at the reviewing stand and various points along the route. Last year I took video of them coming “out” of the tunnel. But being IN the tunnel is awesome!
The sound is amplified and reverberates off the concrete walls. The Elmwood-Murdock band was entry #185, so I had plenty of time to watch, listen, and enjoy other bands.
The 71st Harvest of Harmony parade, held in Grand Island Nebraska is one of the largest marching band competitions in the country and in 1996 broke a Guinness World Record for the most marching bands in a parade.
My daughter playing the quads
This year the Elmwood-Murdock High School band was one of 93 bands from across the state and received a 3rd place out of 25 bands in their division. In years past they have received second place and even came home with the 1st place trophy in 2009.
In Nebraska we march in 30F weather
The weather is anything but predictable and Saturday was no exception. Bundle up was the key to staying warm, as the spectator above was sure to do. The parade starts at 8 am and ends three hours later.
The full parade is not only broadcast live on the Grand Island NTV/ABC television station, but they post videos of each band on their website in a yearly directory going back to 2008. In 2009 the Elmwood-Murdock marching band took first place in Class C and third overall.
The last view of the last parade of my kids high school career
My daughter (rt) with a friend
Seniors being silly. I will miss these kids. (I won’t say which is my daughter, so cute huh?)
At the end of the parade the buses take the schools to the stadium for formal photos on the bleachers. It’s a tradition for a senior photo, my favorite is the “goofy” pose. Yup, this is how the kids really are, in their raw form.
Band Moms, Cindy and Tracy
Yes, I’m a band Mom. I have literally chased the band down the parade route at many events. I’ve done it for years, from Washington DC to the Nebraska City Apple Jack festival. You take video, take pictures, run ahead, dodge people and baby strollers, and zig zag down the sidewalk, all while juggling a camera and try not to run out of breath. This time I only chased them a few blocks, found out I’m getting too old to chase bands anymore.
So I leave the next few years of following the bands to my friend and fellow blogger Tracy (Nebraska Wheatie). Her daughter is also a senior, but she’s lucky to have one more still in band. Yes, we both chase bands, this year I was only 5 feet behind her as we ran through the tunnel. Her husband Jim saved my hide by noticing my cell phone which bounced out of my coat pocket. THANKS JIM!!!
So while I will miss watching band performances, and yes I shed a few tears, I will NOT miss the chase. It’s been quite the journey.
Fun Facts about the Harvest of Harmony Parade and Band competition.
First Harvest of Harmony was held October 20, 1938.
8 Schools marched in the first parade: Grand Island, St. Paul, Ravenna, Gibbon, Scotia, Central City, North Loup, and Broken Bow.
The parade was originally named the Central Nebraska Music Festival. Changed to Harvest of Harmony in 1946.
The 1st Harvest of Harmony Queen was Pelorice France of Gothenburg.
St. Paul has the most candidates named Harvest of Harmony Queen with 8.
21 bands performed in the 1948 parade.
In 1996, 130 bands marched in the parade “A Guinness World Record”
During Pioneer Days in Palisade Nebraska I found this beauty of a hotel. Not sure when it was built, but the locals I talked to thought it was sometime in the 1880′s. It now houses JD Photography and part of the the Bostock Exhibit photography display of glass prints from the late 19th century.
Hotel Porch circa 1880′s
If these walls could talk what would they say about the people who stayed in this hotel? Cowboys, adventures, pioneers, politicians, or even outlaws and rustlers most likely passed through here. Some might of even stayed a while and visited the saloon across the street, which is still standing.
Processed in Lightroom 4, sepia preset with vinnette
The grass is belly high, the cow have calves by their side and the sun is setting on the horizon. How I love the Midwest! Angus and “black baldy” cows are the norm around this part of the country and after “talking” to them a little I got their attention.
Editing notes: Used Lightroom 4 to increase the exposure and increase clarity in the grass and the brush to decrease the exposure in the sky. The last thing I did was use the masking brush and open up the the highlights in the cows, their black coloring was hard to separate individuals.
Music in our schools is not dead, in fact it’s cool to be in choir at Elmwood-Murdock high school in Nebraska. The choir consists of 50% of the high schools enrollment and they are a source of pride for the school and community. Yes, this is a small school, but normally only those students who have good voices join the choir, which is normall a small percentage of a population.
However, a good choir director can find the inner voice in a willing student and bring out beautiful music. Below is the result in a piece performed at the 2012 Nebraska District Music contest. Enjoy ”The Awakening” by Joseph M. Martin
Music contests are somewhat formal and below is the same song sung at the school concert. I like the below version better as the students are more emotional. Both versions give me chills, but I love the expression on the faces at the end in response to Mrs. Colbert getting emotional and tearing up.
This year is my daughters first year at prom. She did what all teenage girls do before prom, searched for her dress (bought it online), had her nails done, her hair done and then had her Mom take way too many pictures before prom.
Elmwood-Murdock does prom a little different than the bigger schools where kids rent limos which takes them to dinner and prom. The school prom committee raises money throughout their high school years and rents coach buses which picks the kids up at the school, where everyone rides together to a dinner, dance, and then takes them to the after prom party. This years prom was held at Dave and Busters in Omaha.
Students walk out of the school on a red carpet while parents get a chance to take pictures paparazzi style. Really a lot of fun, at least from the Mom perspective. Enjoy the images of the Elmwood-Murdock 2012 Prom.
By the way, all these images were edited in Lightroom 4 (still in the 30 day trial period) starting with the RAW files. I seriously miscalculated the exposure and almost all the images were over exposed. I am now soooo super impressed with Lightroom capabilities.
High school football, the central point of every fall Friday night in a small town. It’s the center of the social scene, the place to be seen and to see people and watch some football. Elmwood-Murdock high school has been conference district champions for the past 13 years and make the state playoffs every year I can remember.
Nebraska, High school football, obviously doesn't want me to take his picture
Took me three times as long to get to my sons baseball game the other night because I kept pulling over and taking sunset pictures. The clouds had that “silver lining” effect and the beams of sunlight were just to magnificent to pass up. The barn is one I pass every day between Elmwood and Murdock Nebraska. Just about every time it looks different. How can people say it’s boring scenery in Nebraska?
I grew up in Connecticut, and the trees line every roadside and curve into the clouds. Only sections of sky peak through. Although I miss the trees and hills the openness of the sky and heavens take my breath away. It’s awe inspiring to watch storms roll in, uninterrupted rainbows and a horizon that stretches thirty miles or more into the distance.
Enjoy our little bit of “Big Sky” country in Nebraska.
