Some people go south for spring break. Me?  I’m in St. Paul, for the the second day in a row.

Yesterday, I traveled to St. Paul (that’s 45 miles north of Northfield, for those of you who are geographically challenged) for a dentist visit, and then spent a few hours at the Minnesota History Center looking through the library’s extensive files on Louis W. Hill for more information about my great-grandfather’s cowboy band.

(I didn’t dig up any earth-shattering information, but I did pick up some ideas about how I could better organize all the material I’ve accumulated on G. Oliver Riggs.  That might be a project for another spring break).

Today, I’m at my favorite St.

Parents, grandparents and siblings packed the bleachers of the Northfield High School gymnasium last night to hear the annual district orchestra concert, involving all seven orchestras from fourth grade through high school.

In the maroon and gold-painted gym, accented with a Raider Pride banner and other sports-related banners, High School Principal Joel Leer told the audience that the number of orchestra students has grown in the past two years.

Here’s what I believe, as a parent of three kids with music in their blood; as someone who played in band from fifth grade through two years of college; as the daughter of a public school teacher and lifelong musician who continues to demonstrate music’s power to bring people closer together; as the granddaughter of a man who was inducted into the Minnesota Music Educators Association’s Hall of Fame; as the great-granddaughter of one of the pioneers of music education in Minnesota:

Music belong
5

I spent most of the day yesterday in Mankato, doing research for a travel story I’m writing for the Star Tribune.  The highlight was touring the Betsy and Tacy Houses, made famous in the Betsy-Tacy book series by Mankato native Maud Hart Lovelace.

For those of you not familiar with the semi-biographical, fictional books, they are based on Maud’s (Betsy’s) growing up in Mankato (Deep Valley) at the turn of the last century.
1

I didn’t have much time to blog last week about my musical family because I was too busy attending musical events.  First, we attended the Northfield Middle School winter band concert on Tuesday; Sebastian played trumpet in the middle school jazz band and the 7th grade band.  It was another impressive concert, despite the fact that it was bumped from the middle school auditorium to the gym.
1
Popular Posts
Popular Posts
About Me
About Me
Blog Archive
Blog Archive
Labels
Labels
Loading
Dynamic Views theme. Powered by Blogger. Report Abuse.