Sunday, October 21, 2001
A Note from the Editor
This was the longest tour by the National Capital Band since the trip to Russia in 1994. I have been a member of the band for 18 seasons and have been on many trips, including two international tours. This was one of the best that I remember. All of the members of the band, and many people outside the band, contributed to the success of the trip. I would like to acknowledge a few of them here.
Andy and Connie Barrington, who volunteered to drive the equipment truck from Washington to
Atlanta and back, giving many hours of their time.
Dorothy Gates, the band secretary, who made the travel arrangements, prepared the tour brief,
and generally kept things together on the tour (and also provided some truly moving music for us to
play).
The equipment crew, especially Kevin Hodges and Travis Smith.
Captain Richard McConniel, who was informed just before the tour that he would have to
act as Executive Officer, including speaking at almost every engagement.
David McQueen, Ian James Anderson, Travis Smith and Jonathan Sears, the "rookies",
who made it through the tour with no significant incidents and performed assigned duties without
requiring excessive force.
The first order of business (after breakfast, of course) was to check out of the hotel and load our luggage onto the bus. While waiting for the last band member to board, we could hear this conversation (paraphrased):
Ove Ericson: Who are we waiting for?
Other Person: Travis. One of the young tuba players.
Ove Ericson: Which one? The little boy or the giant boy?
Other Person: Giant boy.
Ove Ericson: (nodding) Giant boy.
About a minute later, Travis "Giant Boy" Smith got on the bus, and we drove across the street to Atlanta Temple. Along the way, Bernie Dake picked up Mr. Bus Microphone and asked who was missing a pair uniform pants. These pants ("42 long, 38 waist") were found on Friday evening after we checked into the hotel. Unfortunately, none of the likely candidates in the band would admit to owning the pants, so they remain a great mystery.
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Kevin Hodges (flügel) and Travis "Giant Boy" Smith (tuba) comparing instruments. Large Image |
After arriving at Atlanta Temple, we gathered in the music rooms to prepare for the morning service. During this time, Band Secretary Dorothy Gates took the opportunity to thank Andy and Connie Barrington for their service in driving the equipment truck to and from Atlanta. Using the truck saved us hours getting through the airport, and probably also prevented damage to instruments.
The band preceded the morning Holiness Meeting with some preliminary music, including Jesus Loves Me (James Anderson) and Oh, How I Love Jesus (James Curnow). The meeting began with the installation of Major John Roy Jones as Corps Sergeant-Major and W. Edward Laity as Associate Sergeant-Major of the Atlanta Temple Corps. This was followed by the band playing America the Beautiful (Dorothy Gates) as the call to worship.
Folowing a prayer by Major Tony Barrington and some words of welcome from the acting Executive Officer for the tour, Captain Richard McConniel, the band provided accompaniment for congregational singing. The song was Now Thank We All Our God, using an arrangement by Kenneth A. Elloway. Guest soloist Ove Ericson provided some special music in the cornet solo Tonerna (Sjöberg, arr. Froden), then Band Sergeant Mike Harris described his journey to officership in a personal testimony.
Following Mike's testimony, Deputy Bandmaster Andy Barrington was scheduled to lead another congregational song. However, when he gained control of the microphone, he began to recite a list of incidents in his youth, when he was member of the Atlanta Temple Corps (including getting suspended from the junior singing company!). This went on for several minutes (it is entirely possible that Andy could have gone on for several hours), until his father (Major Tony Barrington) walked out of the band formation and forced him to stop and lead the song.
Ove Ericson provided the offertory with a sensitive rendition of The Reason (Stephen Bulla). The band provided the setting for the morning message with Dean Goffin's classic meditation The Light of the World. The (looooong) message was given by Captain McConniel. Following the (45-minute long) message, the meeting concluded with the congregational song "Faith of Our Fathers", using the hymn tune arrangement St. Catherine (Ray Cresswell) as accompaniment.
Immediately following the meeting (which was nearly two hours long!) we packed up our equipment, loaded the truck so that Andy and Connie could get on the road, and ate lunch in the Atlanta temple dining room. Numerous thanks and presentations were made during lunch. The band then got on the bus one more time and proceeded to the airport. During the drive, even more thanks and presentations were made by various members of the band (including a lovely song for the loading crew produced by the percussion section).
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Bandmaster John Zanders (left) and Bandmaster Lars-Otto Ljungholm exchange conducting techniques. Large Image |
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Daniel Meeks (far left) and John Zanders listen to Bandmaster Ljungholm as he thanks them for their efforts during the tour. Large Image |
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Darryl Crossland, who filled in on soprano cornet for the tour, thoughtfully considering what could be in that package Lars-Otto is holding. Large Image |
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For some reason, Darryl was very surprised when we began to applaud for him. Large Image |
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Ove Ericson and Lars-Otto Ljungholm (with yet another one of those packages). Large Image |
Arriving at the airport very early to guard against delays caused by the new security procedures, we had quite a bit of extra time at the gate. The flight to Washington Dulles was uneventful (no bizarre landing like we had in Atlanta on Wednesday).
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Mark Gates (left) and Mike Harris waiting at the Atlanta airport. Who knew computer pinball could be so competitive? Large Image |
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Bandmaster Ljungholm was weary from all that gesturing during lunch. Ian James Anderson thoughtfully provides some antlers for this shot. Large Image |
