Stars and Stripes

One of my favorite activities on the Fourth of July is watching, on television, the fireworks and listening to the Boston Pops holiday concert from Boston. I often wished that I could go and actually be part of that exciting event, but now that I am older it is just much easier to dream about it and to watch it on television. I was a little disappointed this year in that television only showed an hour of the program and several of my favorite holiday numbers were not even televised. My favorite march is "Stars and Stripes" and the usual rendition by the Boston Pops is by far my favorite. I love the part by the piccolos and then the triumphant ending featuring the brass. As a former trombone player I imagine myself playing along with them. I first fell in love with this number when we played it in marching band many, many years ago in high school. And it has been my favorite march since then, The Fourth of July is just not complete for me until I hear it played once again. I have always enjoyed the music of the Boston Pops. When I was teaching I was very fortunate to be able to attend, almost annually, the national conventions of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. I think over the years Dianne and I attended about 30 of these in most of the major cities in the United States and Canada. I was actually on the program as a speaker at several of these conventions. Much of the funding for these trips came from the Presidential Award that I was honored to win from President Reagan. Some funding came from my school district but most of it came out of our own pockets. They were special trips with tremendous in-service training for me as well as the exposure to many national textbook and supply companies. I was able to broker many special deals and discounts for my district at these events. But back to my major thought - one of my most remembered conventions was held in Boston. Special arrangements were made by the NCTM to hold a special concert just for convention guests by the Boston Pops in a large hotel ballroom. We arrived early to scout out the location and when the doors opened, we were able to sit in the fourth row, right behind the conductor. There we had an excellent view of the entire orchestra. Their concert was tremendous with a wide variety of numbers. Unfortunately, it did not include their signature number, "Stars and Stripes". At the end of the concert the gathering gave the orchestra a standing ovation and began to beg for an encore. Now I am normally a very quiet guy, but this time I couldn't resist. I yelled out "Stars and Stripes" and soon all those around me joined in the chant. And guess what? For an unplanned encore the Boston Pops struck up my favorite. It was an event and a night that I shall never forget. And I can hardly wait to hear them play it once again next July Fourth.

P.S. - Some day I'll share another great experience - hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in person at a convention in Salt Lake City. But that time I was quiet and I behaved.