LAMS summer concerts in the park comes to an end with patriotic flare

 

[July 01, 2024] 

Sunday, June 30 was the Lincoln Area Music Society’s final concert of the summer band season.

With the Fourth of July coming up this week, conductor Riley McDorman said the theme was music of America.

The band began with the song “Star Spangled Banner” as the audience rose to face the flag.

Next up was “Hail America,” a march song featuring excerpts from “America the Beautiful,” “My Country Tis of Thee” and other patriotic songs.

Jerry Brubaker’s “America Variations” also included the song,” “My Country Tis of Thee” with variations on its melody.

The American medley “United We Stand” by John O’Reilly included portions of several tribute songs like “America” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

As a way of celebrating the men and women who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces, the band then played “American Heroes,” which had portions of each military branches’ service song. Before they began playing, McDorman asked veterans and active service members to stand and be recognized through a round of applause.

During a ten minute intermission, many bought cake and ice cream from the Lincoln Women’s Club. The Women’s Club will use the funds raised to support various community projects they do throughout the year.

After the intermission, McDorman thanked the sponsors who help make the summer concert series possible. Sponsors include Lincoln’s First United Methodist Church, Begolka Farms, Guest House and Lincoln Daily News.

To start the second half, the band played a march song called “Torch of Liberty” by Karl King.

The next piece something McDorman considers just as American [as many of the other songs], which is rock and roll. The song “Rock and Roll to Remember” is a medley of rock and roll songs throughout the ages. The medley included “American Bandstand,” “Rocking Robin,” “YMCA,” “Rock Around the Clock” and a couple of others.

In introducing “America the Beautiful,” McDorman said he and his wife recently traveled through various states. He realized the land he saw was not flat and there were things out there besides corn as he viewed the mountains. What that showed McDorman is how beautiful our country is.

Before the band played its final song, McDorman thanked everyone who had come out to hear the concerts this summer. As he said, “without you, we would have no one to play for.” Since it was the last concert of the summer season, McDorman hoped everyone would come out to hear the band next year.

For the final song of the evening, the band played “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Sousa. McDorman said he could not think of a better piece to send us into Independence week.

[Angela Reiners]