Glorious Idaho . . . . .

June 21 - Ahhhhhh - fresh, clean air, 70 degree temperatures, more family reunions, photograph day. Gorgeous scenery. SNOW CAPPED  mountains across the Little Bear River in front of my sister's house. But what does this have to do with music and orchestra? Where I get to practice tonight for some upcoming Independence Celebration concerts in Minden and at FBC Shreveport.

More later. Looking forward to Montana as well to see brother with sisters and  my mom. Makes me feel as though I should be playing an Alpine horn tonight instead of my Lawson.

June 22 - Ahhhhhhhh - glorious Montana tomorrow. . . . . Great two days so far in the wild old West. You won't believe where I practiced last night and this morning watching the horses out in the pasture through the window. Nothing like great scenery to get oneself motivated. Will send photo. Glad they couldn't hear me but it felt pretty good considering I was still itching. First time I have played since my out break with an old nemesis, poison ivy, just as we were headed out of town. Worse case I've had on my face in 10 years. Put on 10 pounds of cover makeup yesterday for family photos. Glad I was on vacation and not in the middle of playing a job. Left eye was almost completely closed. Anyone else have that kind of allergic reaction? The pits, I can tell you. Had a shot this morning. Hoping for the best.

July 1 - Home now to a computer that had to be refurbished - got it back today. Don't ask me how it crashed when I wasn't even here and it was unplugged from the wall. Life's mysteries.

Playing Minden God and Country program tonight - Independence Celebration. Photos when I return if I can get them into shape and resized. I lost all my photography editing software programs in the great blitz!!

FBC Independence concert on Saturday featuring American composers.

Finally, some new photo editing sofware which you will see on my photos from Minden and FBC blog posts.

Spent the evening not playing Summer Band Tuesday June 14, 2011

For the first time in many years, I spent an evening at home on a June Tuesday evening instead of sitting on the sweltering Centenary College amphi-theater stage playing band music. WOW! What was the temperature on the stage tonight? At my home it was still in the upper 90's at 8:00 PM and I had all my outdoor sprinklers on watering the yard. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise for me. Heat stroke could have been lurking just around the corner!

Even our 2 cats do NOT want to go outside these days and they usually love it out in the garden with the birds, a squirrel or two, rabbits, fish and frogs, the strawberries, tomatoes, blackberries, blueberries, squash and cucumbers. But not this June 2011.

This past week-end, my husband and I attended my 2nd 50 year high school reunion this year, this one at Arlington High School, Arlington, TX. where I at one time played in the Arlington Colt Band which marched over 150 on the field during football season and in parades. When I graduated from AHS, it was the ONE and ONLY high school in town - we were the Arlington Colts and our colors were green and white. The population was still under 50,000 and Hwy 80 ran through the middle of the town. (NO I-20 then). We lived on the west side of town and there was still some empty green space in between west Arlington and Ft Worth. Today there are SIX public high schools and just under 400,000 in population and it's all one big megalopolis now. I can't even recognize any part of UTA where I spent my first year in college (then called Arlington State College - part of the A&M system) before leaving for Centenary College. Oh, did I mention when our family first moved to Arlington in the 1940's, the population was around 4,000 if you count the chickens, horses and livestock?

Welcome back to Colt Country

Susan and Harold Rogers at the Arlington Country Club, June 11, 2011

By the way, folks, I forgot my camera this week-end. What? You can't believe it? Yes, indeed, Chris Reed, unbelievable things can happen in this heat! Luckily, my sister with whom we stayed, has a nice camera and she graciously allowed me to borrow hers. Same photo card, so I was able to document my reunion after all. Had a great time. People I had not seen in 55 years. Looking forward to the next one. My high school here in town Fair Park already has chosen a date in 2016 for our 55th reunion!

Again - so long to summer band. Maybe I won't miss it after all!

Conn letter "N" series Elkhart bell with branch for sale at Houghton Horns June 2011 - SOLD

After many years of watching my Elkhart bell branch sit atop a book shelf in my home, I finally decided to sell it since I do not own any Conn horns anymore and have no further use for a bell with no horn attached. At one time I owned the whole horn, an "N" series Elkhart Conn 8D from the mid-70's which I played for several years before changing out the bell branch for a brass one and then sold the horn to our SSO 4th horn. The original bell stayed with me.

After a brief trip to the metro-plex for a second 50 year high school reunion, this one in Arlington, TX, my husband and I dropped off my beautiful bell with Dennis Houghton of Houghton Horns in Keller, TX before heading home to a very humid and hot Shreveport where our AC was no longer working as we had been told by my son who had been checking daily on our 2 cats in our absence. My husband being "mechanically" inclined finally figured out the problem and our inside house temperature is now at 82 instead of 88. By tomorrow morning after running the AC all night, we are hoping for at least 75.

www.houghtonhornsllc.com/

Hope all of you have a wonderful summer and if you know someone interested in a terrific 8D "N" bell branch, contact Dennis or Mark Houghton at the above web site. They are taking excellent care of it.

My next orchestra gigs will be the Minden Community Chorus concert with Dan Gibbs - God and Country independence celebration on Friday July 1, 7:00 PM at the Minden Civic Center and an independence celebration at First Baptist Church, Shreveport, Randy Le Blanc, music minister, on Saturday July 2, 7:00 PM.


In July the Gershwin musical "Crazy for You" being presented at the new theatre at First Methodist Church downtown Shreveport.

Centenary Summer Band - A blast from the past - 1966-2010

A sad blast, unfortunately - As of this summer I am no longer a member of the Centenary Summer Band (not by choice) - concerts held annually in the college amphi - theater since the 1950's. My first time to play was summer 1966 with Mr. B.P. Causey who had also been my band director at Centenary and the sponsor of my college scholarship. It was fun, folks, mosquitoes included. Most of all I will miss my friends and colleagues, many of whom I have known since junior high at Lakeshore, high school at Fair Park and college at Centenary. I brought my children and grand children to these same concerts.

Below are 2 photos taken by Bill Causey, Jr. for the Shreveport Journal afternoon newspaper in the early years when we played with Centenary Band Director B.P. Causey on the podium.

- So long -



horn trio members - Susan Whipple Rogers, Myrna Collier Wood and Judy K. Causey

mid-late 1960's

horn trio members - C. Craig Pratt, Susan Whipple Rogers and Judy K. Causey

Early 1970's

My farewell to the Centenary Summer Band

In 1966 in my early 20's I was asked by B.P. Causey to join the Centenary Summer Band which held outdoor concerts in the college amphi-theatre on campus, a group comprised of professional and amateur musicians and a few students. I had been in the band as a college student in the early 60's but lived out of town and had been staying in Hardin Hall, so when summer arrived I went home. By 1966 I was married with two children and had never even owned my own horn, (my 2 sisters and my brother had played Horn as well in jr. high and high school and I can't imagine my parents springing for FOUR Horns - it was bad enough that my parents were forced to listen to all four of practicing in different rooms at the same time sounding like bull elephants charging down the hallway, so they said, but for them to have knowingly contributed to this madness would have seemed self destructive. In reality we couldn't afford to buy one horn, much less four.

Someone, I can't remember who, had a Lorenzo Sansone for sale, maybe at the old Williams Music Store downtown. (What's that? You say you never heard of it or the horn?). I bought it for a couple hundred dollars and started to get in shape for a month of concerts (4) and the early morning flag raising ceremony July 4th on the front lawn of the new City Hall on old Texas St. when that area was still a booming neighborhood full of stores, and automobile lots, branch banks and record stores. All concerts were partially sponsored by MPTF, Music Performance Trust Fund in NY, a tradition which remained until recent years when sponsors were needed.

The summer of 2010 was my last summer band year. Sadly, I will no longer be a part of this historic period in Shreveport history.

For my farewell I am including a couple of photos from my early years with the band taken by B.P. Causey's son Bill, Jr. - horn trios from our section.