Spiritual Voices

The Martin Luther King Junior Birthday Celebration featured the Spiritual Voices and they were wonderful. This ensemble of seven includes four university professors of music, a private teacher, store manager, and a church musician 'with a love and passion for the revival of the Negro Spiritual.'

They are soprano Barbara Hill Moore; soprano Audra Scott; mezzo soprano Audra Scott; mezzo soprano Michelle Evans; tenor Richard Heard; bass baritone, Leon Turner; bass, Louis Nabors; and pianist Brian Bently.

Their beautiful voices blended perfectly.

Linda Neal and Sheila Johnson gave a quilt presentation that certainly held everyone's interest. These ladies did the necessary research to inform us of the oral stories about the Underground Railroad Quilt codes. They mentioned that there is no definite proof of the quilt codes and of course no written records, however the oral stories persist.

The Spiritual Voices used the words of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman to tell the story of slavery in song. The finale was a medley of songs from Porgy and Bess.

At the close of the evening, MLK Committee chairman Earl Moseley quoted Martin Luther King, Jr.'s memorable words:

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

Soul Food!

This weekend Seguin celebrates Martin Luther King with several events.

This morning there was A Taste of Soul at the Events Center. There will be a dinner show at the Center this evening.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of its program honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Texas Lutheran University is presenting Spiritual Voices, a musical ensemble that appeared at the first TLU celebration. This will be held at Jackson Auditorium at TLU on Sunday.

Events wrap up Monday with the annual MLK Day March in downtown Seguin. The symbolic march will begin at 1 p.m. Monday in Seguin's Central Park and end at TLU's Jackson Auditorium where an MLK Program, featuring guest speaker Barbara Ewing, will begin.

Back on the Shelf - in Two Weeks

This book will be returned to the Seguin Guadalupe County Library in two weeks.

Ron Rash can write!

The first paragraph:

When Pemberton returned to the North Carolina mountains after three months in Boston settling his father's estate, among those waiting on the train platform was a young woman pregnant with Pemberton's child. She was accompanied by her father, who carried beneath his shabby frock coat a bowie knife sharpened with great attentiveness earlier that morning so it would plunge as deep as possible into Pemberton's heart.

http://207.36.65.254/zine/authors/Rash_Ron.htm

Noon Book Talk

The Friends of the Library sponsor Noon Book Talks (and two evening talks - one in the Spring and one in the Fall) at the public library and there have been some exceptional talks! On Thursday, Vicki de la Rosa, spoke about "The Significance of Multicultural Literature" and it was very interesting and informative. Mrs. de la Rosa is the director of the Seguin ISD (Independent School District) libraries and believe me, she 'knows her stuff.'

Mark your calendars for upcoming talks:

The Quest for Smokey Joe Williams with Mark Gretchen
February 19th Noon

The Seguin Area Economic Outlook and its Regional Interface with Shanta Kuhl, President, Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce
April 16 th 7:00 pm

Our library provides many services to our community and I'm looking forward to the day we can build a new library (for it is obvious we have outgrown our present library!).

To Protect and Serve

Our city has an extraordinary group of police officers - dedicated men and women who make Seguin a better and safer place to live. One of the SPD officers had a birthday today and - bless her heart - she cooked a lunch meal for all of the officers! Yesterday, the Seguin Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (SCPAAA) brought a meal of sandwiches, dessert, appetizer, and drinks to the police department for the police officers who were taking a class in Mobile Forensics. We are very proud of our police department!!

http://www.ci.seguin.tx.us/police/pd_index.htm

A Bridge-Playing Town

When we moved to Seguin, it seems as though I was basically asked the same three questions: (1) Do you play bridge? (2) What church do you attend? (3) Were your grandparents from Seguin?

Well, the answer to numbers one and three were "No."

However, it has been quite fun and special to meet with two dear friends twice a month and try my hand at Scrabble. We enjoy the fellowship, the laughter, the meal (this week: pizza) and dare I say it? The wine (or beverage of choice).

These times with close friends are very special and it really wouldn't matter what activity we were 'indulging' - for it is the companionship and the sharing and the spiritual closeness that really brings us together. I am so thankful for this gift.