Remembering the Price of Freedom.

I have wanted to create a blog to honor the men and women of the armed forces, who have paid the price to keep us free. Some have sacrificed their life, while others have sacrificed their youth and innocence. We thank them for what they have given up so we can have the freedom we have today. This memorial day I wanted to especially remember and honor my father, Ervin Lange who served 3 years in Africa and Europe during World War II. He survived gunfire, sand-fly fever and malaria to come home and raise a family, even though his innocence was lost in the war. He lived many years with the memories and left the tales untold. Years later, in a time of deep reflection, he was finally able to share some of the stories, that had stayed dormant for decades. I also wish to remember our cousin Rachel Bosveld who paid the ultimate price, in 2003 when she was the first woman from Wisconsin to lose her life in Iraq. I think those that spent time with Rachel said it best.
At the Heart of Harmony Chorus concert this spring, a segment was done to honor our nation's military. There were tears as the audience watched men and women who served stand to their feet when they heard their fight song. Pride was in their faces as they remembered what their military service meant to them. We were also proud as our good friend Wayne Lepak stood to his feet. Please sit back and enjoy this musical interlude while you remember those who have served to keep us free! Remember Freedom isn't Free.

Christmas Sing-outs!

This a busy time for us with Christmas shipping, sports and barbershop sing-outs. Monday, Dale and the boys had their first sing-out at the large veterans complex in King. They had four stops and to see the joy on the faces of the men and women that served our country in their youth was so precious. At the first stop there was some side entertainment as a bat was in the building and dive bombing some of the singers as they entertained the residents. (See video) The people at the home insisted that was the first time they ever had a bat there. At the second stop, when the group sang Silent Night there was a lady who just wept. Summer noticed that and guess who got emotional at the next stop, when they sang Silent Night. I looked down and there is Summer just sobbing. She managed to pull herself together enough to enjoy to pizza buffet that came later.

Dull days are gone!

We had a few quiet weeks after convention and the rest was good. Now we are gearing up for busy times again. This weekend we spent in a motel in Appleton while Dale had Land Of Lakes district competition. Their group did decently, considering their director is very new and has had no barbershop background. They placed 7th out of 17 chorus'. Not the first place like last year but they had positive feedback from all the judges on their potential. We ran into one of the friends at the competion that we never met before. Some of you might recognize him.(See picture) Cleon's group took champion and are going to international competition. They are one of the top groups in the nation, so it wasn't a shock that they qualified for internationals.

55th Harvest of Harmony Concert

This weekend was the weekend for Dale's annual barbershop concerts. Our Saturday was huge as we got up early, and cut in a larger window for our living room. We got it in, but not finished, before leaving for the concerts at 12:30 pm. We didn't have time to finish the window so I will post a pic or two when that is complete.
The concerts were great and had a nice turnout. Everyone was impressed, considering that the new director took over the beginning of April. The district competion is in Appleton in 3 weeks so I will probably upload to competion songs after that.

Awesome weekend

Dale had his Northern Gateway Chorus shows this weekend. It was a very busy time with two concerts on Saturday. We took all the kids to the afternoon show and then I worked at selling tickets for the last show. We had a great time. I will try to post a video on here. That will be a new experience for me. If you watch the video, Dale is on the far right end. We had extra people here all weekend also so it felt good to have an early night. 10:00 PM Huh!