trophyoftexas
11-14-2006, 10:28 PM
I'm guessing it's all right to put something like this on the forum, if not they can nix it and nothing is lost! Please note, I'M NOT MAKING ANYTHING OFF OF THIS, ONLY GETTING TO RIDE MY BIKE AND HAVE A GREAT TIME INTRODUCING SOMEONE TO THE BEAUTIFUL TEXAS HILL COUNTRY!!!!!!
Every November for the past 10 or so years I have donated to the local symphony leagues fund raising auction. I've always framed 2-3 pretty valuable and old pieces of sheet music...usually something patriotic and colorful. Well, got to thinking one day while riding around in beautiful Gillespie County Texas....why not donate my services as a bike guide and get a couple of other businesses to donate money to be used to purchase lodging, meals, sag, etc. Well, if you read on below this is what we've come up with....really a pretty neat deal! This is the post that we have placed on my toy soldier web site but I want to add a couple things....first, winners of this will have a choice of several weekends to come to Fredericksburg AND, since I'm the guide I can probably be coerced into riding an extra day or two at no additional charge other than for your own food and lodging....I work pretty cheap as long as I can ride my bike! Also, while the actual auction is for 4 people it may be possible to make arrangements for more than that to come along, but also at their own expense....Anyway, read on and if it is of interest or is confusing just call me (PM for my number) on Wed. Thurs. or Friday and I'll try to explain further, can only get so many words down before it all sounds like jibber jabber!
************************************************** *******
Be a patron of the arts! Bike the Texas Hill Country!
The Sulphur Springs Symphony League will auction off the following package on the evening of Friday, November 17:
*Two nights (a Friday night & a Saturday night) next Spring for up to four persons at a Fredericksburg B&B. Any age riders are welcome as well as riders of novice to advanced skill levels. :bike:
*Guided rides, WITH SAG, on Saturday and Sunday...rides to be led by experienced Hill Country rider Mike Laeding...rides will be structured based on riders skill and endurance levels. ;)
*$100.00 gift certificates for dinners on Friday night and Saturday night. We will dine one night at the fantastic Fredericksburg Brewery :beer: in downtown Fredericksburg and one night at the wonderful Cotton Gin, :banana: located on the outskirts of Fredericksburg.
This is your chance to experience one of the most beautiful corners of Texas and help bring good music to kids in a semi-rural county outside of orbit of organizations like the Dallas Symphony. :cool:
Carolyn Stewart, (903) 885-5768, or Mike Laeding, (send your own PM with phone number and I'll call you back) can answer your questions and arrange a telephone hookup that will enable you to bid. She can also make arrangements for you to mail in a sealed bid to be opened the night of the auction. This is a neat package and sure to lots of fun for the winning bidders crew of bicycle riders...heck, as much as Mike loves the Hill Country the winning bidder probably can coax him into riding early on Friday, too, if you can make it to Fredericksburg (or Luckenbach) early enough! (Probably no SAG on an early Friday ride but you never know.) :)
************************************************** **************************************
What a highfalutin name:“Sulphur Springs Symphony League”
Do those people out in Hopkins County think they and their children have as much right to hear and produce good music as the people in the big cities? The nerve.
But there you have it, folks. That’s exactly what they think. Well, at least it’s what I think. I was sort of a rolling stone, growing up in Chicago, Cleveland and Kansas City. In all of those places, we either had a symphony orchestra come to us once a year or we were bused downtown. It took me until I was in my 60’s (slow learner) to notice that if you didn’t live within maybe 50 miles of a symphony orchestra you might as well be on another planet. No music for you, kid.
Geographic accident seemed like a sort of stupid way to dole out something as precious and broadening as serious music. And so, back in the early 90s, the Sulphur Springs Symphony League was born. We decided that if we had to create our own orchestra, we’d do it. And if all it took to create an orchestra as to get some money, we’d do that, too.
Our orchestra, the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra, lives in a Rolodex. When our conductor (paid) decides how many of the various types of musicians (paid) he needs to perform a certain program, he tells the business manager (paid) and she starts calling. Many of our musicians are from the Dallas area. They’re all professionals. Many teach. Most moonlight with various orchestras, of which we’re just one. The musicians actually like to come to Sulphur Springs, because they think we’ve got heart and we fee them pretty well. Actually, about three-quarters of the orchestra at any concert are recidivists.
We put on a big Fourth of July concert every year, with several thousand people on the Courthouse Square (you’re certainly welcome to attend—bring a lawn chair), but the Board of Directors has stated for years that the most important thing we do is the annual Children’s Concert on the day before school lets out for spring break.
Thirteen hundred kids—all the third, fourth and fifth graders in the county, including home schoolers—pile into the Civic Center. Nobody has told them they won’t like Rossini and Bach and Copland and guys like that, and so they love it. They also love the principals up on the stage—the conductor and the concertmaster. Big applause, a la rock star. Sometimes after the concert, probably under duress, they send us thank you notes. I like the one from the girl who said her favorite instrument was the “french tuba.”
That would probably be my favorite too.
So those are the two fixtures in the schedule of the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra: a Fourth of July gig and a spring break gig. They’re funded by memberships purchased by our members. No city money, no county money, no state money. It’s just us little old Hopkins Countians making it happen.
That’s not entirely accurate. We have allies, not a lot but some, who live well beyond Hopkins County but want to help us. Some live in and around Dallas, and we certainly appreciate their support.
Now about this auction. Once a year, on the Friday before Thanksgiving, we have a televised (free from KSST-TV) auction at which we sell everything from tires to wheels of cheese, from bags of dog food to catfish dinners for 20, from weekend getaways at the Melrose to a cup of coffee per day for a year at a local convenience store. And yes, this year, the list of items to be knocked down includes a great weekend for bicyclists in the Hill Country.
If you think you’d like to bid on the bike thing, call Carolyn Stewart (official title: Spouse of the President) and she’ll arrange for a volunteer to get you on the phone on auction night so you can slug it out with the other bidders.
Maybe somebody will outbid you and pedal off with the prize. Bummer. Here’s a consolation prize: We’ll let you join the Symphony League and help pay some of our bills. You can be confident that every penny you contribute will buy music and that your kindness will reach children and other french tuba lovers. If that interests you, please speak to the Spouse of the President. She can be reached at (903) 885-5768 or at carolyn@ssecho.com.
Tom Stewart
President
Sulphur Springs Symphony League
(903) 885-5768
tombo@cox.net
Every November for the past 10 or so years I have donated to the local symphony leagues fund raising auction. I've always framed 2-3 pretty valuable and old pieces of sheet music...usually something patriotic and colorful. Well, got to thinking one day while riding around in beautiful Gillespie County Texas....why not donate my services as a bike guide and get a couple of other businesses to donate money to be used to purchase lodging, meals, sag, etc. Well, if you read on below this is what we've come up with....really a pretty neat deal! This is the post that we have placed on my toy soldier web site but I want to add a couple things....first, winners of this will have a choice of several weekends to come to Fredericksburg AND, since I'm the guide I can probably be coerced into riding an extra day or two at no additional charge other than for your own food and lodging....I work pretty cheap as long as I can ride my bike! Also, while the actual auction is for 4 people it may be possible to make arrangements for more than that to come along, but also at their own expense....Anyway, read on and if it is of interest or is confusing just call me (PM for my number) on Wed. Thurs. or Friday and I'll try to explain further, can only get so many words down before it all sounds like jibber jabber!
************************************************** *******
Be a patron of the arts! Bike the Texas Hill Country!
The Sulphur Springs Symphony League will auction off the following package on the evening of Friday, November 17:
*Two nights (a Friday night & a Saturday night) next Spring for up to four persons at a Fredericksburg B&B. Any age riders are welcome as well as riders of novice to advanced skill levels. :bike:
*Guided rides, WITH SAG, on Saturday and Sunday...rides to be led by experienced Hill Country rider Mike Laeding...rides will be structured based on riders skill and endurance levels. ;)
*$100.00 gift certificates for dinners on Friday night and Saturday night. We will dine one night at the fantastic Fredericksburg Brewery :beer: in downtown Fredericksburg and one night at the wonderful Cotton Gin, :banana: located on the outskirts of Fredericksburg.
This is your chance to experience one of the most beautiful corners of Texas and help bring good music to kids in a semi-rural county outside of orbit of organizations like the Dallas Symphony. :cool:
Carolyn Stewart, (903) 885-5768, or Mike Laeding, (send your own PM with phone number and I'll call you back) can answer your questions and arrange a telephone hookup that will enable you to bid. She can also make arrangements for you to mail in a sealed bid to be opened the night of the auction. This is a neat package and sure to lots of fun for the winning bidders crew of bicycle riders...heck, as much as Mike loves the Hill Country the winning bidder probably can coax him into riding early on Friday, too, if you can make it to Fredericksburg (or Luckenbach) early enough! (Probably no SAG on an early Friday ride but you never know.) :)
************************************************** **************************************
What a highfalutin name:“Sulphur Springs Symphony League”
Do those people out in Hopkins County think they and their children have as much right to hear and produce good music as the people in the big cities? The nerve.
But there you have it, folks. That’s exactly what they think. Well, at least it’s what I think. I was sort of a rolling stone, growing up in Chicago, Cleveland and Kansas City. In all of those places, we either had a symphony orchestra come to us once a year or we were bused downtown. It took me until I was in my 60’s (slow learner) to notice that if you didn’t live within maybe 50 miles of a symphony orchestra you might as well be on another planet. No music for you, kid.
Geographic accident seemed like a sort of stupid way to dole out something as precious and broadening as serious music. And so, back in the early 90s, the Sulphur Springs Symphony League was born. We decided that if we had to create our own orchestra, we’d do it. And if all it took to create an orchestra as to get some money, we’d do that, too.
Our orchestra, the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra, lives in a Rolodex. When our conductor (paid) decides how many of the various types of musicians (paid) he needs to perform a certain program, he tells the business manager (paid) and she starts calling. Many of our musicians are from the Dallas area. They’re all professionals. Many teach. Most moonlight with various orchestras, of which we’re just one. The musicians actually like to come to Sulphur Springs, because they think we’ve got heart and we fee them pretty well. Actually, about three-quarters of the orchestra at any concert are recidivists.
We put on a big Fourth of July concert every year, with several thousand people on the Courthouse Square (you’re certainly welcome to attend—bring a lawn chair), but the Board of Directors has stated for years that the most important thing we do is the annual Children’s Concert on the day before school lets out for spring break.
Thirteen hundred kids—all the third, fourth and fifth graders in the county, including home schoolers—pile into the Civic Center. Nobody has told them they won’t like Rossini and Bach and Copland and guys like that, and so they love it. They also love the principals up on the stage—the conductor and the concertmaster. Big applause, a la rock star. Sometimes after the concert, probably under duress, they send us thank you notes. I like the one from the girl who said her favorite instrument was the “french tuba.”
That would probably be my favorite too.
So those are the two fixtures in the schedule of the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra: a Fourth of July gig and a spring break gig. They’re funded by memberships purchased by our members. No city money, no county money, no state money. It’s just us little old Hopkins Countians making it happen.
That’s not entirely accurate. We have allies, not a lot but some, who live well beyond Hopkins County but want to help us. Some live in and around Dallas, and we certainly appreciate their support.
Now about this auction. Once a year, on the Friday before Thanksgiving, we have a televised (free from KSST-TV) auction at which we sell everything from tires to wheels of cheese, from bags of dog food to catfish dinners for 20, from weekend getaways at the Melrose to a cup of coffee per day for a year at a local convenience store. And yes, this year, the list of items to be knocked down includes a great weekend for bicyclists in the Hill Country.
If you think you’d like to bid on the bike thing, call Carolyn Stewart (official title: Spouse of the President) and she’ll arrange for a volunteer to get you on the phone on auction night so you can slug it out with the other bidders.
Maybe somebody will outbid you and pedal off with the prize. Bummer. Here’s a consolation prize: We’ll let you join the Symphony League and help pay some of our bills. You can be confident that every penny you contribute will buy music and that your kindness will reach children and other french tuba lovers. If that interests you, please speak to the Spouse of the President. She can be reached at (903) 885-5768 or at carolyn@ssecho.com.
Tom Stewart
President
Sulphur Springs Symphony League
(903) 885-5768
tombo@cox.net