the Glenn Miller Birthplace Festival weekend

 77º with bright sunshine and humidity only 35% here in Clarinda, IA at 11:00 am Sunday - predicted high is 82º late in the afternoon when humidity is predicted to be 37% so comfortable day.  Well, with working on the photos, and then going to the Glenn Miller Birthplace Museum for a Concert by The Iowa Military 

Veterans Band from Des Moines performed at 1 pm .......and time has slipped by.  Is now 2:26 pm and 81º but still 36% humidity, so a fine day.

We watched from our lawn chairs in the shade across the street.  Good concert with a fairly small crowd.   Here is link to the Iowa Military Veterans Band click HERE

Wednesday evening we met the two ladies that were vocal contestants in the Glenn Miller Scholarshop competition, who stayed 2 nights at our place, when they arrived at the Glenn Miller Birthplace Museum click HERE for museum website.  We took both girls to the Presbyterian Church where Linda Naven was accompaning them and many other contestants on the piano and they both practiced.  We then grabbed a pizza at Jays Pizza and back to the museum where all contestants and their parents and/or host families met for about an hour and went over the procedures for the next day.  10 instrumentalists competed in the morning and then 10 vocalists in the afternoon Thursday.

Amanda Robertson from New Canaan, Connecticut, who stayed with us, performed a Soprana solo is in photo at left.

Rachel Chapman from Richardson, TX (near Dallas) who stayed with us, also performed a Soprana solo but I did not get photo of her performing.

Rachel is third from left in this photo and Amanda is fifth from right.  This was at the
awarding of prizes.  Tall red-head got 1st; guy to right of Rachel got 2nd, and girl on right
of winner came in 3rd.  ($3,000 $2,000, and $1,000 scholarships)

I had taken Phyllis to the high school and helped set up area where tickets to the auditorium were taken then gone back home to get the girls.  They watched some of the instrumentalists and then, because it ran over in time I took the girls back home and we fixed sandwiches, bringing one to Phyllis who stayed to monitor the door.  The girls performed in the afternoon.  Back home after 5 pm where we had supper.  There was an eight o'clock outside performance on the square downtown at 8 pm by the USAF Band of Mid-America--Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble Click HERE for their website.  Both girls were tired and decided not to go.  It was a good performance but not a large crowd.  We were told there were several ball games going on down at the ball park which may have taken some.

  On Friday morning I took Phyllis up to the school again and returned a little before nine to get the girls who had packed everything up.  They returned with me to watch the winners of both instrumental and vocal perform and receive their scholarships. 

They got to see a little of the Stage Show with GMBS Big Band, made up of area people who performed some 1940's Glenn Miller music.  Then, got the suitcases and backpacks from our pickkup and the girls, along with another girl and a boy were taken in local funeral home limosuine to Kansas City Airport.  Our two girls had ridden from KC in the same caar Wednesday.

Adam Swanson performed at 1 pm.  He was born in Shenandoah, IA, just 20 miles west of us, and graduated from High School there.  Adam Swanson is the only FOUR-TIME World Champion Old-Time Piano Player! He now lives in Durango, Colorado and performs all over the world, mostly Ragtime. You can check his website by clicking HERE He performs here at the Festival every two years. He drew a pretty good sized crowd and always has a very up-beat pereformance.

The Louis Pettinelli Experience put on a show at 3:30 pm.  They were a good sounding group, but first time here and had a very small crowd attending.

At 7:30 pm we had a large crowd (around 200) listen to the ever-entertaining Glenn Miller Orchestra.  Click HERE for their website.  They perform every year at the Festival, once in the auditorium on Friday and then a big dance in the Gymnasium on Saturday evening.  An acquaintance of ours here in town always bitterly complains that they have a plasticized tarp laying over the floor and it is difficult to dance on.  I heard him complain to the lady at the desk and she said they were avoiding possible damage to an $80,000 floor.  

In this photo Nick Hilcher, who was the orchestra leader from January 2012 – August 2021, came up out of the audience and sang with the "Moonlight Serenaders" a song he often perfromed when with the band.

The current leader, saxophonist Erik Stabnau, did a lot of singing, alone and with the other vocalists.

Was a long day, Phyllis had help at the door with tickets and holding the crowd back until I could let them in when getting the okay from the current performers upon finishing their sound-checks.  I helped with wheel chairs and walkers and getting people seated inside the auditorium.  We got home about 9:30 pm.

Saturday morning we ate pancake breakfast at the Clarinda Fire House while listening to the Jazz Ensemble from NorthWest Missouri State in Maryville, MO.

Dennis Spragg (Click HERE) did all the emcee work for the festival.  He gave a very interesting talk on Saturday morning, enlarging on information he had written in his book.                                                            

A lot of Q&A about the day Glenn Miller attempted to fly from England to Paris and his plane was lost in very fowl weather.  It was brought up that the pilot did not file any flight plan and was not licensed to fly by instrument only.  Read the book, it is interesting.

At 1:15 pm we seated crowd for the Steve Shininger & the Shin-Sings band.  They are from east of St. Louis, MO and featured not only Glenn Miller music but a lot of Frank Sinatra.

Steve, a retired Airforce airman, and several of his group had been in the Airforce's bands, did a lot of vocals.  Very entertaining.

His website is HERE

At 3:30 pm Saturday we seated people for the Moonlight Serenade Orchestra from Kansas City, MO.  Click HERE

for their website.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra did a Festival Dance at 7:30 pm.  We did not attend that, but ate at the "Pre-Dance Dinner" where visited with some people who have attended many years.  Phyllis calculaates we have helped with the festival for more than 30 years now.

Several couples were dressed for the dance.  Phyllis thought this guy looked like a gangster from the 1930's.  When our family was with us a year ago we watched some of the dance.  They had competition for variious types of dancing and costumes.

We were home by 7 pm and "pooped out".  Well, I have been working on the the 250 photos, editing, labeling, cropping, etc., looking up websites of performers, and writing this post for about seven hours now.  Hope you have enjoyed.

More sometime LCarroll Miles