Shopper Blog: U.S. Navy’s premier band to perform in Knoxville

FARRAGUT

U.S. Navy’s premier band to perform in Knoxville

WASHINGTON - The United States Navy Band will perform a free concert Thursday, Feb. 15 at Farragut High School Auditorium at 7 p.m. All U.S. Navy Band performances are free and open to the public, though this concert requires ticket reservations. Go here for reservations.

As part of the Navy Band’s 2024 national tour, the concert is a family-friendly event, meant to connect community members across the country with their Navy. The U.S. Navy Concert Band is the premier wind ensemble of the U.S. Navy. As the original ensemble of the Navy Band, the Concert Band has been performing public concerts and participating in high-profile events for 98 years. The band performs a wide array of marches, patriotic selections, orchestral transcriptions and modern wind ensemble repertoire.

One of the U.S. Navy Band’s core responsibilities involves touring the country. All of the band’s primary performing units embark each year on concert tours throughout specified regions of the country, allowing the band to reach out to audiences in areas of the country that do not have opportunities to see the Navy's premier musical ensembles on a regular basis. The concerts are family-friendly events, meant to be entertaining to veterans, families, individuals and those interested in joining the Navy.

OPINION

A walk in the park and a reminder to smile

Leslie Snow, Shopper News

I didn’t know how to mark the occasion. I didn’t know if I needed to give my mom a gift or just write a simple card. I didn’t know if I should take her out to lunch or ignore the day completely.

It was hard to know how to remember my father on the one-year anniversary of his death.

I found myself at a roadside nursery on that difficult morning looking for a plant that would send the right message. A plant that said, “I’m sorry this year has been so hard, but spring is coming.” A plant that promised renewal with fresh buds and early blossoms.

But in the end, I didn’t buy anything. I couldn’t get the image out of my head of the sad, unloved flowers I see at funerals. I didn’t want the plant to be a sorrowful reminder of what we’d lost. I wanted to do something or buy something that would help us remember my dad with love and joy.

Empty-handed, I pulled out of the nursery and called my mother. I didn’t know what I was going to say until the words came out of my mouth, but once they were spoken, they seemed right.

“Let’s go to the park together and take a short walk,” I said after a quick hello. “We can tell stories about Dad and enjoy the sunshine.”

“That sounds perfect,” she said with a lilt in her voice. And I could tell by her response that she’d been struggling with how to spend her time on a day that seemed ordinary but really wasn’t.

A few minutes later, we were walking the short loop around McFee Park and talking about my dad’s humor and his love of nature. I told my mother that I think of him every day when I hike. “I know he’d be happy that I stop to examine the ferns and to talk to the trees.” My mom squeezed my hand. “He really would,” she said softly. “He always reminded us to stop and smell the roses.”

We sat on a park bench for a few minutes to catch our breath and to watch the children playing in the grass. We saw a family approach with a new puppy straining against its leash.

“Do you think your dog would like to stop for a visit?” I called out, knowing a puppy sighting would brighten my mom’s day.

Maybe they sensed our need, because they stopped and put the puppy on my mother’s lap. Her face lit up while she stroked its soft fur. “Aren’t you a sweet thing,” she said with a genuine smile on her face.

We made one more loop around the track before my mom got tired. But it was a good kind of tired. We got to talk about my dad with joy mixed with our sorrow. We got to laugh about his larger-than-life personality and his terrible puns. We got to feel the warmth of the sun and to hold a puppy.

“Thank you for that,” my mom said on the drive back to her house. And I knew she was thanking me for more than just a quick walk in the park.

I was glad then that I didn’t buy her a plant or a bouquet of flowers that morning. We marked a painful one-year anniversary in a way that honored my father and helped us feel closer to him, a way that reminded us that it’s OK to smile again.

Leslie Snow may be reached at snow column@aol.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Shopper News brings you the latest happenings in your community