10th anniversary of the 9 / 11 tragedy in Lebanon Township Park

Those who died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 will be honored on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy with ceremonies in the Lebanon Township Memorial Park. We will be there and part of the ceremony.

This year’s commemoration begins with a gathering in the park pavilion at 3:30 p.m. The Hunterdon Harmonizers will sing and the Somerset County Police Pipes and Drums will perform pre-ceremony music at 3:45 p.m. After the pledge of allegiance, Richard Cudina’s widow, Georgia Cudina, will give a welcoming speech.

The Most Rev. Paul Bootkoski, bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen will lead opening and closing prayers.

Brittany Hill will sing the national anthem, and the Harmonizers will sing several songs throughout the program.

The keynote speaker will be Congressman Leonard Lance. Guest speakers are Sen. Mike Doherty, Christie Whitman and Michael Rubright, principal of Woodglen School.

The Somerset County Pipes and Drums Corps will escort attendees to a Field of Flags where Brianna Hill will play taps.

Then there will be readings of In Remembrance by Lieutenant Tom Robinson, read by Patrick McCluskey and What Happened? by Gwen Loiacono, read by Kelly O’Reilly. The Pipes and Drums will then play while they leave the field of flags to conclude the ceremony.

The photos show what was in place yesterday in the pary. The flags in the field represent the 3,000 people who lost their lives in the tragedy. The Memorial includes a steel girder salvaged from one of the towers. 

Rolling Thunder Sept. 11 memorial motorcycle ride

We will be singing at the the 9/11 activities in the Borough of Flemington on Sunday at about noon. 


Rolling Thunder Chapter 3 of NJ is holding a Sept. 11 memorial motorcycle ride starting and ending at Cheeburger Cheeburger, 100 Reaville Ave. in Flemington. Line up is from 9-10:45 a.m., a bike blessing is at 10:45 a.m. and the ride leaves at 11 a.m. (includes a pass by the War Memorial in Flemington). 


The cycles will leave with a full police escort that will stay with the riders for their full loop. They expect to return by 12:00 noon for entertainment, food, guest speakers and a presentation. We will be part of the event singing our Armed Forces Medley and America the Beautiful. Then off to our next 9 / 11 event in Lebanon Township.
 

New Holiday Music

We have come to the time of year when we begin to prepare for our annual Holiday Show.

We still have the 9-11 events where we will sing. We still have to get ready for our own Flemington Main Street Craft Fair where we will perform on each Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. We still have to do some more work to get ready for the fall contest. But one of the most fun things we get to do is to put on a Holiday Show.

In the picture some of our music leaders introduce a new song that will feature dancers and children and grandchildren of our singers. We project the new sheet music while a quartet introduces the song. Then the quartet leads their section through the song. The guys leave with the sheet music and a learning recording for practice at home or in their cars.

The show itself will help raise funds for the Hunterdon Medical Center, our local hospital. One more community service project for our Barbershop Chapter.

We Sing at the Ball Game

Beautiful weather greeted us and our friends from three other area barbershop chapters when we gathered to perform a show before the Patriots ball game in Bridgewater this evening. Included in the show package was out rendition of America the Beautiful, part of which I captured in video.

Of course we also sang the Star Spangled Banner before the game began.

Back to Work and Fun

Following our performances at the Red Mill in Clinton and at Deer Path Park in Readington Township I got off for a little vacation with my family. That meant I missed participating in the performance at Heath Village. I understand that it went very well and the folks were well entertained.

We will next be singing at a Patriots Ball Game on Wednesday August 24th before the game. The Hunterdon Harmonizers were the first group of our kind to sing in the ball park.

Then, three days later, we will be at the Warren County Renaissance Faire in Harmony, NJ on Saturday August 27 at about 2:00.

We are getting ready for these fun opportunities as well as our 9-11 performances. We will perform again, as we have twice before, at the Richard Cudina Memorial in the Lebanon Township park.

We are well underway in our preparation. Last Tuesday we had a coaching session with one of our favorite coaches. We all always enjoy working with Stephanie (see photos)

Of course our show committee of Ron, Carmen, and Don, with others helping, are getting us ready for our Craft Fair performance on Main Street in Flemington on Saturday and Sunday September 17 & 18 at 1:00 in the afternoon.

Not to forget preparation for District Contest in Lancaster on October 1st this year.

This all works up to our annual Holiday show that is now confirmed for Saturday December 3 at Hunterdon Central High School on Route 31 in Flemington. Busy !

Performances at Deer Path & at Red Mill

The Harmonizers performed at Deer Path two nights ago. Usually we are unaccompanied. But Thursday we were accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightening. A brave audience sat under umbrellas for at least part of the show although much of it could be sung out in the open after the worst of the storm passed. From my place on the risers I could see water drip on our director from time to time from the front of the shell we perform in at the park.

While waiting for the storm to pass we watched the speakers blow over, our LOVE letters blow over, our banner take a dive, and our audience run for cover. But the show must go on — and it did.

Today we performed at the Red Mill in Clinton for a Medieval event. Of course our contest package of Knight School Medley and Heroes of Chivalry fit right in. We added The DRAGON Sleeps Tonight to complete the theme. The show was of only forty minutes which is short for us. I stayed after and heard all sorts of good comments. I even watched a little Medieval fighting.

I especially thank our guys who put in the time to do two shows so close in succession.

Music Under the Stars

Last night I attended the Hunterdon Symphony performance in Deer Path Park. It was a great night. Perfect weather — not to hot and not to cool with a clear blue sky. The orchestra performed well to what was reported to be the best and largest crowd of the season.

This year the performers are not being paid by the County — budget problems, we are told. Hopefully next year the County Park System will be able to help the performers underwrite their costs. For this year all performers not only volunteer, that is do not get paid, but have to provide their own sound systems and cover their other expenses out of their budgets.

A number of Harmonizer families were there last night to support and to enjoy the orchestra performance. Next week, on July 7, the Harmonizer chorus will be performing as a chorus with a number of their quartets. You will learn about LOVE and enjoy a series of patriotic and inspirational songs.

Hope to see you there. Call the Park Service for details or call the Harmonizers directly at 908-806-NOTE (6683).