The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

NPAC artists sing in DC for Memorial Day

I hope many of you took time this past Memorial weekend to honor those who gave their lives for us.  One of the things I enjoy the most about Memorial Day is the celebration from our nation’s capital. PBS has been organizing and airing a Memorial Day concert featuring stories of soldiers who gave so much of their lives, many of them the ultimate, to defend the home of the brave and the ideal of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The stories are woven into musical performances from some of the leading performers in our nation.

This year, I was very pleased to see and hear two singers who we have selected to perform at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center over the past few years. Country Music star Scotty McCreery sang a moving tribute to our soldiers. We opened our season about three years ago with Scotty and I can tell you he is very sincere when it comes to honoring our vets. He is the real deal.

Next in line was the phenomenal tenor Ronan Tynan. Ronan helped us celebrate our fifth anniversary at the NPAC. This is not the first time for Ronan, as I remember him singing a year or two ago on the D.C. stage.  Although he is Irish and grew up in Ireland, he came to America and fell in love with our country, to the point he became an American citizen — the right way — legally! There are many things heroic about Ronan Tynan and I would encourage you to read about this amazing man and singer. It was good to see him on the stage again. He is one of the Three Irish Tenors and perhaps the most iconic.

Each year, I also recognize numerous singers who have performed on our Niswonger stage who are part of the U.S. Navy Sea Chanters and the U.S. Army Field Band Chorus. They offer valuable back up to many of the soloists who appear on the PBS program. It is always an honor to welcome these military music ensembles to perform on our stage. They are musical soldiers and very good ones at that.

I hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed Memorial Day, but also took time out to thank, remember and celebrate the real purpose for this holiday.

The Van Wert County Foundation sponsored Fountain Park Summer Music Series starts this Friday with a fun band from Indianapolis, Groove Essential.  I think you will enjoy their music, energy and fun they will bring to Friday night of this year’s Peony Festival.  It starts at 7 p.m. in Fountain Park.  And then after one week off, we are back for every Friday night throughout the summer. It will be fun, fun, fun in sunny (we hope) Fountain Park the entire summer. Free concerts, lots of fellowship, and good food to eat — what could be better?

Mark June 14 down on your calendars. That’s when we announce the rest of our exciting 2017-18 Niswonger season. It’s a great lineup filled with performers you will definitely want to see and hear! Find out on June 14 at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.

See you soon!

FINÉ.

POSTED: 05/31/17 at 7:41 am. FILED UNDER: News