Olney on Air Episode 7- Joshua Gallardo and Pastor Sean Reeves

🎙️ Olney On Air – Episode Description

This week on Olney On Air, we're joined by Joshua Gallardo, the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 write-in candidate, who shares why he's running for office, what experience he brings to the role, and his vision for serving the citizens of Young County.

We also welcome Pastor Sean Reeves of St. Luke Lutheran Church, who talks about the church's beautiful pipe organ, its rich history, and the upcoming Patriotic Organ Concert on Sunday, July 12th. Learn what attendees can expect from this special community event celebrating faith, music, and patriotism.

As always, we wrap up the episode with the latest local news, community updates, and upcoming events happening around Olney.

🎧 Tune in and stay connected with all things Olney—new episodes every week!

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:10

Welcome back to Alney on Air, where we talk about what's happening in Alney, Texas. Population 3,200. Who's doing what? What's changing? And what there is to do in our community. I'm Gina Keating, editor of the Alni Enterprise newspaper.

SPEAKER_04 0:25

And I'm Kimberly Smith, Executive Director of the Alney Chamber of Commerce.

SPEAKER_05 0:30

Each week we take you behind the headlines, introduce you to the people making things happen in Alney and Young County, and bring you conversations with community leaders, business owners, educators, pastors, volunteers, and the people helping shape the future of our hometown.

SPEAKER_04 0:48

We'll also catch you up on what's happening around town, what's coming up on the community calendar, and give you the look, give you a look at the stories we're covering in the Alney Enterprise.

SPEAKER_05 0:56

This is episode seven, and we've got another great show for you today. We'll be talking with Joshua Gillardo, who is running for Justice of the Peace in Young County. And I just want to say that I can pronounce it properly. Joshua Guillardo. But that's the way he pronounces it. Yeah. We'll learn more about his background, why he's seeking the office, and what he hopes to bring to the job if elected.

SPEAKER_04 1:21

We'll also welcome Pastor Sean Reeves of St. Luke Lutheran Church. Sean joins us to talk about faith, community, and another exciting event coming up at St. Luke that continues the church's tradition of opening its doors to the entire community. We'll also take a look at what's making news around Alni this week. And as always, we'll probably wander off into a few stories that weren't in our notes. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 1:44

That seems to be becoming part of the format. I think our listeners expect it now. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and thanks for joining us for episode seven. Can you believe it? Of Alni on Air. Awesome. Okay. All right, so let's talk about the news.

SPEAKER_04 2:00

Okay, it says Alni Hamilton Hospital issues six million dollar bonds as hospital nears finish.

SPEAKER_05 2:07

That's right. So as you probably remember, we voters gave the hospital board authorization to sell up to $33 million in general obligation bonds to fund our new hospital. So they got the construction started off with a $27 million sale of bonds. And as you can see when you go past the hospital, that they poured the parking lot. Will got a great picture of that. Great job, Will. Yeah, thank you, Will. With his drone. Ooh. He's having so much fun with that drone.

SPEAKER_04 2:41

I want a drone so bad. I'm saving up my Zen points to get one. What are you gonna do with it? No idea. Okay. Just spy on people. Vincent got one off a Timu and he promptly crashed it into a tree.

SPEAKER_05 2:54

No, it did not.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

It was like the size of a crow.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

What was he trying to do with it?

SPEAKER_04 3:02

He was trying to keep it in the air and it didn't go so well for us.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

And so it went into our neighbor's yard and we couldn't get it out. And so his Timu drone just forever lost. Oh no, that's very strange. It's probably birds making a nest on it now. Okay, but I think Will's is a little bit. He has a real fancy pants one.

SPEAKER_05 3:19

Where'd you get that one? Amazon. Oh, okay. Amazon. Well, I'm gonna get mine for my Zen miles, so. There you go. That's pretty good. Okay, well, anyway, so he did take that great photo that's on the front page. But the hospital last month issued the remaining six million in bonds so that they could finish the inside of the hospital and all the things. And it's going to be opening probably in October or November. Well, anyway, let's just put it this way it'll be done, and it will be up to the inspectors, state inspectors, as to when it will actually be treating patients.

SPEAKER_04 3:55

Well, I inspected it and I give an A plus. It is beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 4:00

I do too. It is pretty neat. So hopefully, I think when you and I went in, it was still there weren't any walls up.

SPEAKER_04 4:07

No, it was still, I mean, it's so nice. And when you drive by it now, you're like, dang, I can't believe that's an all neat. It's so nice.

SPEAKER_05 4:12

Oh, it's really pretty. Anyway, so yeah, we'll get to hopefully get to see it because they're gonna have some more walkthroughs, at least for the board and the medical staff, so maybe we can sneak in with that. Ooh. Okay. VIPs. Exactly. We think we are anyway.

SPEAKER_04 4:28

I'm just gonna get a gold star that says it and just wear it. There you go. Do we know yet what they're planning on doing with the old hospital?

SPEAKER_05 4:35

Well, actually, I've got a story about that on page five. They hired a historical, I think they call it a historical architect, and he is going to look at the 1927 building and see if it can be converted into office space, which would be pretty neat, though. Okay, you're making a face, but everybody's talking about mental health and the fact that we don't have any facilities here for that. So one thing that the board talked about at their last meeting was that this could be a place where we could have some mental health offices.

SPEAKER_04 5:06

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 5:07

Yeah. So you could have, you know, people, practitioners coming in to use those offices for mental health appointments. You could have some dorm rooms for traveling medical people. So it could have a lot of really cool applications. So they're trying to fix it up. And if they do, and if it's structurally sound, they can get grants to fix that up or tax incentives to help fix it up. So I think it's a pretty neat idea.

SPEAKER_04 5:34

Yeah, I thought at one point they talked about maybe partnering up with tech as a teaching hospital.

SPEAKER_05 5:39

Yes, yes, exactly. And they're still talking about that. So they talked about that at the meeting as well. They said that they're talking to Alni ISD about trying to get a CNA instructor to come and work with the high school. And the idea is that we want to have a residency and internship program in the hospital with Texas Tech so that we can have people stay here. You know, people that go to Alni Hospital, maybe they go to tech and get educated and then come back and do their residency here. That's really cool. Yeah. That's awesome. It is a pretty cool thing. They're the hospital boards moving forward on a lot of stuff. They had their meeting last Friday, and so I sat in on it and listened to all the stuff that they're doing, and it's it's pretty great.

SPEAKER_04 6:23

Yeah, I also see the city gets a grant for fitness equipment. What's that?

SPEAKER_05 6:27

Oh, yeah, this is pretty cool. This is a hilarious story. So some people from the National Fitness Project, I think it's called, called our mayor, Rue Rogers, a couple of months ago and said, Hey, we have these grants for this thing called an outdoor fitness court. And we think that it would be pretty awesome to give you guys one. They cost about $60,000. And if you qualify, you can just have it for free. All you're gonna have to do is raise some money to do the installation, which is about $100,000, but you get the whole thing free. So uh Mayor Rogers decided that we would go ahead and apply for it. He thought it would take several weeks or months to get an answer. And no, the national fitness campaign, it's called, got back to us after five days and said, Yeah, you're perfect. We want to give you this. Where will they be at? It'll be in Tom Griffin Park. You know where the walking trail is? Yes. Okay, so it'll be in that walking trail, it's a circle, so it'll be inside there. So we have the scout hut down right towards one end of it, and then we'll have the fitness pad. It's a 30 by 30 pad, okay. Somewhere in there between that gazebo thing and the scout hut. They'll put it in there somewhere. And so what is it? It's just a pad. No, I mean it's really cool. If you you can't really see that much from the picture that I put that I put in the paper, but if you go online, you can kind of, you know, you can increase the size of it. But it has all these body weight type exercise things you can do. It has steps, it has rings that you can pull yourself up, bars where you can do pull-ups and push-ups. It's really neat. I mean, if you go on the national fitness campaign website, you can see pictures of how they do it. They just did one in Wiley, Texas. So if you want to go on the Wiley Facebook page, you can see how they how they use it. It's really neat. So if you want to stay fit, it's a fantastic thing addition to your walking regime at the Tom Griffin Park. So it's really kind of neat. So they're hoping that they can raise the money. They're getting together with Keep All Ne Beautiful to do another fundraiser. So hopefully they'll get the money raised between grants and fundraising and so forth to get that thing put in sometime this year. Nice. Yeah, that'd be great.

SPEAKER_04 8:53

That'd be good to have something like that here.

SPEAKER_05 8:55

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

Okay, next we have State Utilities Association, Louds only's Michael, yeah, Michael Jacob. Michael Jacoba.

SPEAKER_05 9:04

Yeah, our public works director, Michael Jacoba, once again honored. This is his second time in the last year of getting recognized for the great work that he does. And with keeping our utilities going, which is no small feat considering how old they are. Right. I mentioned in the story that we have an average of nine water main breaks every month or water pipe breaks every month. And then he's dealing with trying to replace our 103-year-old water treatment plant, and then all the other stuff that goes along with being a uh, you know, the guy who's in charge of how everything works here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:42

Anytime I go to a city council meeting, I I like in my head refer to him as like the wizard of public works because they will just ask him any question and he's like all knowing. Yeah, it could be like so random, completely different parts of it, but he always knows because he's out there every day.

SPEAKER_05 9:59

And yeah, it's pretty awesome. Yeah, so congratulations, Michael. You totally deserve it. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 10:04

Also, the All Me Country Club shows off upgrades at Semco Inaugural Golf Tournament.

SPEAKER_05 10:10

That's right. So Semco, uh, which is our Summit batch plant maker here in town, sponsored a two-day golf tournament. And it was just kind of a great excuse to talk about all the upgrades that are gonna happen there at the country club. They are upgrading or they have already upgraded the golf cart paths, they're gonna do some cool stuff. They've got a uh golf course designer who came to who came to the country club to just really kind of pump up the volume of the golfing experience there. There's gonna be some, right? There's gonna be some new, I think, like I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 10:54

I know they're doing it's sand traps, they're updating those, they're gonna have targets and the driving range. What else they're doing? They're draining out the the ponds and they're gonna put a liner and do all new there.

SPEAKER_05 11:06

Yeah, that's right. Now you know more about it than me because you go out there and golf. I do.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

Yeah, I'm I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_05 11:13

Yeah, so I think it's gonna be as much as up to a million dollars worth of upgrades to that country club in the next year or so. They're gonna be upgrading the tennis courts, I think, and doing some stuff to the Yeah, because they're gonna do tennis. Weren't they gonna do pickleball too? Yeah, right. I think they're gonna, yes, they're gonna make the lines, but they're really upgrading the whole tennis courts so that maybe the school can come and play and do all that stuff, but they will have the lines there so you can do pickleball too. Yeah, and then they're gonna do some stuff with the clubhouse. I think we're gonna get they just added two decks.

SPEAKER_04 11:48

So coming out of the clubhouse, there are these two beautiful covered decks. I was out there yesterday talking for All Need America, and I mean these decks are so awesome, they're getting furniture out there, and they'd already added like the not canopy, but like the over thing for the deck already. But this is two more covered areas for members to sit out there and and I'd heard that the request was made for suntanning layout chairs, which is fantastic. So they are doing a lot of really great things out there, and I'm looking forward to it. It's so awesome to have something like that here in Alney.

SPEAKER_05 12:24

Yes, and I think that you know, Landon Rowe, who is the president of Alni Recreation Association, pointed out that these improvements are luring more members, but also more tournaments, yes, which is pretty great. So, anyway, yes, so that's in the paper too. We got some great photos of our local golfers who participated in that two-day tournament. All right, Barbara Larimore. Yeah, Barbara, Barbara is our columnist. Barbara Larimore. Thank you for writing another column for Fourth of July. She talks about some local talent. Shad Sullivan, who wrote a really great poem about patriotism, and she also talks about Lee Greenwood, who everybody knows about, God bless the USA. So she talked about people who got creative thinking about our great nation.

SPEAKER_04 13:13

Yes, absolutely. Um then we have City Applies for up to $10 million from the State Water Fund.

SPEAKER_05 13:18

Yeah, so that's another great thing. So our new city administrator, Andy Wolf, is leading the charge on trying to get us some cash out of that one billion dollar water improvement fund for rural communities that was created during the last legislative session. So we can't use it on the new water treatment plant because that was already under construction when he made the application, but we can maybe use it for fixing some of our aging pipes. So I think they're past aging, they have aged. You're absolutely right. I'm sure they would really appreciate being retired. They would love a facelift. Anyway, so he's going after that. We're so we're hoping that we will be able to get that.

SPEAKER_04 14:04

Okay. Then I see the Alney City Council filled vacancies on two city boards.

SPEAKER_05 14:09

Yes. So we have OEDC Clancy Myers stepped off that board, and uh Rand Camp, who is one of the co-owners of Ace Hardware, is on that board now. He's one of my favorites. Yes, he's I just love him. He's gonna do such a good job. He and Kyle Henson are gonna be on that board now. Awesome. And then it says Mr. Cowert left. Oh yeah, Ronnie Cowart, who was so excited to leave the city council and he got put on two boards. He's got stuck on the TURS board, which Ronnie, I think you're gonna have a good time. And then he's on planning and zoning, and he was joking that the only reason that he accepted the appointment was because they almost never meet. So but thank you, Ronnie. You have a lot of experience, and I'm sure everybody really appreciates you. Um we appreciate your service, Ronnie. That's exactly right. Stick with it, right?

SPEAKER_04 15:04

Let's get started. Now we turn to a local race that affects people in very practical ways. The justice of the peace court is often called the People's Court, handling traffic tickets, small civil disputes, evictions, turancy matters, magistrate duties, and inquests. In Texas, JPs can hear classy misdemeanors, civil cases up to $20,000, landlord tenant disputes, turancy cases, magistrate matters, and inquest.

SPEAKER_05 15:30

Welcome, Joshua Gayardo to On Me on Air.

SPEAKER_04 15:34

Welcome.

SPEAKER_05 15:34

Yeah, okay. So for voters who don't know you yet, tell us who you are and why you're running for Precinct One Justice of the Peace.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

So my name is Josh Galardo. I have lived in Young County since 2020. Other than a small little stin, I was employed at the Clay County Sheriff's Office in 24. I graduated high school in 2015 from City View. I've been in public service for almost 11 years now. I started at the Wichita County Jail not much later after high school. Public service has been, it's kind of what it's my whole adult career. So I really feel like everything I've learned in the past almost 11 years really would help me better serve the citizens of Young County in this position.

SPEAKER_04 16:16

Okay, so what do you think the JP court does that most people don't understand?

SPEAKER_02 16:21

So a lot of people just think it's a traffic court, but a big part of it is obviously going to be evictions and truancy. You know, those are those can be some of the hardest things people go through, and people deserve to be heard. I mean, the law is a law, especially when it comes to truancy, which I'm I believe we'll talk about in just a little bit. But people do need to held accountable, but every case will be different, especially when it comes to those, because both sides need to be heard.

SPEAKER_05 16:45

Alright. So, what experience has prepared you to handle the legal, administrative, and human side of this job?

SPEAKER_02 16:53

So I'll start with the human side of it. My early days in the jail, I was always taught you gotta be firm but fair, and I've put that all throughout my career so far. I've had almost 11 years of law enforcement experience interpreting the law, criminal investigations, a big part of which obviously this job, being impartial, you have to make split-second decisions, especially on calls. You have to listen to both sides, and I feel like that would very, very well translate to the justice of the peace.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

Great. How would you balance compassion with enforcing the law?

SPEAKER_02 17:26

So I think it still goes back to being firm but fair. Everyone deserves to be heard, especially when they're going coming into the court. This could be the worst thing they're going through. They deserve to be listened to.

SPEAKER_05 17:37

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so a JP court may deal with traffic tickets, like you said, evictions, small claims, truancy, even inquests. Which of those areas do you think needs the most attention in Young County?

SPEAKER_02 17:50

Just back to evictions and truancy. Especially with evictions, that that that's a very hard spot for a family. Both sides need to be heard, and then the judge he he needs to take both sides and put the law into it, keep personal opinions out of it. And people need to be respect. This this could be the worst thing somebody's going through in their life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

So that's good. Truancy cases often involve struggling families. How do you think a JP should approach those cases?

SPEAKER_02 18:18

With compassion, every case is different. I think you need to really affirm with the parents that their children do need to go to school, the importance of their education. Their accountability is big, but the justice courts are not there to punish per se. But I think it just need to be emphasized to the parents, really. It's you never know, like I said, what people are going through in their day-to-day life, why that child is missing school. I think it needs to be listened to more than just punishing the family.

SPEAKER_05 18:44

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we definitely have some mitigating factors here in terms of, you know, sometimes people have transportation issues or there might be mental health issues, that kind of stuff. Are you ready for that kind of thing?

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Actually, we I I am a mental health peace officer. Oh, you are. We try to take that extra step, listen to people, get them the help they need. It's not always just these are bad kids.

SPEAKER_05 19:08

Well, that's pretty cool. I think you're the you're besides Chief Burbeck, our last chief of police, he was also a mental health officer. We'll take a little side side trip here, but why did you decide to do that? That's a it's a certification, right, that you have to get.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Yes, ma'am. It was actually Sheriff Babcock's idea, and I think there's not many deputies left. I'd have to see who's all no, I think we're all mental health certified peace officers. It's a week-long course. It's without getting too much into politics, the mental health system in this state isn't the best. People there's people that really need help and they just can't get it. They just Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:44

Yeah, I I know Sheriff Babcock talks a lot about how that really causes, I mean, a huge amount of work for you guys there at the at the uh sheriff's office because of what happens in the jails and you know in the past few years he's done a great job on really transforming and with obviously the start of the mental health team, and I think that's done wonders in its I think a year how long it's been formed. Right. That's right, yeah. Well, I gotta get with him and talk to him about that because that that's a was a fantastic idea, and it's so nice that you're part of that.

SPEAKER_04 20:19

And and you've worked day to day and sort of enforcing and having the ability to work with people with the mental health, getting elected as a JP, you would have a different perspective on things than I think than most who don't have that experience and haven't seen with the truancy, with the eviction. I mean, it's you know, it's I think that would be so great to have somebody with a totally different perspective and knowledge of what mental health really looks like in day-to-day for a law enforcement.

SPEAKER_05 20:49

Right. Plus, you probably would know where to refer people. I mean, we don't have a lot here, but right. You'd you would you would presumably be able to connect them with those kind of services. Yes, ma'am. Okay. That's awesome. Yeah, okay. So back on our back on track here. So where were we? Oh, yes. Um, so what should people expect when they walk into your courtroom there in precinct one, presuming that you are elected in November?

SPEAKER_02 21:16

So I keep repeating myself, but fair and impartial. They should be res heard and they should be respected. I know sometimes people don't like getting tickets, but they should be able to, if they want to fight their case, they should be able to fight it. I would explain the procedures. I wouldn't give them legal advice, obviously, you have to remain impartial, but I feel like they should expect a court that's accessible and that to really help them with the issues they're going, not help them, but to remain impartial and unbiased.

SPEAKER_04 21:44

Yeah, that's one thing I liked about the court, the JP court here in Alney. They don't give you medical advice, but they had all the forms ready for um I'm a landlord in town, and I it was our first time, it was already super stressful, and they were. Able to be like, here's the forms, this is what you have to do, and they remained completely unbiased, but they were able to give me the information. Because when you start to go look online, all of a sudden there's all these different pages. So I think that's great to have like, okay, this is what you need to do. I can't, I'm not gonna, you know, I can't help you with anything else, but I think that's great.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

Um I think Judge Stewart does a great job up here. I worked for worked for him when he was a sergeant at the sheriff's office. Oh good.

SPEAKER_05 22:26

Shout out to you, yeah, Judge Judge Stewart.

SPEAKER_04 22:29

Yeah, he's great. He's wonderful. He is great. How would you make the court? I guess that's the way you could make the court more accessible to ordinary citizens who don't have lawyers, is having those forms ready or yes, I mean, just accessible.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

So most people aren't gonna have a lawyer going into justice court. I think everyone needs to know the procedures of how the court works without giving them legal advice.

SPEAKER_04 22:53

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_05 22:54

Alright, so let's see. What does judicial temperament mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 23:00

I mean, that's um you'd call that the backbone of it. You you gotta hear cases, be impartial, respectful. You have to be able to remain calm under pressure, which I think I'm very good at because you don't know what people are going through. Like I said, they might get very angry in there. You have to be able to let everyone hear tell their sides of the story and be heard and then interpret the law how it's supposed to be.

SPEAKER_04 23:25

Yeah, there and again, why it helps that you have that perspective of being law enforcement on the streets, especially you said you work nights. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, so that's a whole different I bet it is.

SPEAKER_05 23:36

Yes, you've seen it all. And then I was gonna ask, that's a 24-7 job. I mean, you're on call all the time. And you'll right, you'll be pretty much in on call for all the precincts.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

They switch week on and week off. But I'm a canine handler, I've been one since 2022, so I've already kind of got used to that. Yes, I figured all.

SPEAKER_05 23:57

Yeah, I figured man, you've got all the skills. You've done it all.

SPEAKER_04 24:01

Wow, that's great. Yeah, that's awesome. Okay, so this is a good one. I think this is uh also unique to smaller towns like this. How would you handle conflicts of interest in a small county where many people know each other?

SPEAKER_02 24:14

So it's inevitable that people are gonna know each other. If needed to be, I would recuse myself. That's the one thing I wouldn't have questioned is my impartiality. It's got like I said earlier, it's the backbone of the court. If you can't be impartial, you need to recuse recuse yourself.

SPEAKER_05 24:32

Yes. What happens in that case? Would one of the other JPs take over? Yes. Okay. Okay, what changes, if any, would you like to make in the JP office?

SPEAKER_02 24:41

I don't know necessarily know about making any changes. I think Judge Hearn did a fantastic job, and I believe his seven years. I I would probably take about six months to get with the clerks and just see how things are going and see what needed what changes, if any, need to be made.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Okay, great. Yeah, that's great. What do you think success would look like after your first year in office?

SPEAKER_02 25:06

I'd say people come in and know, I mean, I I got to tell my side I was heard, I was respected. Yeah, it might not have gone my way, but I got to get my part out and a court that is accessible to everyone and that listens to both sides and interprets the law the right way.

SPEAKER_05 25:25

Alright, so why should voters choose you in November?

SPEAKER_02 25:30

So I'd say public service being my entire adult career and a majority of that serving the citizens of Young County. I know a lot of people here, and I am in college at the moment trying to get a degree in criminal justice. I do believe learning never stops. Yeah. So I'm 11 years into a career getting a criminal justice degree. And I really feel like they should they should elect me because my career, my knowledge of the law, my interpreting the law, and just my wanting to serve the citizens of Young County.

SPEAKER_05 26:01

Alright, that sounds pretty good. So do you have any more other questions?

SPEAKER_04 26:05

Uh so the write-in. So how many other people are do you know that are running right now?

SPEAKER_02 26:11

I I don't know official numbers because you technically can't file until I believe July 18th.

SPEAKER_05 26:17

Okay. But is everybody gonna have to file as a write-in?

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 26:22

Oh my goodness. This is gonna be interesting.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

It is gonna be very interesting.

SPEAKER_05 26:27

So Judge Hearn was the only one on the ballot. Yes. So everybody else is gonna be a write-in.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_04 26:33

And do you know, like, how would that work? It um say they're like, I'm gonna vote for him. So you go into the booth and it has an option to do write-in, and they also have to type your name in.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

It's in the uh I believe the election administrator will put all the write-in candidates on the booth so they can know how to spell the names correctly.

SPEAKER_05 26:51

All right, well let's say your name again a few times, Joshua Gillardo, or Galardo as you were saying it. Yes, ma'am. All right, so just a couple other little questions about just your background growing up. So you said that you were you're from Wichita, right? Is that where you grew up? Yeah. And went to high school there and everything.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_05 27:10

All right, so how did you choose Graham? Yeah, and also how did you choose law enforcement?

SPEAKER_02 27:15

You know, my mom's been a nurse probably my entire life, so public service was something that was kind of taught to me at a young age. So the jail was hiring when I got out of high school, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

SPEAKER_06 27:27

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 27:28

What was like what are some of the things you learned about people in the jail?

SPEAKER_02 27:31

That's I think I'll every cop should work in the jail at some point. That's how you really learn how to talk to people, especially at this that probably the worst time in their life.

SPEAKER_05 27:40

So Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:41

Yeah, that's true. I mean I think for a lot of law enforcement, if you don't have that experience in the jail, um, if you arrest somebody, like I think it's great for them to see, okay, you arrest them and now what happens. And so when you're working in the jail, you're able to see the effects of that arrest and what that looks like. Same thing. I love that you have that mental health certification because I think so many times if there's not the resources available or the officer isn't aware of any sort of mental health, um, people with mental health diagnosis can get arrested and put in jail for a lack of what they mean.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Right.

unknown 28:15

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:15

And so you know that. So you know it because of your certification and from being in the jails, and I'm sure how many did like how many times did you see that where somebody was clearly shouldn't have been in there like they should have maybe been in some sort of facility instead.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

Every day.

SPEAKER_04 28:30

Every day.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

Every day.

SPEAKER_05 28:32

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's the sad thing about it is we need so much more accessibility here for mental health. But yeah, I mean, people getting caught up in the law enforcement system, you know, that's we need people who will take that really seriously. Right.

SPEAKER_04 28:48

Yeah, and I I it has shown that uh once somebody's in the system, especially for mental health via the rate of recidivism, it just increases. The minute that first arrest happens, it'll keep happening and keep happening, especially if somebody with mental health is let out on bond or whatever. It's so hard for somebody with a diagnosis, you know. There, it's just the resources need to be there. I think it would be wonderful to have somebody with that background who can sort of understand. Okay, well, we need to get to this, especially for truancy court. I mean, I don't know, that's a new thing. They did not have that when I was in high school.

SPEAKER_06 29:23

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:23

Thank goodness they didn't.

SPEAKER_05 29:31

That shouldn't even count.

SPEAKER_04 29:33

I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_05 29:34

That's not I don't mean that.

SPEAKER_04 29:37

Um I didn't even know that JP Court did true and seeds. That's new for me.

SPEAKER_05 29:41

No, I didn't either. I had to, that was a thanks to my friend Chat GPT, I found that out.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Luckily we don't have that's not a huge problem in precinct one.

SPEAKER_05 29:50

Yes, okay. Well, and the other thing we didn't ask you about was all the weddings. You marry people too, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:56

I believe so.

SPEAKER_05 29:58

Yes, that's right. So anything special you got in mind for that? Not not just yet.

SPEAKER_04 30:04

I'd have to plan that out. Well, that'd be great.

SPEAKER_05 30:09

Yeah. Well, any other things you want to tell voters? So you we pretty much covered everything.

SPEAKER_06 30:15

I think so.

SPEAKER_05 30:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 30:16

All right. And I think you already said the kind of experience that you want them to have when they come before you is that you're fair, firm but fair and unbiased, and I think that's all we can ask.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

I I'm I'm gonna start going door to door. I want people not just to get my name out there for the election. I want to be I want them to know who, if they elect, who they're gonna be electing, yeah. Have a conversation have a conversation with all the residents of precinct one, and if possible, obviously that's that's a large amount of people.

SPEAKER_05 30:43

Yeah, it is. Yeah. Well, this is gonna be a really interesting election just because of the write-in aspect of it. So you know, but I mean, people here back when we had the last judge election before this one that we just had, we had a write-in candidate who did really well. So keep getting out there. Great. All right, well, thank you. Thank you so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_04 31:06

All right, our next guest is Pastor Sean Reeves of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Alney. This year, St. Luke has been hosting a series of organ concerts showcasing its beautiful historic Reuters organ and celebrating America's 250th birthday. Their next concert is Sunday, July 12th at 3 p.m., featuring patriotic music, a community sing-along, and afterward, a free ice cream social. Today we'll learn a little more about that concert, but also about the remarkable man who started the Lutheran Church more than 500 years ago and why he believed music was one of God's greatest gifts.

SPEAKER_05 31:54

All right, well, I have the pleasure of welcoming my pastor, Sean Reeves, to our show.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Thank you. It's good to be here. Excited to be here and to be a part of today. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 32:05

Yes, absolutely. Before we talk about the concert, tell us a little bit about St. Luke Lutheran Church. How long has the congregation been part of the Alni community?

SPEAKER_00 32:14

St. Luke is was part of the founding of Alni, the out in the country and the farmers mostly, but some of the people in Alni. We celebrated 125 years, not too long ago. So in the 1800s, the a bunch of German immigrants, um, Prussian most likely came and immigrated to this area, stopping because it was beautiful prairie land, and o trees and the grass up to the belly of the horses, and and over time formed a rigorous community, and and central to that community was their church. Of course, over the years isn't just a German church anymore, but but that's its origins. In the 60s, they moved from west of town in the country out by the lake. They moved into town. We always kind of joked they just barely made it to the edge of town, but they got into town. And um, and yeah, a lot of a lot of members and people you know in the community are are members of that church, and I think it's an asset to Alni, and and they've been a blessing to me in the 23 years I've been here. Hasn't been that long.

SPEAKER_05 33:12

And we have, I'll have you know, we have a historic marker at the church.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Yeah, yeah, we do. It was it was recognized at the 100th anniversary as a historical site. The old church, I think, also is included in that marker, not just the the newer buildings, only been there since the 60s, but yeah, because it was a foundational part of this community, it was recognized as a historical Texas site.

SPEAKER_04 33:34

So come and read our historic marker and come to our concert. Could you please tell us about the July 12th concert and what people can expect when they attend?

SPEAKER_00 33:41

Yeah, I'm excited about this opportunity. First, I thank the LF and Carla Perry Foundation who want to help the community through this foundation and have funded us helping this organ being used for our church and for the community and it and its roots and thing that it can be. So we've decided to do this organ series over the last year to kind of use this instrument, which I think is a special instrument as a blessing for the community. And so July 12th, along with the semi-quincentennial, uh, we thought that we could use the organ and its beauty, and our organist, Dr. Malowan, to come and play some patriotic music and to celebrate that anniversary. So this concert is intended really as just a patriotic celebration, not a church concert, not a Lutheran thing, but a community thing, to be able to sing these songs and and hear this beautiful music that's a part of our 250 years in this country. I also just briefly want to talk about Dr. Catherine Lowen, who's a who I think has been an asset to us as we've gone through this this grant from the Perry Foundation and looked at the the use of our organ. Um she is for which to she's an organist at Wichita Falls at the University Methodist Church there. But as a world-renowned musician, she's been a part of helping us since the beginning and doing this, and she's come to play for a couple of concerts, and we've been wowed at how beautifully she plays. She's been praised worldwide. She's played all over the world. She's played at different venues and festivals. She's played for West Point Military Academy, she's been uh at many churches in New York where these grand hue-drinked organ pipes are. She's been in Europe playing for some of the historical organs that only select musicians get to come play. And just for her to be coming to Alney, I think is a treasure, it's a gift, it's a beautiful thing that this world-renowned organist will come to our community and share her talents with us. Our organ isn't a world-renowned organ, but I think for a community this size, it's a it's a beautiful instrument that she'll come and play. So just to come hear the organist, to hear a beautiful organ that has been designed for the space that it's set in to make beautiful music, and to celebrate our country, our patriotism, with songs that you'll remember, that you'll hear, that you'll sing along with. So that's July 12th at 3 o'clock. We can celebrate our patriotism as we've sing these familiar songs, and then the ice cream social afterwards. Stay for the yummy ice cream, right? It's there are some of the people of the church are gonna make ice cream. We'll have other ice cream. If you're a ice cream aficionado and have a recipe you want to share, bring it with you and be a part of that ice cream social that's kind of an American thing afterwards, too.

SPEAKER_05 36:17

Cool. Yeah, for the last two concerts, she has talked about the history of the music and it's just takes an organ concert to a whole new level. You can't even imagine that an organ could be that beautiful. We talked about the the histor historicity of the Reuter organ. We've had it since 1975, around there.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 36:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Yeah, it's the organ itself is uh it's it's an eight-rank organ, which means it's about 500 pipes, pipes that vary from smaller than a pencil to something that has a foot diameter to make the low bass sounds. Um it it was when the church, when the church founded and moved to town in 67, they designed the space and intended to have this organ in as soon as they could. But for these farmers who are moving to town taking this undertaking, that was another $35,000 in the in the 60s and and 70s for them to have to get together to pay. And so they had to make a commitment to it, and and they did. And I think um, Gina, we looked into the replacement cost, just kind of briefly talking, and to replace that instrument today that cost $35,000 then would be over $200,000 today. Golly. So that beautiful instrument is sitting here in our church in Alney, and and for again, for a town this size, I think is um is still, and then today when a lot of organs are being dilapidated, it's still a treasure, I think, to have that kind of an instrument in our town.

SPEAKER_04 37:35

Yes, it really is. That's great. So many people may not realize how important music is in the Lutheran tradition. Why has church music always occupied such a central place in Lutheran worship?

SPEAKER_00 37:47

The church service a little bit different than a lot of other denominations. For us, along with the the idea of the gospel, that justification and that we're saved by what Jesus does alone is a primary teaching and doctrine, but we always kind of hold it in hand with God being present to give those gifts to us. And so for us, coming together on Sunday or coming together for worship isn't just a time for us to express our praise or thank God, which it is that, but primarily we believe it's where God comes to serve his people with his gifts to give us his love and his forgiveness and to apply what Jesus has won for us on the cross to us as individuals in our lives. And so, if the church service for us is designed to be a place where God comes to his people, we we take the liturgy, the historic liturgy, we hold that liturgy kind of in a high regard. And the liturgy as we have it today has kind of been designed around organ music. A lot of it was written, the songs that we sing were were designed to go with with the organ and what it is. And the organ, I think, was chosen before the Reformation and the 1500s, and around the Reformation time, it was chosen by the church because um it's it's really one of the only instruments that's designed mechanically to simulate the human voice. If you think of a pipe organ, it's basically what our body does is pushing wind through something to make a sound. And so the the pipe organ sustains the voice during our congregational singing as we sing these praises to God and and hear of what He wants us to hear. It's a wind instrument that replicates the voice kind of with a a sweeping but more majestic sound than our voice, right? It has this kind of this all-encompassing kind of tone to it that that pairs well with the group. That's why the organs also used at baseball games, for instance, because it's it's it can be used to sing and to lead singing. And and you think about the versatility of an organ, also. Some uh a talented musician like Dr. Malone or or most musicians can make it whisper. Yeah, but still you hear that whisper wherever you are. Yeah, and in the next breath, it can be a booming thunder, right? It can fill the whole ring room and make it shake. And at the same time, a musician can make it something that's sorrowful at a funeral or at a time of of contemplation. But on Easter Sunday, it sings with the beauty and reverence of victory, right? That that comes forward. So it's it's this this versatile instrument that the church has used. And I think it's also important to consider how it's an instrument that you don't hear in secular society too often. Right? It's an instrument that's not on the radio, you're not going to turn on country music or any kind of pop music and hear the organ very much in the background. And so it marks itself in this kind of secular media-driven world as something that's different, that's special, then still majestic and grand and versatile. And it helps signify that the space that you're entering and that you're coming into in this place is a different place. It's a set-apart environment, and that it's that it has this reverence to it. It wasn't always that churches used instruments at all to sing. If you think of the Gregorian chants of old, where you just have men chanting, that's pretty much until the 1500s what church music was for people. No guitars, no praise bands, no organ, nothing. And so, um I didn't know that. Yeah, so right around the same time as the Reformation, Luther and other church leaders, not just the Lutheran church, but they saw the beauty of this instrument that could be placed in churches and used to help the people sing. There were sermons that Lutheran pastors would give that talked about how it doesn't matter if you're persecuted, you gotta stand for the truth of Jesus. And like Luther says, here I stand, I can do no other, when people want to persecute you for believing in Christ and what you hold with them. The next sermon would be why the organ is important in helping us say these things and sing these things and learn these things and know these things. And then the congregation would sing kind of one verse, kind of like the old Gregorian chant. They would just kind of sing a line, and then the organ would be added with one part in the next verse, and they would learn with the organ to sing, and that went on probably until the 1600s. If you've never been to a liturgical church or a church with an organ, usually hymns will start with kind of a grandiose introduction that just beautifully displays this pipe organ. It'll kind of settle down and then it'll go into the four parts of the voices that would sing the song, so that it's not just the music, but the words that we sing that are important in what we do. This led to some of the great composers that we think of in classical music. Bach, Jazz Bach, was a Lutheran, first and foremost. No way. And what he wrote, what he wanted to write, was for the Lutheran services. And so when you think of some of his grand music and the choirs and the symphonies that he writes, it started in his mind using this mechanical thing that was designed that he could use his mind to play these things. There's a lot of different kinds of composers you can name who wanted the organ and the music to be a theological education, along with this beautiful symphony-sounding music. It's a part of our theological heritage, and we still have universities and programs that train church musicians so that they can incorporate this theological word with this music to share God's peace and presence.

SPEAKER_05 43:07

One thing that I'm not sure you mentioned was the Reformation was also about letting the people participate a little bit more in the service, right? Or can you go into that a little bit and how that has affected the music affected that?

SPEAKER_00 43:22

Definitely. So if you remember before the Reformation, or if you've ever studied this, you'll you'll remember that almost all church was done in Latin because that was a language of the church, and the church wanted to preserve its identity by preserving this old language that they used and they could speak. It was considered sinful by the church in a large part to put the Bible in the language of the people. People were persecuted for that. As a matter of fact, it was kind of the final straw for Luther that he wrote the Bible in a German language people could understand that the Catholic Church said, we can't have anything to do with this man anymore, there's no chance of reconciliation. But Luther knew that if if coming. To church is about God giving you his gifts. You need to hear what those gifts are. You need to hear what the Spirit's saying. You need to hear what that word means. And so it wasn't just the Bible that he put into the language of the people, but also what we call the liturgy, the divine service. There's an old thing called the Deutsche Mass, which is the old German Mass. It was one of the first times that this Latin liturgy was put in any other language. And so hymnity, especially, um, and the and church music was made for the people to hear of God's grace and to be a part of that grace of God.

SPEAKER_05 44:30

Can you imagine what that must have been like the first time that they did that? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

Yeah, it was kind of that's why you had to introduce it slowly, right? The people are saying, we can't sing like that. What are you putting this music in here with this? So he had to introduce the organ slowly. But but yeah, it it the music for for Luther, it was something that he he had a passion for because he he thought that it was a beautiful way of making God's truth stick with us, to stay with us, to put it in our minds and to take it into our lives and to have that word be a part of everyday life. So the people, the service became about not what the church had and what the church could contain, but what the people needed and what the people could use, and music was a big part of that.

SPEAKER_05 45:11

That's awesome. Yeah, it's it's I mean, this whole thing is just a revolution, so it's kind of perfect that we're talking about it on the 250th anniversary of the founding of another revolutionary society.

SPEAKER_04 45:23

So Luther famously said music was second only to theology. What is that what he meant by that?

SPEAKER_00 45:30

Just that that's how you reach people, or yeah, he believed that music had this unique ability to reach God's people. And so, if theology, which is the teaching of the Bible that teaches you about God, which we believe primarily is how God loves us, how God wants us to be his, a part of his family, to to give us things that we can't obtain on our own, we become a part of his kingdom, and we have faith to believe who Jesus is and all that he's won for us, that that we who are separate from God are now a part of God. And now God says, You belong to me and I forgive your sins, so I who am holy can have people with me that weren't part of me because they sinned. And so, theology, of course, is the primary importance to say what God says, to speak God's truth. But music is a way to make that move in our hearts and bring comfort during times of crisis and to express joy when things are going well. And so it the music helps proclaim the truth. The when you combine this the language of the people with melody, you're conveying the truth in a way that is longer lasting, it's a way to convey emotion. And for Luther, one of the big things was it's a way of defending our soul from the attacks of the devil. Oh, yeah. So so oftentimes people look at music, contemporary music, as a tool of the devil, but Luther viewed it quite opposite, right? He viewed that that music was hateful to the devil because it would tell you the truth of God, it would help you to hold on to what God had to say, and and just as theology defeats the devil through the words of Christ and what it does, so the gift of music drives away the things the devil doesn't want you to the sadness and anxiety and the guilt and the depression the devil wants you to have. Luther says music can put it right there and push all that stuff away.

SPEAKER_04 47:10

Oh man, that is fantastic. Yeah, for sure. I spent uh going through chemo. I remember driving there, having that worship playlist, and then coming back from it. And I think it it made such a huge difference on my like mental state, and I just there's nothing better than being able to worship and even being in church. And the gospel, yes, the gospel does reach you, but there's something to be said for when the church's voices and you have the instruments going and all together, nothing raises like gives me goosebumps more than when all the voices rise together. I mean, I just love that so much.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

You said something interesting there. It's it is emotional that it helps, right? So that when you're going through these things, music will give you a different emotion about it, but it changes your thoughts too. It changes the way you understand or look at the reality around you. And it can Christian music can give you a different frame of reference or a different lens in which to view the world because things your mind's not just gonna think, that music will bring to you and bring to your mind to remember that God is should be worshipped and that God loves you, that God's providing for you, and that and that all these things that Luther wanted people to know that were hidden from him for so long, God's giving them to you. That that you don't have to go and pay for your sins on your own. Listen to the song, right? Some of the music that he wrote us in, listen to God's victory for you and how he's doing it, and how he wins it for you, and that it sticks with you.

SPEAKER_01 48:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Uh, that is emotional, but also mental and spiritual, right? It's it's it kind of rises beyond all the above all these things.

SPEAKER_04 48:41

Yeah. I can't imagine, I can't imagine what it would have been like if he hadn't done this and we didn't have music be a part of of service and being able to have access to the to worship music today.

SPEAKER_00 48:54

I mean, yeah, we often think the Reformation, when the church changed from just one church to having all these different denominations, was just about the church, but it really affected society in so many ways, and the way society is today can be pinned back to what these men of God thought was important and how it should be and how it's lasted and had effects on us in all sorts of areas. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

Met people where they were at, and I think that's what's so important about faith is not just having just this one type of person is has access to God's love, and you know, right.

SPEAKER_00 49:26

Yeah, could you imagine if you were told, look, you can't access God or His love or know about Him unless you come to this certain place and hear things you don't even understand. Yeah. And pay money for things you don't even know what you're paying for. Right. And you get these things, and and even so, even the Catholic Church has changed since that Reformation to say, look, we need to put things in where people can understand, and the church isn't just the gateway that keeps these away from people, but we're an instrument to share these things with people.

SPEAKER_05 49:53

He needs to be available to everyone.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

Right.

SPEAKER_05 49:56

I love it. Me too. Gosh, I didn't think really at all about that, but you're totally right. It's changed the way that we think about God, the way that we move in the world, everything. Yeah. Okay, so what was the famous hymn that Luther wrote, and why has it endured for so many centuries?

SPEAKER_00 50:17

So, probably when you think of one hymn of Martin Luther, you think of a mighty fortress as our God. Right. Most denominations will have this in your hymnal, and it's a song that's been around that Luther wrote, so a 500-year-old song, that really is a majestic rephrasing of Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength, our ever-present help in time of trouble. And so, Luther, with political pressure, with church pressure, with his own people sometimes standing against him as he's trying to stand on God's word and the truth and changing society. Luther knew that Psalm 46 was a comfort. And so one of his greatest lasting legacies is that a mighty fortress is our God. As you sing it, you're kind of reminded that the devil, the world, all these things that are against you have no power because God is ultimately the one who has you in his hands, and he's the one that takes care of you. So in the end of that hymn, we sing, take day our life, our goods, our fame, our child, our wife, all these things are gone. Yet they've nothing won. They've been judged and they've been put aside, and we remain in God's kingdom. And it's a beautiful kind of way of encouraging the church. But but Luther wrote 36 hymns, not all of them blasted. He wasn't the greatest hymnist. He loved music and he knew the importance of music, but his time was spent reading theology and the classics and making that the Bible into the language of the people. So it was kind of a side hobby for him. Some that stand the test of time are um dear Christians, one and all rejoice. Uh, the Christmas song From Heaven Above to Earth I Come that talks about the incarnation of Jesus beautifully. Uh, funeral song you may have sung is From the Depths of Woe, I Cry to You. But my favorite song is actually number 666 in our hymnal.

SPEAKER_05 51:59

Oh right.

SPEAKER_00 52:00

And it's it was chosen that because the name of the hymn is Lord, keep us steadfast in your word. And so, you know, 666 has all the superstition and the the theological ideas behind it. And so in our hymnal stands this hymn of Luther that talks about the triumph and the victory we have when we have God's word in music and in the Bible. It's this kind of a victory march that actually was said that when Germany was being attacked by the Turks, that the Scandinavian princes were coming down to help the Lutherans because the Catholics from the South and West weren't going to help the Lutherans. And so these Scandinavian Lutherans are coming down, and they say that they were singing that song, Lord, keep us steadfast in your word, curb those who would by deceit or sword rest the kingdom of God away. And it's said that one of the princes in battle was singing that song when he lost his life to come help defend people and their faith from their enemies. So that's a part of what hymnity can do, and and Luther's passion for music is definitely singing some of those hymns.

SPEAKER_05 52:54

Wow. I mean so much history. Yeah. I mean, we're here, we're sitting here talking about a concert, but this is life and death stuff.

SPEAKER_06 53:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:02

Right. So, as someone who spends a lot of time thinking about music and worship, why is it so important to preserve these traditions in a world increasingly dominated by technology and digital entertainment?

SPEAKER_00 53:13

Yeah, I think whether it's organ music or praise music or contemporary Christian music, whatever it is, I think it's important for the church to continue to sing its music because I I think the the first thing about it in this world that's the secular world, it's increasing increasingly digital, and and you can just turn on your iPod, you can I'm old now, you see, right? It's now you go to Amazon music or whatever else, right? Yeah, but music is just whatever you want to hear at the touch of your button, and you can hear whatever kind of music you want. But but in the church music, there's a human connection that I don't think you can get from opening up your phone and listening to a playlist. It's a communal participation that bridges whoever you are, whatever you're going through, whatever your condition in life is, whatever your station, whatever your identity, it bridges these things to put us all together in something that we agree with, and that we're singing with our own mouths because it means something and it has a great history to it. So I think primarily in church music you get this connection to God, one another, that you don't just get from every other kind of now. Music does that, it brings people together, it's that communal part of it, I think, that's super important for us to keep singing. It helps safeguard the identity of the church, right? The words that we sing should reflect scripture and what God wants us to know and fill in our lives. We're the same in Christ.

SPEAKER_05 54:36

I never had sung in a choir before I joined Saint Luke, and when we started doing this music program, I kind of got volunteered for it. But it has been so incredibly joyful. It's been such a great experience. We've done some four-part harmonies, three-part harmonies, and it's just been so so lovely. It's in the service of God, and it's just like the most peerless experience.

SPEAKER_00 55:01

And the depth of it. One of the songs we sang was a Gaelic tune that's how like we're standing in the hills. Yeah, and then the next song you sort we could sing could sound that patriotic and say, look, this is what America is about. And the next song could be something that you sang on your grandma's lap when you were a little kid that she would sing in your ear, and it just brings emotion to you. So yeah, that that's the the richness of that music too.

SPEAKER_04 55:22

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's what I love so much is although everybody's singing the same words, the associate the association and the link to their lives is all different, right? Like what this one what this one phrase or what part of the song, like it's all that we're all singing the same one, but we are all thinking of something completely different in our lives that it affects. And I just I think that's where music really reaches is because you're able to, it applies to all of us one way or another. Right. And you're brings us together.

SPEAKER_05 55:50

Yeah, and you're sitting there in the church. I mean, it's such a balm, you know. No matter what you're thinking, or whatever that's you know, what that is bringing up in your soul, it's just so comforting to be doing that all together. Right. It's very healing. Yeah. So the concert, as we know, will be can including some patriotic hymns and community sing-alongs. So what are some we did talk about what some of the patriotic hymns that we're gonna ask um Dr. Malone to play. And what were some of those?

SPEAKER_00 56:24

I think if you come to the concert and hear her playing, you're gonna hear things you've never heard before, but you'll recognize it, even though you haven't heard it in such a way that she's gonna play it with the fanfare and the grandioseness of how well she plays, but it's still gonna stir something into you because you're gonna hear America the Beautiful that you would sing at a firework concert on the 4th of July. You're gonna hear God of Our Fathers, which is an anthem for many people of our of our country, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic, My Eyes Have Seen, the Glory, and the you know, it's all these songs that are kind of ingrained in us that we've sang since we were children around patriotic things. You'll hear the national anthem, but I imagine she'll play it in a way you've never heard it before when it comes to this 500 pipes with the different stops and ranks and things she can do with that organ. So it'll be familiar, but I really do believe in a way you've never heard before. Way I've probably never heard before. You've never heard Gina. She comes and brings it with this instrument and her talent.

SPEAKER_05 57:16

So yeah, and I mean, when you do you have a chance to sit and sing with a bunch of other Americans about the country? Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 57:26

And we are approaching America's 250th birthday. So why do you think patriotic songs continue to resonate with people generation after generation? Because we don't want to say semi-quincentennial. It's easier just to sing out it's uh I've nailed it though, semi-quincentennial.

SPEAKER_00 57:43

Yeah, in my lifetime, y'all remember that that were you in Texas for the sesquicentennial kind of stuff? Yeah, Texas 125th, which is is a quarter, I guess, a sesquicentennial. But now, yeah, the semi-quincentennial is half of 500, 250 years that our country's been here, right? That we've stood on these, you call it the great American experiment that's lasted now 250 years to stand on these freedoms that we say people ought to have, and these inalienable rights that were given to people, not just to standing up against taxes and all those other things, but a new way of thinking that our country has. And so we've made music around those ideas throughout our history. Um, you know, you think of Francis Scott Key writing the Star-Spangled Banner in the middle of the war, and how we just sing a song about how you saw the flag at the end of the battle is still there, and we just sing it, not even thinking about it, but because it just brings a sense of patriotism to us. And that's what that music that we're gonna hear is gonna do. It gives us a sense of belonging. It's the good pride, the things that we have in our country that are prideful, that are good about who we are and what we do. That's what that music has been designed around, to to unite us as a people. Um not in the not in the scars or the black eyes of our history, but in the things that that we should celebrate and that are good about this great American experiment that that we can express through music, which we will do on that day.

SPEAKER_05 59:01

Yeah, no, it's gonna be just lovely to think about. Like you said, it is an experiment, it's something that we're always trying to make better, kind of like how we try to be his people before God.

SPEAKER_00 59:12

So Yeah, that there's before God we always struggle because we're always sinners, right? We always mess up and we always make mistakes, and the devil wants to use those things to drag us away from God, but God constantly comes back to you with his forgiveness saying, You're still mine, I love you, I've forgiven you. And uh, and one of the greatest freedoms in America is that we have the freedom of religion to be able to speak those truths. Part of that experiment, we often get church and state confused that the the founders of our country wanted nothing to do with religion. No, they wanted people to have the ability, whether you're Lutheran or Baptist or Catholic or whatever you are, to be able to be about your faith and just have that faith guided not by people sitting somewhere else, but by the people who are together in these pew singing these songs. So, yeah, and so this this great American experiment and these freedoms have been critical for the church and as a nation too. And so putting those two things together on that day, I think, will be a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:05

Absolutely. So, is this concert intended primarily for church members, or is it really an invitation to the broader community?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:13

Yeah, so I would like to say clearly that it's distinctly not for our church, and this concert specifically. Some of the other concerts in our series have been to teach us about some of our musical tradition and history as a church and why we do these things. But this one's about celebrating our country and hearing the beauty of that through an instrument that's been a part of our country as well as a part of our church. So it is a community event, not a St. Luke Lutheran Church event. This is a community event that the the Perry Foundation wants to help the community to have. And so we want to share an instrument that God has blessed us with to be able to celebrate that American pride and the spirit of America and our anniversary and our community and Alney as well.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:51

And finally, can you just remind us one more time when and where that concert will take place?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:56

What's the the not the Sunday right after the fourth, but the next one on July the 12th at 3 p.m. So it's in between the morning church times and the evening church times that people would have in town. So 3 p.m. at at St. Luke Lutheran Church. It's not hard to find on the west side of town, just north of Stewart's a couple blocks. And please do come, bring ice cream or don't come eat ice cream. And if you do make good ice cream, I'll help you eat it. I'll be glad to tell you if it's good or bad. And come enjoy the music and the great musician and the beautiful instrument.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:24

And also, even if you're not from Alney and you're hearing this, yeah, come. This is your chance to hear somebody who's just extraordinary play. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:35

All right. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming, and I hope everybody will make it out there. Sunday, July 12th at 3 p.m. at St. Luke Lutheran Church. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:44

So come and see it. It's gonna be amazing. Eat ice cream, it'll be super fun. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:49

Hope to see everybody there.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:50

All right, thanks. So, in other news, we're gonna talk about Only in America is here, and it's we're here, we have already started. The stage has been set. Yes. Thank you to uh Mr. Craig and Mr. Cresswell for coming out there today. Oh they delivered it themselves. Thank you. They delivered the stage. Yes. So we are starting planning and preps have already begun. So uh Thursday, July 2nd, the gates will open at 6. Uh we have nine different food vendors.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:28

Oh God.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:31

Yes. How am I ever gonna choose? We have so many different ones. I'll be I'll be posting the list of everybody. I wanted to get confirmation from a couple people before I move forward. I don't want to promise somebody would be there and they're not, but we have a good sort of option, range of choices, whatever you like. I promise we have it. We actually have a lot of sweets this time, too. Ooh. So we have like one that's like mini donuts, we have like cheesecake bites, we have baked goods. I mean, we have such a mixture of everything. So plan on coming hungry. Yes. Um, it's looking to be it's gonna be a great event, and I checked the weather.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:08

Yeah, so did I. I've been checking it every single day. Not a drop of rain on the forecast.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:13

I know. You know what? And I got really nervous because I looked at the at the weather for Saturday, uh, mistakenly thinking that it was on Saturday, and I'm like, oh my god, it's gonna pour on Sunday. I hope that doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:25

Yes, so we have the semi-quincentennial weather dome over us, I think. Yeah. They were making sure America's birthday was not rained on. Oh, I hope not. So, but I don't think I think we're safe now. Yeah. And then uh don't forget the Young County Stars and Stripes parade will be on Saturday morning, 7:30 a.m. will be the Kiwanas Pancake Breakfast. Then we'll have a community prayer by Preston Crow at 9 a.m. Then the veteran honor ceremony at 10. Oh, wait, is that 9 a.m. for the veterans ceremony? And then the parade will start at 10. So there you can still sign up your parades. Don't forget, uh, on July 1st here in Alney, they're doing Gussie Up Your Bikes, but it's anything with wheels, so you everybody can participate in that. And if you don't have the ability to get to Graham, we understand. So what we did is we just moved our parade to the evening. So at 7:30 p.m., we will line up around the Alni Savings Building. Okay, and then the parade will go down at 8 15, and so you'll go all the way down, and then it will end with watermelon, waters, and sparklers.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:27

Oh, it's gonna be so fun. Do big people get to have sparklers too? I believe so. Oh, thank goodness. I haven't had a sparkler in so long, and I was really kind of scared of them when I was a little kid.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:37

Are you they have like these mega ones that uh really freak me out? But I did see something the other day on TikTok where if you put an orange on your sparkler, if you're like nervous about the flame, if you put an orange on it, um at like at the bottom of it, the flame goes inside the orange and it lights up the orange.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:55

Oh neat. Does it cook it? I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:58

But I know they're not to worry about my kids burning each other.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:01

Yeah, I know. Yeah, they are kind of scary with those sparkles coming out.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:05

And now they have the massive ones that are like huge, and my kids, I don't know about your kids, guys, but my kids get kind of wild. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:15

Well, that's what you're supposed to do with a sparkler.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:17

Yeah, well, it's all fun and games, so you know, but anyways, but they'll have the sparklers on there and the watermelon, of course, and thank you to our NHS volunteers. Um, also thank you to Chris Camp because she is the one that really really just loves the 4th of July, and so thank you um to her for sort of spearheading that.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:37

So all right, thank you very much, Chris. Okay, so where are we on our calendar? The Almy Senior Cub Center is presenting its second annual variety show on July eighteenth at six thirty. That is gonna be at the Civic Center. So come on out, we're gonna have some really great. Acts including um the piano man, the Branham Family, Brass Buttons, the Edgingtons are gonna be performing, Poet Lee Wiley Birch. Attendance is gonna be by donation. And all of the donations help Meals on Wheels and the programs at the Senior Cup Center.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:21

Are you gonna perform anything?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:23

I don't have any talents.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:25

I can karaoke really good.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:27

That's what you said. You say this, and then you'll you say that no one will ever see you.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:32

No, I mean they can't, only because there's no karaoke here anymore. Oh Dustin Hudson. Every time they had karaoke here, I was there at the Legion.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:39

Really? But wait a minute, Dustin Hudson had it there at the uh at at Hudson's on Maine. Did you ever go and do it there?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:46

No, because I I think his was going on I don't know why I never went to that one. I only always just went to the Legion. Um but I don't know how many times did he do it at the at Hudson's? At least two or three.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:57

What would be your favorite karaoke song? If I did karaoke. Oh man. Um, I do a lot of a lot of loud singing, loud car singing. Uh, you know, it's all the 80s stuff and 90s stuff, like total eclipse of the heart or something like that. Man, you gotta have a real dramatic one if you're gonna be karaoke. What about you?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:20

Um, I always try to do one Taylor Swift. Oh, I love her. So I do Taylor Swift. When I won tournaments or karaoke contests in the past, I won with Billy G and Michael Jackson.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:31

Oh my god, you've won some contests? Oh, yes. Why aren't you performing? You're not doing your civic duty.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:40

It's my son's birthday party. I'm like the same overlap. Oh, too bad. My kids would kill me if I was to go up there. They would be mortally embarrassed.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:47

Oh yeah, well.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:48

Oh, and I also do Tracy Chapman.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:50

Give me a reason to stay here. Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:53

And Selena.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:54

Oh yeah, that's good. Selena. Oh my god, nobody's you mean which one? I could fall in love? Yes.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:00

Or bitty bitty bomb bomb. That's a good one. Oh yeah. Any of those.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:04

Oh my god, I'd love to see you do bitty bitty bomb bomb.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:09

It's all about performance though. Like, you know what I mean? Yes. You can we so for one of my daughter's birthday parties, we had a karaoke party, a karaoke glow party at the Liege, and we rented it out. Oh, you're kidding. It was so awesome. And I would just like to say I was so proud of the kids. At that time, my daughter was turning 10, and she had girls going up there and performing like Rage Against the Machine. I was like, all is not lost. We were doing our job parents.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:35

Oh, that's so good.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:36

Like, even um, my kids know Sublime, my kids know cake. I mean, I am educating them on the ways of 90s will never die if my kids are around. I was gonna say, well, that's good.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:49

Yeah, you know. I the 90s was you know, I was that was not my favorite decade. I think Will and I are both 80s kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:58

80s and 90s.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:59

Yeah, he says 90s too, but in the office he plays a lot of 70s music too. Well, I love that they do that.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:06

That's really cool for all need to show their talent.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:08

I agree. So everybody turn out and at least go and see our fabulous talent. So uh, and help the uh senior cup center. Yes. All right, well, I guess that is it for us for this week, right? Do we have anything else?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:24

We don't have an exit. No, but we can figure it out. Yes, that that's what we have for this week. Um, this time next week, Alni in America will be done.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:35

I know it. And what are you gonna do with yourself?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:38

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:39

Okay, well, thanks everybody for listening, and we will talk to you next time. All right, I'm Kimberly Smith. And I'm Gina Keating.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:50

Thanks for listening to Alni on Air.