Summer Tour Part I

The Field Band is on the road for two 8-day tours this Summer. The first was in late June leading up to the 4th of July. I'm posting a few pictures that highlight our adventures. 

This first is from the Independence Day concert in Pittsburgh, PA. It was my first visit to the city and I was so impressed. It really is beautiful. Our performance was held on a stage by the river downtown with the Soldier's Chorus singing behind us on a Corps of Engineers Barge! That was a very interesting set up. You can see the people lounging on the green in front of the stage. It was a massive crowd. 

This photo was taken from the barge. I'm trying to put on an intimidating face with Rob and Chris. Another cool thing about this gig is that they opened up the Steeler's stadium for the masses to walk through. Pretty cool arena. 

This was from an outdoor concert in Boardman, Ohio. We have been very lucky to have nice weather. Not too hot, and no big storm scares either. It was a fabulous show on July 3rd. The crowd was great and we were treated to a lovely fireworks display after. 

In the small town of Clearfield, Pennsylvania the band heard tell of a local joint called Denny's Beer Barrel Pub that boasted of having the World's Largest Burger. This wasn't their biggest meat monstrosity by any means, but one of their smaller challenges. If the contestant can manage to eat the entire burger in an hour they get 1/2 off and a free shirt. One of our very hungry soldiers attempted to step up to the plate on this challenge. It was 2 pounds of beef... after it had been cooked and then was adorned in an unholy amount of toppings. He fought bravely but in the end could not quite eat the entire thing. One of my favorite memories of this tour! 

This is from a concert in New York that was held at a large outdoor arena. The audience is sitting fairly far away in these viewing stands. 

The American Legion was gracious as usual and willing to pose for a picture with me.

 

After we completed this tour, the band had some open leave days available and I hit the road again to Colorado and Texas for a fun vacation. The next post will follow that trip... 

Lance's Wedding

I've been the worst blogger ever. I will attempt to catch my readers up on the past few months over the course of several posts. One of the most important recent events was my brother's wedding. I was able to get leave and fly down to Texas for the ceremony on June 27th. I'll always remember their anniversary because it is two days after my birthday. Speaking of my 25th birthday.... it was much better than 24. This time last year I was in the middle of Red Phase in Basic Training and probably getting smoked most of the day. This time around I got to be with my family and celebrate my brother's big day! 

The wedding was held on a boat that runs off the Gulf of Mexico in the town of Kemah. It was gorgeous and very special. My new sister-in-law is beautiful and fantastic- such a great addition to the family. The only bad thing is that her name is also Lauren..... so there are now two "Lauren Veronie's." A little confusing, but we will manage. Here I am enjoying a drink with my Dad while we are cruising around the Gulf. 

The whole Veronie clan turned out for the event. This picture is just a few, including Dad, my sister Roxanne, brother Tommy, and sister-in-law Becky. 

Here I am posing with my little brother, the LT. I'm so proud of him! 

Orioles and the House

Life has been busy as ever. Most of my free time has been spent working on the new house. I'm pretty sick of painting but the place is looking great. Recently we played two concerts that went over well.  One was in Portsmouth, Virginia and what a beautiful location! I really enjoyed walking along the waterfront and eating at a spectacular German Beer Garden. Mmmmm I am a fan of the Belgian wheats! 

This past weekend the Field Band's barbershop quartet, "Soundoff," was invited to sing the National Anthem at an Orioles game. A group of us tagged along for support and had a great time.

Camden Yards is such an historic park. Of course there was plenty of opportunity to rub elbows with the mascot down on the field! 

Yeah Baltimore!!

Thought I'd add a few shots of the house now that it is starting to come together. Here is the master bedroom. I love my new duvet! 

The kitchen was where I spent most of my money and attention since cooking is one of my big hobbies. I had to get rid of the white cabinets- just not my style! I love the red. The wall on the other side of kitchen, (will post more pics later), is painted a lovely green color and has a new wine rack. I had granite countertops installed and got a new stove. It is definitely my favorite room in the house and look forward to cooking up many yummy meals for friends in the future!

We are gearing up for Summer Tour and I'm pretty excited. Lots of fun gigs. I'll be blogging from the road as usual!

May Update

May has been a busy month! Thought I would share some moments from the past few weeks. 

First of all, Star Trek was AWESOME! I was very excited to see this film, as a longtime fan of the franchise, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Here I am posing by a sweet advertisement poster.

One event that definitely kept me busy this month was performing on the Field Band's Chamber Music recital. They needed some people to flesh out the program so I hopped on board at the last minute and decided to put together a piece I had always wanted to try- "Pearls" by Roland Szentpali. It was definitely good for me to have something like this to work at. An added bonus was the opportunity to play in such a lovely sanctuary. 



I've been working on lots of projects for the new house. Here I am in Pier 1 admiring an advertisement that had a euphonium in it! 

I got a nice sunburn 

sanding my cabinets outside. I know Summer is coming when I can't be outdoors for more than an house before I turn a mighty shade of pink. 

My first big project in the house was the kitchen. Here is a picture right after I had granite installed and painted the cabinet bases. I'll have finished pics up soon! 

Meghan

I know I haven't blogged in a while. Things have been busy, but one thing that has been weighing on my heart is our family's deep and terrible loss of dear Meghan. I wanted to take the time to share some of my favorite memories with her. 

Meg is my niece. 

Here she is with her Dad, my brother Tommy, and my Dad, her Pa-Paw. Meghan and I were only about a year apart so we grew up together, part of the crazy, wonderful Veronie clan. 

 When we were little Meghan and her sister Paige would come visit us in the summers. We would swim for hours in the pool, pretending we were Ariel from the Little Mermaid. We spent hours on the trampoline, and could often be heard singing silly songs, such as our own arrangement of the Chili's Baby Back Rib song. 

 

As we grew older it was fun to see each other head off to college and learn about life. I always told my friends proudly that I had a niece that was a "Miller Light Girl," and would show off the text-picture she sent me of her in her cute uniform. That job was perfect for the outgoing Meghan because, as she said, all she had to do was hand out drinks and get to talk to fun people. 

Meghan was creative, energetic, wild, and always fun. She had such a beautiful voice. Every time I hear Tim McGraw's "Johnny's Daddy" I always think of her and Tommy singing together in the car. We might have been known to occasionally bust out a few Karaoke duets at holiday gatherings! :) 

Meghan was the person who would always greet you at the door and hand you a glass of wine. She was hilarious, vibrant and so caring. She would do anything for her sister and I'm pretty sure she adopted my brother as her own from birth. 

She was getting her teaching degree and was working with kids. She really seemed to enjoy it, I think it went perfectly with her playful spirit. Our family aches without her but is comforted and grateful for so many hilarious and warm memories. Miss you Meg! XOXOXO

Soldier's Chorus at Morgan State

This weekend the Soldier's Chorus gave a fantastic concert of music by African-American composers at Baltimore's Morgan State University. The Concert was guest-conducted by renowned musician Dr. Robert Morris. It is always so great to be able to experience a performance as an audience member. Usually I am sitting in my chair right in front of the chorus when they are singing with us on tour. It was such a pleasure to hear my talented colleagues, and I feel very lucky to be able to work alongside them. 

I thought I would include a few more pictures of my house! This blog entry will just have pictures of the first floor. Here is a view of the foyer and living area. 

I love the big stairwell!

This is an aerial view from the top of the stairwell. The right hand side is a dining area and the living room has the bay window. 

Here is the kitchen. I'm planning on getting new countertops put in and painting the cabinets before I move in. It's lots of work and planning, but I can't wait to see it all put together. 

More updates with the other floors later! 

House and Happenings

Wanted to do a quick blog and mention some recent happenings. I'm very excited to be closing on my first home later in May. It is a three story townhouse near Ft. Meade. Now I have to get busy picking out paint colors and getting my stuff in Baltimore all packed up and ready for one final move. Here is a picture of the front of the place. 

Here is a snapshot of me with my friend Tracy  when we are out and about. It has been nice being home from tour and catching up on doing fun things with friends. We saw a movie about opera auditions on this night. Interesting! 

On a more somber note, today we laid to rest former commander and conductor of the US Army Field Band, Colonel Finley Hamilton. I only had the opportunity to meet the Colonel a few times, but he seemed to be a very gracious man, and somebody very enthusiastic and dedicated to music and country. 

The Field Band had the honor of playing music at the Colonel's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. It was a very moving experience. 

Here I am in front of the "Pershing's Own" band building, where we rendezvoused before the ceremony.