NYSB- Fall River, MA

October 30-31, 2004

By Craig Evans

Fall River , MA – It's not often that a team of New Yorkers can step off a bus in this part of the country and be so warmly received. Not in October. Not when baseball passion is running high.

  But this team wasn't wearing pinstripes. And, with the euphoria of a long-awaited World Series Championship still sweeping over New England , the residents of Fall River eagerly embraced the New York Staff Band as it ministered through its music throughout this glorious autumn weekend.

  Good thing the Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals or else the band might have been playing for a mostly empty audience during its Saturday night festival in this coastal town. A week earlier, the band had faced the prospects of performing at the same time the Red Sox would have been engaged in a World Series game.

  As it turned out, there was a full audience in the old, majestic First Congregational Church as the Reverend Robert Lawrence welcomed the visitors from New York .

  New York Staff Bandmaster Ron Waiksnoris was mildly amused when the pastor whispered to him that he “was really a Yankees fan.”

  The Saturday night concert flowed smoothly, beginning with an opening fanfare section from Endless Praise. The program featured a little bit of everything, from classics such as The Triumph of Peace to dramatic new compositions such as Glorifico Aeternum.

  Soloists on the evening include Derek Lance, playing Harold Burgmayer's trumpet solo Tribute, Aaron VanderWeele dazzling the audience with Robert Redhead's Ochills, and James Anderson singing He's Always Been Faithful. The Band Chorus, under Major Thomas Mack, contributed Sing Alleluia.

   The band was back at the church for Sunday morning worship where the message of the Executive Officer, Lt. Colonel Gil Reynders, touched the hearts of all the congregants. The band set the tone of the service with preliminary that included Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.

  Other selections included; In Perfect Peace, I Can Hear Your Voice (Band Chorus), Solidarity, Amazing Love, Shadowed, Guardian of Our Way, Jesus Paid It All (Band Chorus) and Savior Like a Shepherd.

  Throughout this brief New England jaunt, the New York Staff Band felt welcomed by its hosts, Majors Don and June Carver, and the church leaders who worked so hard to make the weekend a success. If the New Yorkers were still licking their wounds from a playoff loss to the dreaded Sawx, they were somewhat comforted by the graciousness of their friends from Massachusetts.