Musical Seasons

I dread the oncoming of autumn. It is perhaps the most cruel of the four seasons. Wasn’t there once a vocal group called The Four Seasons? I think so.

For one who is in constant dread of winter and the nastiness of winter’s weather, autumn is the forerunner of things to be avoided.

Oh, I can enjoy the turning and falling of the leaves, the drop in temperatures just a bit and the shortening of daylight.

I can also enjoy to some extent the fact that I don’t have to darken the school house door for classes, though if given the opportunity, I’d spend the rest of my life taking college classes of my own choice at times chosen by myself.

But for one of my age, the oncoming of autumn is the metaphor for the dimming of sight, the extra ache in the knees and the decreased volume of sound entering the ears.

And speaking of the eyes and ears, one last blossom of summer is scheduled for Saturday as the London Community Orchestra presents its Summer Pops Concert beginning at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church on West Fifth Street in London. Admission charges are $5 for adults and $3 for children.

If you’ve never heard the London Community Orchestra, this is a good time to try it out. It and the London Community Band do a total of four regular concerts each year. The orchestra kicks its season off with a Christmas concert, obviously with music of the season.

It then does a spring concert that highlights classical and light classical music.

On Independence Day, the orchestra becomes a band, by substituting its strings section for more brass and woodwind instruments and does a patriotic show.

And finally, as summer ends, the orchestra performs popular music.

For more information about the orchestra, go to www.londoncommunityorchestra.org.

Also, if you happen to be in Corbin Saturday night, the Free Time Band will present a concert at the Civic Center on Gordon Hill. It begins at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds go to the Corbin Backpack program.

And speaking of music, I guess some of my fondest autumn memories are on the gridiron. No, I didn’t play football. I was a drummer in the London High School band. It all started in late summer as the band gathered and began practicing and learning new routines for pre-game and half-time entertainment.

Jack McCarty, my band director for three years and good friend for much longer, would put us through our paces in the late afternoon, as the heat of the day would be upon us.

It was from Jack that I got my love of music. Listening is one thing, but actually playing something for an audience, even if it was just as a drummer, makes music really come alive.

And this fall, if I should actually attend a high school football game, I’ll remember Jack and my fellow musicians and those memories will make autumn worthwhile.

Carl Keith Greene is a writer for the Times-Tribune. He can be reached at cgreene@thetimestribune.com