The Old and the New

What a beautiful time of the year! There’s a symphony of flowering crabs, tulips, lilacs, daffodils and violets in bloom, and people are out working on their yards and gardens to make our little town even more gorgeous than Mother Nature created.

It’s great to see the pride our residents in Walker take in their yards and gardens. My mom always took great pride in her rock garden that consisted, not only of many varieties of plants and flowers, but also featured a little brook where the water cascaded over a series of waterfalls, and eventually found its way into a garden pool.

Her rock garden was the showplace of Walker so much so that today our City Rock Garden located behind Walker City Hall is patterned after Mom’s garden.

I also recall when main street in Walker was bordered with huge elm trees! The vista provided a beautiful canopy that welcomed our many visitors when they entered our little town. Somebody, however, cut them all down.

With that misty-colored memory in mind I emulated Mom’s love for beauty by planting 13 beautiful flowering crabs along the front of our home on Cleveland Boulevard. However, somebody cut them all down too! No doubt they had a reason for doing that very questionable deed, however, at least some of the flowering crabs in our neighborhood were spared — even though ours are gone.

There is also beauty in music! Ever since our little town was first founded 128 years ago, we have been flooded with beautiful music — beginning with the Chautauqua Circuit in Walker’s Opera House, where Bill Hanson’s Realty is now. Weekly Friday night band concerts followed in Walker’s Band Pavilion that was located where the Chase Condos are now.

The harmonic overtones of Sweet Adelines and Barbershoppers continued in the ‘70s and later barbershop harmony was replaced by the Walker Area Foundation Choral and more recently — the Walker Area Singers. Today, we have Moondance Events, Sunday evening performances at the Community Church Gazebo and Walker Bay Live! Perhaps that’s enough music for a little town; however, it sure would be nice if we had a community choir again.

Monday morning we got up at 6:30 a.m. to drive to Longville to sing with the Longville Area Community Choir at their annual Memorial Day celebration. It was a wonderful reprise of some of our old patriotic numbers including our national anthem, America the Beautiful, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Tribute to the Armed Forces and other historic songs of our country.

As recent as 2011, Hatch, Alexander and Nash — with visions of Arlington Cemetery in their mind — wrote this beautiful song that we also sang during Longville’s Memorial Day Service.

Blades of grass and pure white stones

Shelter those who’ve come and gone

Just below the emerald sod,

Are those who’ve reached the arms of God.

Blades of grass and pure white stones

Cover those who left their homes

To rest in fields here side by side

Lest we forget their sacrifice.

Buried here with dignity,

Endless rows for all to see

‘Neath blades of grass and pure white stones.

It sure would be nice if we had a community choir again, as the choirs we once had are also buried beneath blades of grass and pure white stones! We could sing at every wake and wedding and every swell affair — including the Fourth of July, Christmas and Memorial Day Celebration in our own little town of Walker!

The views and opinions expressed in the “The old and the new” column belong solely to the author, and not The Pilot-Independent or an organization, committee or individual.