The Corsicana ROTC cadets are the hosts of this event. Five times during the year, CHS teams travel to compete in competitions held at other high schools and at Baylor University, but this final meet is theirs to plan and carry out. Preparations begin in the first semester when invitations are sent to the ROTC programs in other schools. Final preparations are stepped up after the last away competition in March. The ROTC Commander, Colonel Pailes and Master Sergeant, Roger Hardie, oversee the drill team competition, but the student cadet officers supervise the event as part of their leadership training.

Arrangements must be made for parking buses that are bringing teams of 30 or 40 students and their parents. Attendants must be assigned to guide the visitors to the registration location. The reception desk in the cafeteria is staffed and each of the visiting team members are provided with a folder containing the day’s schedule of events and a map of the school so they can locate the gyms and auditoriums used to house the competitions. Signs are posted all over the building so cadets and parents do not get lost in the maze of hallways. Food must be prepared and scoring programs made ready. The CHS host cadets arrive at school at 6:00 a.m.; even the ones who were at home making tamales until 3:00 a.m. The parents of the cadets also arrive bringing the Mexican food they prepared along with the standard teen food such as hot dogs and hamburgers.

Cortnie Needham, the Vice Corps Commander, is in charge of scorekeeping and collecting money. Scheduling the teams is a complex business that is managed on a spreadsheet. Each school competes in one or more of the competitions held at different locations throughout the day. Scoring is recorded by computers and the high-point winners will be honored at an awards ceremony at the end of the day. Cortnie explained, “One event is the inspection for military bearing, and for complete and immaculate uniforms. Sometimes the judges ask questions, such as ‘Who is the president? or ‘Who is the secretary of defense?’ But they do not score the answer so much as the manner in which the cadets respond.”

The Precision Drill Teams perform both with and without sabers or rifles, and they are expected to respond to any of 59 commands to be performed in the proper sequence. The Exhibition Teams perform marching drills and Color Guard Teams demonstrate their ability to present colors according to military rituals. The Physical Training Teams run, do pushups, sit-ups and broad jumps. Two judges, senior Army and Air Force ROTC cadets from Baylor University, score the team performance at each event.

Corps Commander Jessica Beaman, carrying her clipboard with the event schedule and essential notes, seems to be everywhere at once. Until she was chosen to be the corps commander, Jessica was the logistics officer and in charge of the equipment used when the cadets perform in community events in Corsicana and in the out-of-town competitions. Her uncle and grandfather were both military men.

She plans to work toward certification as an occupational therapist associate next year at Navarro College. Vice Corps Commander Cortnie Needham followed her aunt into the ROTC program. She took enough college credit classes to have 23 hours behind her when she enters Navarro College in the Texas A&M program. Always around horses on her uncle’s ranch, Cortnie wants to specialize in veterinary medicine. Cortnie said, “The Corps officers are nominated by the current senior staff and Colonel Pailes makes the final choice for corps commander, vice corps commander and cadets in charge of operations and logistics.

“As seniors,” Cortnie said, “we have to model what the cadets are supposed to learn. They watch us. We are recognized by all of the students in the school when we wear our uniforms one day a week. Other students we don’t know may stop us and comment on what we are doing.” It is evident that the student cadets take pride in being recognized as members of a group that is honored in the school. They also feel pride wearing the uniform of the United States Air Force. Cortnie added, “The best part is learning discipline and respect.” When this busy day is over, she and Jessica will also enjoy the good feeling that comes from accomplishing something that is important to the students and families from 23 visiting high school teams and to their own community.

Written by Joan Kilbourne

These artistic talents were honed at Sam Houston State University where Kimberly studied graphic design. She then returned to Ennis with her husband to be closer to her family, including her mother, Pam Stokes. “Mom is the baker, and I am the designer,” Kimberly explained.

Her mother uses family recipes, including one for cream cheese sugar cookies. Then, depending on the design, Kimberly chooses the icing, coloring and technique she will use. Kimberly designs cupcakes, cakes and cookies for a variety of occasions. She has baked for bachelorette, engagement and birthday parties in addition to weddings and holiday events. She admits it is easier if
she designs using a napkin or picture from a themed occasion, but she also enjoys coming up with her own ideas. “If they
give me the freedom to do what I want, it requires more planning,” Kimberly explained. “I have to sketch out the design and play with it a little bit.”

She begins the evening before or the day of the event to ensure the creations are fresh. Between two and five hours are necessary for both the baking and designing due to her self-proclaimed
perfectionism. “I need the whole day to design,” she said. “If I don’t like it, I have time to start over.” With the exception of the Christmas season, when Kimberly makes a large number of cookies in the shapes of trees, stockings and snowmen, she averages about one design a month. Cookies and cupcakes are the most popular and easier to perfect because as Kimberly admits, if
she messes up on one, she can start over on a new one. She usually makes between two and three dozen per design. “We just do it on the side for fun,” she said of her time spent designing.

Her most challenging creation so far has been designing 300 cupcakes for a friend’s wedding. “Thank goodness it was a basic
design,” Kimberly added jokingly. One of her early and most unique creations was a peacock feather cookie design
for a themed bridal shower. She cut out oval-shaped sugar cookies
and baked them. Then she used brown, blue and green icing to create stripes, thus transforming them into the design
of feathers.

Kimberly gains inspiration for her designs from several different sources. She enjoys watching a variety of different cooking television shows and often browses the Internet and books on cookie designs for ideas. One book-inspired design features cupcakes arranged in the shape of an alligator. In addition to green icing, Kimberly uses marshmallows and candy to create scales, claws and eyes.

Her favorite designs are those for Valentine’s Day. Kimberly enjoys making heart-shaped cookies with red, white, pink and purple icing. To create her unique effects, Kimberly focuses on the shape of her designs and the color of her homemade royal icing or butter cream frosting. For example, she is able to manipulate shapes to create a three dimensional effect, as she did with farm
animal shaped cupcakes. By arranging cookies on top of the cupcakes, Kimberly was able to build faces for the animals, including using Oreo cookies for monkey ears. “I like creating  things, and making them realistic,” she said of her efforts.

For cakes, Kimberly often uses novelty cake pans in a variety of shapes that she purchases online or at a Dallas-area cake design store. For one occasion, she used a tractor shaped cake pan to create a John Deere themed cake to go along with tractor shaped cookies.

Kimberly continues to try new decorating techniques. Up next for her is decorating a birthday cake with fondant icing. This often challenging craft requires rolling the icing onto the cake leaving the cake with an almost satin like finish.

When not designing treats, Kimberly works as a preschool teacher and is mother to two boys, ages 1 and 3. They often join her in the kitchen to create batches of cookies for the family. “I also like to decorate for my boys’ birthdays and school parties,” Kimberly said. “I make cookies as party favors.” Part of Kimberly’s popularity is attributed to the taste of her made-from-scratch creations, and also to the artistic touch she places on each batch. “I personalize each design. People always say they taste so great and look so cute at the
same time,” she said.

This popularity began with compliments and requests from attendees at parties Kimberly hosted, and has expanded, as has her confidence in her craft and hopes for the future. “It’s always been my dream to open a little bakery with my mom,” Kimberly said. “There’s nothing I think I can’t do.”

Written by Alana Williamson

The Collegiate Singers are a close-knit musical unit of 15 singers plus their accompanist, Sheila Herod, and their director, Rodney Haedge. One singer introduced the group, saying, “We’re family,” and all of the others nodded in agreement. She went on to describe their special bond saying, “Most of us sing in the 50-member Chorale and a few [of us] sing with the college Chamber Singers so we spend a lot of time together.” Some of the singers also
meet one another playing in the college band.

“Membership in the Collegiate Singers is offered by invitation only,” Rodney said. Students must audition and, if chosen, they can receive a scholarship. This means they must maintain a prescribed grade point average and faithfully attend class and rehearsals. “I wouldn’t be in college if I didn’t have this scholarship, so this group means a lot to me,” one student said. “It is great that the college makes scholarship money available for singers in this special group,” Rodney said. “Dr. Sanchez is very supportive of this group.”

The singers work hard to achieve the sound they want. “We even rehearse our music on our own time,” one student explained. “We really know the music, so we can help other singers in the other choral groups. It’s an honor to be in the group, so we feel responsibility to set an example.” Some of the singers have also auditioned and been chosen for the Junior College State Choir, the All State Choir and the All State Band. Rodney said, “It is remarkable how organized and dedicated they are to be active in clubs, have jobs and keep up their grades.”

Another feature of membership in this special group is that they travel. They perform at community events, privative parties and banquets, and they sing in churches. “They have a repertoire that includes sacred music,” Rodney added. At the Navarro College Jazz Concert, the Collegiate Singers demonstrated a repertoire which also includes jazz, pop and even Doo-wop. They sang a program that included solos, a quartet and they sang as an ensemble. The group had just returned from a performance at the Music Educators Convention in San Antonio. They earned money for the trip by working as valet parking attendants.

One student recalled that fundraising event saying, “We wore our uniform shirts, but you couldn’t see them; we were so bundled up in the cold.” Many of these talented students come from Navarro County and the others from cities such as Seattle, Washington, and Billings, Montana. One student is from Malaysia. Some of them will continue their studies in performance music, music education or band, but the group includes an aspiring dentist, a physicist, a doctor, an actor, nurses and teachers. Because their present focus is music, they take every opportunity to learn and perform. Many of the singers are enrolled in private lessons with Rodney, with other professors on campus and with teachers from other schools. Rodney likes helping singers prepare for the auditions they must do to enter an upper division music program at a four-year university. “It is the extra time they spend that creates the sound,” Rodney said.

Rodney learned with his own children the value of that “extra time” that parents and teachers need to spend to ensure the success of the young people in their care. His daughter, Christina, is now a nurse who does some teaching, and his son, Jason, is a businessman who coaches his own children to give them that “extra time.” Rodney is a graduate of Southern Methodist University. He was a choir director at Corsicana High School for 14 years before he moved to the coast. When he retired five years ago, Rodney and his wife, Sheren, returned to Corsicana. He planned to work only part time as the choir director at the First Methodist Church, but his commitment to music at Navarro College clearly demands full-time effort. Along with the classes and private lessons, there are three major performance events at the college to keep him busy. His schedule includes a jazz concert in the fall, the spring musical and a Christmas concert.

“President Sanchez has his reception the same night as our Christmas concert,” Rodney said, “but he always attends the concert to show support for the music department. “My accompanist and friend, Sheila Herod, is retiring,” Rodney said regretfully. “She is the director of piano studies and music theory here, and she is so valuable to me and to the choral groups.” Maybe Sheila will return to visit the group — as do the former members of the Collegiate Singers, who sometimes appear at rehearsals just to enjoy the sound of many voices joined as one.

Written by Joan Kilbourne

Directing the band from the 50-yard line during football season has been just one of Elizabeth’s many duties as drum
major. Since last May, Elizabeth has followed the tutelage of Director Michael Williamson by learning to conduct, to keep up with materials and music and to solve problems when emergencies arise. Elizabeth is a musician herself. She has played the clarinet for seven years and has competed successfully in University Interscholastic League (UIL) events in solo and ensemble. She is proudest, however, of the rating that the full band earned last year in sight-reading and performance and in the increased number of band members who made All-Region and All-State bands this year. “They have some great musicians coming up next year. I’m jealous of those others tudents,” Elizabeth said.

Motivated by the photographyand journalism classes she took in her junior year, Elizabeth is turning her lifelong love of reading and writing into more than a hobby by serving as editor of the CHS student newspaper, fondly known for 60 years as the JBJ. Sarah Lentz, journalism teacher and yearbook/newspaper sponsor, said, “We have many great kids at CHS, but the amount Elizabeth takes on and the full effort she gives to everything is amazing.” Not content to be just an editor, Elizabeth also competed individually in UIL editorial writing, taking First Place District Champion, and in feature writing, winning Third Place. As a team member, she placed in the top three and advanced to Regional competition last year. Not resting on her laurels from last year, Elizabeth is competing in all of the above events as well as headline writing during her senior year.

Elizabeth credited all of her former English teachers with giving her the necessary skills to accomplish her dreams in journalism and success in the classroom. However, she was quick to give special credit to CHS English teachers: Teresa Parker, Department Chair, and Elizabeth Talley, AP English teacher and National Honor Society (NHS) sponsor. “They have given me so much more than just writing skills; they have taught me life skills, studying skills and public speaking skills,” Elizabeth stated. The teachers’ pride in Elizabeth is evidenced in Ms. Parker’s comments, “Positive and focused, Elizabeth consistently strives for excellence. Her determination is certainly inspirational to those around her. She always gives her best to the task at hand.”

Acting as secretary of the National Honor Society is another of Elizabeth’s duties and she joins other NHS members in serving the Corsicana community. She volunteered to be a bell ringer for the Salvation Army, prior to Christmas, and
she volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. Spare moments outside of school activities are just as important to Elizabeth, who is a frequent babysitter for her three younger sisters, Anna, Sarah and Grace, and for Ms. Lentz’s two daughters. Elizabeth volunteers in several capacities at First United Methodist Church (UMC) in Corsicana.

Nominated recently as the Senior High Youth Conference Representative of First UMC, Elizabeth has taught in
Vacation Bible School, participated in the Christmas play and has served on mission trips to Louisiana and Missouri. Sundays are especially busy. After church, Elizabeth and Anna commute to Waco to rehearse with the Waco Area Youth Wind Ensemble (WAYWE), an honor orchestra in which Elizabeth plays clarinet. WAYWE is comprised of some of the finest players in the Waco area, who are selected through auditions.

The daughter of Lisa and John Updegrove, Elizabeth proudly credited her parents with her successes. “I’m always going to them for advice. They are both so smart in different ways,” she stated. “My sisters and I are not allowed to watch TV, play on the computer or play the Wii during the school week.”

Some of Elizabeth’s fondest family memories revolve around the summer trips they have taken to visit and hike in national parks. Elizabeth’s mom, Lisa, wrote about her daughter, “Elizabeth has had a very strong sense of self. Watching this young lady evolve is like watching a character in a real life movie, and you can’t wait to see how it turns out.”

Elizabeth is excited about her future that is secured with an acceptance letter from Baylor University accompanied by
the Baylor President’s Gold Scholarship. She plans to major in communication sciences and disorders and become a
speech pathologist or speech therapist.

“I think the world of Elizabeth and have been lucky to have someone of her caliber in my classes,” Ms. Talley said.
Corsicana and Elizabeth’s family are lucky to know this young leader and can proudly wish her well as she continues
her journey of learning.

— Written by Virginia Riddle

Intarsia, a very labor-intensive
form of artwork, involves using
different naturally colored
pieces of wood, cut into a
particular shape and laid on a
wood surface. The result of this
demanding work is an amazing
piece of three-dimensional art.
Carolyn explained how she
began to learn this ancient form
of art. “The first time I saw this
was in a woodworking magazine
that had a sample pattern in
it. The paper pattern is like a
blueprint. Judy Gale Roberts
makes most of the patterns that
I use. They tell you the color of
wood to use and what level to
place them. After that, you are
on your own on the shaping.

None of the wood has a stain on
it; it is just the natural color.” Carolyn still has her first intarsia
artwork of a smiling cat lazily hanging on a tree limb.
She also created a particularly interesting wall hanging of a
boy splashing through a puddle while crossing the street. The
wood inlay with different pieces on top of a wood surface,
achieves the 3-D effect, making for an incredible piece of
art. The skill of the craftsmanship shows in every precisely
cut section of wood that is eventually pieced together for a
picture. In Carolyn’s granddaughter’s room hangs another work
of intarsia. It is a fairy tale castle floating in clouds. The dark
sections for the wood were made with a wood-burning tool.
Although now an expert in the craft of woodworking, Carolyn
remembers when she first began. “I was in junior
high school, and I wanted to take woodshop,” she
recalled. “At that time, girls couldn’t take
woodshop.

This was in the ’50s. We
had to take home economics,
but, for six weeks we
could switch places
with the boys. They would go
to home economics and we
could go to woodshop.”
Carolyn’s fascination
for working with wood
was not deterred. She
stated, “I was always
out in the garage
with my brothers
who were older than
me, and that kept me
interested.

They were
working on cars, tearing things apart and
putting them back together. Those were
things I liked to do.” Her woodworking
knowledge and craftsmanship had to
come by her own initiative. She explained,
“I learned how to do it by trial and error.
I had always dabbled in woodworking
before I got a degree. I started college
late in life after the children were adults.
I went to Mountain View College and
was going to take drafting, but one of
the instructors talked me into getting my
bachelor’s degree. I went to North Texas
University and earned my bachelor’s
in industrial arts. I got a teacher’s
certificate in teaching industrial arts. I
taught in Dallas for 20 years, 11 years
in woodworking, and then I switched
to information technology and started
teaching computer application.”
When you are passionate about your
work, getting a chance to share it with
others wanting to learn it can be a bonus,
particularly when your students are as
enthusiastic as you are. “I have had
students who couldn’t wait to get into
the class and others who couldn’t wait
to get out,” she chuckled. “Woodwork
is a mentally challenging and costly
enterprise. You don’t need a lot of
woodworking material, but you do need
to have a band saw and drill press among
other things. If you already have those,
you are well on your way.”
Because of her expertise in
woodworking, Carolyn has carved many
works of art out of wood. In her home
is a hanging of a clock, raised on a block
of wood. Completing the picture is a
silhouette of a cowboy with intricate
details carved into the body. She has
wooden cars and pickups designed
from the 1920’s era. Adding
variety to her abundant store
of talent, she has crossstitching
pieces that are
dear to her.

She stated,
“I give most of
my woodworking
creations away
— probably
because I didn’t
have room to
hang it. I haven’t
given any of
my cross-stitch
away though. They will have to claim that
when I’m dead and gone,” she smiled.
In describing her joy in art, Carolyn
said, “It is one of those things that you
can’t do without, at that particular time.”
Her passion allows others to experience
the ancient art of intarsia. In the past
when persuading students to join her
woodworking class, she told them, “If
you like to get dirty, this is the place to
come. You are going to get wood chips
and sawdust on you, dust in your face,
nicks, scrapes and splinters.” If any
students remain in the room after that
picture of their future, they will get the
opportunity to learn woodworking from
one of the best.

Written by Betty Tryon

Each day after school, Randal would go home and play
some of his father’s instruments. “I would be very careful
with them when using them and then put them away the way
I found them,” he laughed. When he got a little older, both of
his grandmothers taught him to play the piano. “Then, when I
turned 10, I learned to play saxophone in the school band. That’s
also when I learned to read music,” he recalled.
By the time Randal was 12 years old, he could play almost
any kind of instrument. “It is also when I got my first gig,” he
beamed. “It was to play on stage with my dad’s blues band. It
was at a ‘hole in the wall’ kind of club. I still remember that first
night when I stepped onto the stage with my sax and played in
some of their sets.”

Randal soon decided he wanted his own band, so he and some
high school friends put one together to play in a school talent
show. The band worked so well they decided to keep on playing
together. “We started playing parties for the senior classes and
at night clubs. I had an old Cadillac when I was 16, and we were
always able to fit the band with all of our gear into that ’66
Caddy,” Randal said.

After school, Randal moved to Austin. “I would play gigs on
Sixth Street all the time and would get there via skateboard with
my sax strapped onto my back,” he laughed. “I just wanted to
play every day!” Randal then relocated to California for a few
years, where he played in all different genres of bands, earning
him the nickname “Horn Solo.” He also produced and created
his first solo album. Randal eventually gained an audio/video
degree, which helped him write, self-produce, engineer, fund and
create the artwork for all of his albums — currently 19 in all.
As a young adult, music showed Randal how to creatively
express himself, and he is thankful for all of the support and
encouragement he received along the way. “I have been blessed
to be able to come across the people that I have,” he said. He is also very
thankful for the gift of music and how it has
transformed his life.

“Growing up in the ’80s, I was considered a punk because I used to skateboard,”
he shared, admitting there were some troubling times during
his teens. “But my parents didn’t let me get away with anything,
especially since I was an only child,” he laughed. “My parents
were very supportive of my music and then when I started
studying journalism and photography. While I studied, I saw
all of my friends were going to jail left and right. The arts kept
me busy because it was time consuming,
which kept me out of stuff. Then and
now, [music] helps me to forget about a
bad day. I think those are truly magical
moments.”

Randal feels that creating or playing a
tune is one of the best ways to express
oneself, and that it is important to pursue
and cultivate an innate talent and share
it with others. Music gives insight into a
very intimate side of the creator, which
makes it even more satisfying to share
with others.

“People who have the gift
of art and music just need to do it and
share it with others because it creates joy
for both the creator and the listener. My
wife, Elizabeth, says that music is the
art of the soul,” Randal smiled. “In my
music, I usually write about the nuances
from my life, relationships and things I
have seen or done in my life. My wife and
children have given me new inspiration to
be successful.” Not only has he written
songs for them, but he feels that his songs
now have more thought-provoking lyrics.

Besides having a musical production
business, booking, promoting and
writing his music, Randal also loves to
share his music at his church, First United
Methodist of Red Oak, where he plays
his saxophone. Randal encourages
children to play. “All types of art,
including music, have been shown to
help kids do better in school,” he said.
Lately, Randal has been quite involved
in creating music videos for his band
and performing as a local disc jockey. “I
am also going to start teaching beginner
guitar,” he said. “I am currently putting
together the curriculum that I plan to
teach.” While his tunes may have changed
throughout the years, Randal’s love of
music has always remained, a love he
cannot help but pass on.

These days, he tours as Bonnie Raitt’s sound engineer and owns a sound studio in Palmer, which is managed by Milo Phillips. “I was very lucky, because my career has been over this span of 40-something years now,” Pappy said. “I’ve been playing guitar and bass, and a little bit of everything, ever since I was a kid,” Pappy recalled. “My dad played piano and auditioned for Bob Wills, and could have had the gig, but he didn’t want to move to Tulsa.” Pappy remembers his dad having two vintage 1930s-era guitars at home when he was growing up — a Kalamazoo, which was one of the first Gibson guitars, and a chrome-looking metal guitar called a resonator. When Paul was in high school, he experienced a moment of rock history. “I heard the Beatles the very first time they were played in America on KFJZ in Fort Worth.”

After starting college, Paul was drafted. He married his sweetheart, Carol, before he left for the Army. As soon as Paul was out of the service, he enrolled in The University of Texas in the music and drama department, but soon decided that he was ready to step out on his own in the industry. “I made the decision through the course of the next year to start a little sound company.” Outlaw country had come into style in the early ’70s, and Pappy got his start doing Willie Nelson shows, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Rusty Weir shows. He purchased PA systems and leased them to several area clubs, such as the

Electric Ballroom (formerly the Wagon Wheel), Mother Blue’s, Gertie’s and the Travis Street Electric Company. “I did big concert tours all over the world with Julio Iglesias, who had done a record with Willie Nelson, To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.”

One day, in 1973, Pappy was in a club talking to the club manager about booking Point Blank, a band Pappy was helping. The band Blackhorse was performing, and when the bass player became ill during a set, Pappy offered to step in. “I played with the drummer, John Teague, and the guitar player, Gary James, for two hours.” It led to a successful partnership, which lasted until 1981, although the band still does reunion gigs together.

They made an album together, and came very close to opening for Van Halen during a world tour. “We were the only band to ever headline Zoo World two years, and we did it two years in a row. We were one of the top bands in the Dallas area for 10 years, and it was all because we took over the audience. We worked every single week for six years.”

After the band years, Pappy started doing sound full time. He was friends with Buford Jones, who owned a Dallas sound studio. “Buford Jones had been Showco’s main engineer, and he is one of the top live engineers in the business. He mixed ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder. We were independent, but he let me work in his studio.”

When a call came in from Bonnie Raitt, and Buford was heading out to do the last Jackson’s Victory Tour, the two week gig ended up going to Pappy. “That was the start of my touring with Bonnie. Now, I tour exclusively with Bonnie Raitt as her sound engineer; I have for 24 years. She says she won’t do a show without me.” When in town, Pappy and his love, Susie, who is an integral part of the spirit of the studio, can be found in the fascinating world of Palmyra Studios, surrounded by a 150-year-old Mason & Hamlin pump organ, which was designed for a San Francisco ship captain, a Rupert Neve-designed control console, which came out of

Abbey Road Studios in London, and a Pearl drum kit that was given to him by famed drummer Ricky Fataar. “Ricky and Eric Idol, while lying on the beach in Barbados, were the ones who came up with the idea of making a movie about the Beatles and calling it The Rutles. Ricky played the George Harrison guy [Stig O’Hara] in the movie.”

On tour, Pappy enjoys the opportunity to interact with other creative musicians. “Rock stars are nice people, not the drugged-out crazies people are always hearing about. I got to meet George Harrison. He was a sweetheart of a guy. Buford mixed the last tour that George did. I had just gotten into London with Bonnie when I got a call from Buford, and he had me go to Victoria Station and come out to the studio. It was the dress rehearsal day for the tour, and Eric Clapton and George Harrison were going on tour. I turned around and here is Jeff Lynne from ELO (Electric Light
Orchestra), Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr. All of George’s friends were there to
support him.”

Pappy’s creative journey takes him all over the world, but home is right here in Palmer now. His sound studio is in the country, and he finds it to be a retreat when he is not on tour, as well as a place his musical associates can make music whenever they want to. “It gives us the freedom to come out here, and we can just play as long and as late as we like,” he said. “This place is built to be really creative.”

Written by Kelly Kovar

The mother/daughter duo has sung together since Tara was old enough to cheer her mother on at the Texas Gold Show (an opry similar to the Johnny High Revue) produced by Terrie Lynn’s cousin at the old Wichita Theatre in Wichita Falls.

“When Tara was little and I was performing the show, she was always right there on the front row, and she was one of my biggest fans. I could look at her, and she knew every word I was singing. I’d think, Oh, what line’s coming next? And I could look at her and she’d be down there mouthing the words, and I could catch on,” Terrie Lynn recalled.

Fifteen years later, when Tara performed in the Burleson High School productions of Honk!, 42nd Street and Thoroughly Modern Millie, Terrie Lynn found deep satisfaction watching Tara. “I played Marion the Librarian in The Music Man in high school, and it was great to see Tara performing [at] a much more competitive and more professional level than I was exposed to in the ‘70s,” Terrie Lynn said. Now she is Tara’s biggest fan.

Tara worked hard the past two summers in professional engagements. In 2008, she spent six months as a character performer in a paid internship of the college program at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Last summer, Tara danced in the musical drama Texas at Palo Duro
Canyon. “We did 60-plus performances, more than I’ve ever done before,” she said. “Doing it as a job taught me discipline and professionalism, and also just how to have fun on the job.” While in Texas, she also performed as the fairy, Mustardseed, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, presented by cast members from Texas. Terrie Lynn drove up to cheer on her daughter at least six different weekends.

Since then, mother and daughter have embarked on awesome singing adventures together. Tara was invited into the Chamber Choir at Texas Wesleyan, and together she and Terrie Lynn were accepted into the Wesleyan Chorale. They joined the choir at Tara’s school, Texas Wesleyan University, and began rehearsals for a Robert Schumann mass called Missa Sacra, which they performed last month.

Tara believes that “through the passion you have for what you’re singing about, you can express yourself.” Her pleasure in expressing emotion through singing comes from her mother and from the trainingshe received from Philip and Cindy Glenn and Frank Conlon, Burleson Independent School District choir directors.

“I give credit for my voice to my mother. It all started with her. I get my talent from her genes, and she is my number one fan,” Tara expressed. “I can count on her to be at every concert and every performance. It encourages me to keep going and reach my dreams.”

Second to God, Tara’s father, Rex, is the greatest encourager of his talented
family. A drummer himself, he met and married Terrie Lynn two years after the Elvis Presley cover band that she sang for broke up. She decided at that juncture to stick to gospel and country, and the new family she and Rex started made musical expression a priority.

“Rex and I have sung and played in musical groups together in church for 28 years now,” she said. Terrie Lynn not only sings, but also leads a fine arts group and directs dramas and musicals at Fossil Creek Community Church. Her two sons play drums and percussion with their dad at the church, and Tara plays keyboards in the worship service and is a singer in the contemporary service.

“Wherever I go in life, whatever church I end up in later, I want to be involved with music there,” Tara said. The Harwell house is not a quiet place, since both women practice when they can, wherever they can.

“Sometimes, not as often as you might think, we’ll practice together at home,” Terrie Lynn said. “A lot of times here lately, Tara’s so busy with school and I do church stuff that we look forward to the times when we can do things together.”

For Terrie Lynn’s vocal ensemble at church, she has to memorize a new song every week.

“I never stand in front of a mirror anymore,” she laughed. “I sing a lot in
the car. I don’t care who’s riding with me, if I’m going somewhere you’re gonna have to sit back and listen because I’m practicing in the car!”

Tara greatly enjoys bringing people into the presence of God, and will be singing a solo or two in the Christmas Fantasia that Terrie Lynn is producing at their church. “It will be a combination of a variety show, with some fun and some serious Christmas music, some skits, some comedy relief and a children’s musical,” Terrie Lynn shared.

Terrie Lynn has never pushed Tara to join her in her dream. “I don’t have to live my dream through her because I’ve had mine, she has hers,” Terrie Lynn said. “We’ve had fun talking about it — and now we’re still doing it together!”

Written by Melissa Rawlins

Usually there are 50 people
in the library’s meeting room for story
time, ranging in age from babies to the
elderly. “It’s a very mixed group, and I
try to appeal to all of them.”
Her challenge as an artist is to show
imagination and sensitivity in her work.
Whether the stories and poems she tells
and sings are actually art is quite another
story. “I actually looked up the definition
of art,” smiled Carolyn. “Art is ‘human
works of beauty with an aesthetic value,
related to the appreciation of beauty.
Art pieces do not have any intrinsic value
in and of themselves. Art has no value,
other than the fact that it’s beautiful.
It’s not valued because it’s beautiful. It’s
beautiful because it’s valued. Other
people can see that it’s beautiful. It
doesn’t mean that everyone sees
everything as beautiful.”
Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of
the beholder. While a member of The
Society for Creative Anachronism
(SCA), where she first performed her
original medieval-flavored epic and
free-form poems, Carolyn’s beholders
granted her several awards for her
stories, poetry and songs. “Once again,
the awards themselves have no intrinsic
value. But it was one of the most
valuable experiences of my life,”
Carolyn said. “I love sharing stories and
poems with people.”
Most of her poetry, written on
scraps of paper and in notebooks about
whatever momentary event captured
her interest, was created to be performed.
A lot of Carolyn’s poems are sung,
which heightens their emotion. In
1995, she wrote a song called “The
Banshee,” dealing with women who
are left when their men go off to war.
When she sings, Carolyn closes her
eyes and shares the emotion behind
her story of a woman left to weep alone,
and of her man dying far from home.
“It gives me cold chills even when I
perform it,” Carolyn said. “Poetry
makes words sing and dance through
your brain!”
There was a time in Carolyn’s life
when she thought it impossible that
she could entertain people. Then, while
visiting the Scarborough Renaissance
Festival in Waxahachie, she learned
about the SCA. “One of the things
they do is reproduce the Middle Ages,
during the period after the Dark Ages,
from about 600 C.E. — 1650 C.E.
SCA is a teaching organization; we did
school demonstrations about life in the
Middle Ages. I recreated the Bardic arts,
poetry, stories and songs, hopefully
done in a period fashion. Basically,
what I did was talk about the lives of
children in the Middle Ages.”
Her own childhood in 20th century
Texas involved lots of stories told by
various family members. “My dad
especially could make up a story that
fast, about anything. It was usually
total nonsense, but always fun,” Carolyn
remembered. “My grandmother and
aunts and I would sit around telling
stories, usually family-related, sometimes
not. I grew up with a good sense [of]
how my family lived when they were
children, what it was like during the
Depression, what it was like to lose a
child. I’ve always made up stories for
my children at bed time.”
Carolyn has two children, and is
rearing a granddaughter. “Right now,
she likes to hear family stories, real
ones about the things that happened
to family members,” Carolyn said. “Her
great-grandfathers are both deceased,
and she likes to hear about them.
‘Nanny, tell me about when you were
growing up!’ is one of her most frequent
requests right now” — an easy request
to fill, since telling stories is one of
Carolyn’s favorite things to do.
“Stories can relate to history, emotions,
imaginary things. Stories also evoke
emotions that reading a book does
not,” Carolyn said. “Children react to
the spoken word differently than they
do to books they read. When you read,
you have descriptions in the words in
front of you. When you tell a story, a
child’s mind evokes those pictures. It’s
a different process of learning and
understanding the world around them.”
Carolyn continues to fill notebooks
and paper scraps with poems and ideas
for stories. As she performs stories for
the children at the library and for her
granddaughter, Carolyn hopes to ignite
the storytelling spark in a few of her
audience members. “Storytelling is not
a dying art,” Carolyn said.
Especially important is to write
down those ideas that come into your
mind, cautions Carolyn, who has at
least 100 poems and stories in her
body of work. “If you don’t write it
down, there’s something wrong with
you,” she winked, “because it was a
gift and who knows if you’ll remember
it tomorrow.”