Ele's Music Notes
by Ele Nash

June 2001

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune.
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten.
- James Russell Lowell

In the old Latin calendar June was the fourth month, and it had 29 days. The Romans later moved the beginning of the year to January 1, making June the sixth month. When Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 46 B.C., he gave June 30 days. Some authorities believe the Romans named the month for Juno, the patron goddess of marriage, and the wife and sister of Jupiter. Juno was the patroness and guardian of women, as well as the protector of marriages, and June has long been the month most closely associated with marriage. Others trace the name to the Junius family, powerful and important in the early history of ancient Rome.

June brings the summer solstice this year on June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere. Earth responds to the long days and warm nights with the showiest blossoms of the year.
O, my Luve's like a red red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
O, my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

- Robert Burns
June is bustin' out all over,
All over the meadow and the hill
Buds're bustin' outa bushes,
And the rompin' river pushes
Ev'ry little wheel that wheels beside a mill
Oscar Hammerstein (Carousel)

Special days in June include Flag Day on June 14 in observance of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress in 1777. It then had 13 stars to match its 13 stripes.

June 3 is a legal holiday in some Southern states in observance of Jefferson Davis' birthday. In Hawaii they celebrate Kamehameha. Day on June 11 to honor the king who united the Hawaiian islands into one kingdom.

Borrowed from W. Evan Golder, Editor of United Church News, June 1996:
"Some Sunday this month, in most churches across the country, choir members will robe up for the last time before their summer vacation from Sunday singing. Why? To give choir members a break from the weekly discipline of midweek rehearsals and Sunday anthems. Nevertheless, many of us will miss the choir.

So, as summer comes, let's give thanks for those who help make music in our churches: organists, pianists, choir directors, and let's sing praises to the choir and to our choir members who hurry through supper, miss bedtime stories, and spend hours at rehearsals, enduring countless times of 'Let's take it again from the top,' until they get it right.

"If there's a 'sweet, sweet spirit' in the place where you worship, it's probably due largely to the choir, singing to the glory of God."

Please remember to express your appreciation and gratitude to all those who sang in Choir or participated in the music program in any way this 2000-2001 church year:

Mark Adams
Rich Baldwin
Char Bates
Lee Bates
Dottie Blair
Joshua Boris
Leah Boris
Walter John Boris
Gerhard Dieckmann
Barbara Dietrich
Ernest Dietrich
Lois Fulsang
JoAnn Harris
Paul Hoerlein
Pat Jovag
Tim Kehrli
Marjie Kichline
Vanessa Kichline
Annie Richardson-Lander
Richard Lander
Joanne Barrie Lynn
Cindy Penn
Jerry Rutherford
Barbara Thomas
Diane Wilson
Then let us, one and all, be contented with our lot;
The June is here this morning, and the sun is shining hot;
Oh! let us fill our hearts up with the glory of the day,
And banish ev'ry doubt and care and sorrow far away.

- James Whitcomb Riley

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