The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage:
Salvation Army Music
When Ellen and I were planning our trip to Alderney in 1990, we found out that when Dad and other 17-year-olds left the island to join the Canadian Army, the Salvation Army Band played them off. When Ellen and I found out about the 50-year commemoration service of the Evacuation of Alderney which changed my Grandma Herivel’s life on June 23, 1940, exactly 50 years previously, Ellen and I planned our trip so we’d be at that service on June 23, 1990.
The Salvation Army Band played all the music for the service at the waterfront where the Islanders had boarded the evacuation boats 50 years before. During one of our walks in Alderney, we found the Salvation Army Church; it was small, but active.
Dad’s brother was bandmaster at the Salvation Army Citadel; their church in downtown Detroit. It was a Herivel family tradition when I was a girl to go downtown to the Citadel on Thanksgiving night for the Salvation Army band concert, topping off a special day: the JL Hudson’s Department Store Thanksgiving Day Parade, the turkey dinner, and finally the concert.
Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday
I love Christmas and the other holidays but Thanksgiving is more relaxing than Christmas, the weather is usually good for the family members who are on the road that day, going “over the hills and through the woods …” it’s the first big feast of the year, not the second, and the excitement and anticipation and preparations for Christmas are still ahead of us. Television has something for everyone on that day: football games, parades, and usually a good family movie in the evening to watch while we eat leftovers. And for all the years we went, the Detroit Salvation Army band Thanksgiving night concerts were always a treat.
Salvation Army members wear black uniforms with touches of red trim to their church services and other Salvation Army functions, and the ladies’ black bonnets had a chin strap with a large bow near the ear. One of my fond memories of the Salvation Army is the red kettle at Christmas time with somebody in a Salvation Army uniform ringing a handbell; the kettle was for donations for needy people. I still give to the red kettle whenever I see one during the holidays, which look different today from the kettles I remember, and I still get a sentimental lump in my throat every time.
When I was a girl, copies of their magazine, The War Cry, were stacked next to the kettle for those who wanted a copy as they made their donation. I wish now that I had saved a copy. It didn’t have anything to do with war; it just had nice Christmas stories with a moral lesson, poems, etc. I respect the Salvation Army for all the ways it helps disaster victims, folks who are down-and-out or those who rely on used clothing and furniture. And I’d rather give to their organization than to other charity groups because of my very personal connection to the Salvation Army.
To be continued…
***
About the Author: RD Blakeslee (1931 – 2024) built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
The post Grandfather Says: The Continuing Chronicles of Elaine, Part 68 appeared first on Len Penzo dot Com.