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Texas Flag Ceremony-Conroe, TX

Sunday, April 24, 2011 @11:16:07 AM

On April 21, 2011,, a special flag raising ceremony and park dedication was held in Conroe. It was on that same date, 175 years ago, that Sam Houston and his Texians defeated General Santa Ana at San Jacinto. At the time that the Texians were fighting for independence from Mexico, thirteen flags flew over battles that took place; such as Gonzales, Goliad, The Alamo and San Jacinto. There are thirteen flag poles surrounding a newly sculptured monument to the men and women that fought. Last Thursday, at the ceremony, each of the thirteen flags was raised and with each raising, the canon, Rolling Thunder, was fired along with the muzzle rifles of thirty men dressed in early Texas attire. It was a wonderful celebration.

I had the honor of being asked to play old time banjo music at the function. My Blog Photo was taken at the occasion. I played for 2 1/2 hours non-stop and could have played longer if given the opportunity. Many dignitaries and special guests were present. One of the individuals asked to raise a flag was the Nashville artist, Marty Stuart. He came into the tent where I was playing and sat down beside me to listen. He looked over my list of songs I was playing and then pointed at Angelina Baker and said, "I know all the songs, but I don't think I know that one." While playing it for him, he was intent on what my right hand was doing. I've not met many performers of his caliber, but I have to say that he has got to be one of the most kind, attentive people that I've ever met. As you can imagine, when he was at the podium to dedicate a flag, he was dressed all in black. Along with Marty Stuart was Clint Black; however, I didn't have the opportunity to visit with him. I was able to get my photo taken with Marty Stuart and with our US Congressman, Kevin Brady.

I'm going to attempt to download some pictures of the occasion. If I'm able to, I hope you like them. As a side note, I was playing my new Gold Tone OT-800 that I purchased recently from Zepp Music. They did a fine job setting it up. It has a sweet tone. I'm looking forward to the camp I'll be attending this August in Arlington, TX. My instructor will be none other than Dan Levenson. I know I'm going to learn a lot. As I think back on Marty Stuart focusing on my hand movements, I want to believe that he was thinking, "very very good"; however, he may have been thinking, "what the h - - l is he doing". Maybe Dan will be able to enlighten me when he watches me play.

Joe Rosser

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