COLUMBUS, Ind. — Forty-five minutes before the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s annual patriotic SALUTE! concert, Artistic Director David Bowden lightheartedly added an impromptu number to the evening’s musical program — a fitting Beatles’ classic.
Just as the clouds majestically broke over him on the lawn of the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans on Friday night, he broke into song.
“Here comes the sun,” he crooned amid a gathering crowd around him. “Doo doo doo doo. Here comes the sun. Doo doo doo doo. And I say — it’s all right.”
It was indeed. On a day marked by dark skies and thunderstorms, the city’s professional orchestra, like a good soldier, stayed focused on its Memorial Day weekend mission — honoring those who have served and also those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Its leaders announced Friday morning amid dismal forecasts that the show would go on even in rain unless there was lightning.
“Originally, everything was going to be wonderful,” Bowden said, clad in a stars-and-stripes polo shirt as the orchestra warmed up behind him with the military fight songs. “Then we had those silly pop-up showers.”
What followed at the concert was a show showering veterans with gratitude from a crowd that seem to fall slightly shy of organizers’ 1,000-person limit because of COVID-19 restrictions.
For the complete story, and more photos, see Saturday’s Republic.
