GEORGIA and her MUSICAL FAMILY

(Contributed by Sue Von Feldt about her mother Georgia, March 6, 2010)

"Sue, where did the music talent in your family come from?"

I always thought mom had a nice singing voice and she used to sing in church along with everyone else and she knew the songs. I think she probably used to sing when she was in the Catholic High Boarding School. In fact I remember her telling us a story of how one day they were all there and the nun was not there yet, so they decided to play a joke on her and they hid. Sister finally came in and waited a bit and could not figure it out and left. When she left they all got back in their chairs and so when she came back she asked them where they were and they said we have been here sitting here in our chairs! I guess she did not think it was that funny and so she said well I guess you will be sitting in those chairs after school also and so they had their singing class after school.

She would sing around home, and also liked listening to music. Her dad had a music shop at some point in Holyrood along with his photography. I think that was when he also carried jewelry too. (I think he was quite the entrepreneur). In addition he also played in a band and I don't know if you remember or not, but when we painted that middle bedroom at mom's house several years ago (we did her room and the middle bedroom), anyhow we hung up the picture of him and the band members (I am thinking maybe I took that picture and have it in the storage room somewhere.) Her mom did not play any instrument but she sure liked to dance and I guess she would go along with him when the band played and she would dance.

My dad, although I barely remember this, he used to have a banjo and used to play. I really don't remember him playing that much but I remember where it was kept at home and I think one of us kids (surely not me) broke the skin on it. Dad also loved listening to music and he and mom had a phonograph with the old thick records and later the big albums. Even after I left home, they bought that new stero that sat in the living room (the one that was still there in the living room when we stopped by there after mom's funeral), and they bought several LP albums. Mom really liked to listen to organ pipe music and dad liked listening to Kate Smith and they both really liked Guy Lumbardo, but dad especially liked him. And they both loved to watch Lawrence Welk. Before we even had tv, we would go over to Edna and Earl's and the adults would watch Lawrence Welk, Bishop Sheen and the Ed Sullivan show, while us kids played but some of the time we would sit down and watch some of the shows also.

(Coming soon – a very special story about Georgia and Guy Lombardo).

Dad's mother played the organ and I really don't remember her playing it but Ann and Dorothy do. I remember Joe and I playing on it and we would try and make sounds like an airplane taking off! I don't think we were allowed to play on it much, and I think it may have even been after she died that we got to play on it as no one else knew how to play it. Eventually the folks decided it was taking up too much space in the living room and moved it out to the other side of the outhouse building. It sat out there and rotted away.( The roof leaked and it got full of dust, etc.) What a shame huh? I don’t know just how good she was at playing it. But for that period of time that had to have been a pretty nice piece of furniture to have and I would love to know the story behind it of when and how they got it and when and how she learned to play. I think she lived with her grandparents for some time back in Pennsylvania so I wonder if she learned it there or what. Gosh, I sure wish somebody would have journaled back then.

Ann played trumpet and was pretty good. I talked my friend Louise into letting me borrow her drum and I thought I was going to teach myself to play the drum, but I did not have a clue as I never learned to read music, but I had fun trying to play the drum and Louise taught me a couple basic things. I never had a good singing voice, and once Sister Denise asked me to sing a little quieter and that really destroyed my confidence and I would not sing after that. I stopped going up in the choir and started sitting with mom and dad at church. She came and got me and made me go up to the choir; well you have heard of the story (my dad used to say this a lot), you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. At that point I still refused to sing at all and so when the report cards came out, she gave me an F in music. (There were many incidents like that where Sr. Denise and I clashed and reasons why I ended up disliking that nun so much.)

For a long time my secret dream was to magically overnight obtain a beautiful voice, or I wanted to become a singer in my next life; mostly I just wanted to have an average voice so I could join in on fun singing together with other having fun. That will never happen in this life, maybe the next. I always wanted to learn to play guitar or piano and have thought about trying it in retirement but I don't know that I could or would I spend enough time practicing to even play as well as a 5th grader! So I just listen to music and only try singing along if I know for sure no one else is around, except the dog and at least he does not howl. Good dog!

That is the music history in my family as much as I know it!!