Kansas City Blues

Festival to feature red, white & the blues

A celebration of red, white and the blues will cap this long Independence Day holiday weekend.

The second annual Spirit of Kansas Blues Festival on the Fourth of July with its nine sets of blues performances on two stages at Lake Shawnee will precede the area's largest fireworks display.

However, the blues isn't the only genre of music planned this weekend to celebrate America's birthday. Three other patriotic concerts are planned for Sunday and Monday.

Here are details:

MUSIC FROM THE TOWER

For a 10th year, Topeka High School alumnus Jerry Anderson will perform a program of patriotic tunes on one of the city's more unique instruments, the historical chimes in the tower of Topeka High School, 800 S.W. 10th. The free concert will be at 6 p.m. Sunday. Audience members can bring lawn chairs for seating on campus although the chimes can be heard for two miles.

The 18 tubular bells were installed in 1931. Manufactured by the J.C. Deagan Co. in Chicago, the then $20,000 chimes, were a donation by Topeka businessman and political leader David W. Mulvane in memory of his late wife Helen McKenna Mulvane.

Anderson, a member of the THS class of 1967, is a respected organist and carillonneur. The Music from the Tower concert is presented by the Topeka High School Historical Society.

SANTA FE BAND

Patriotic tunes, including "America the Beautiful" and "Stars and Stripes Forever," will be among the repertoire of the Santa Fe Band when it performs at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Gage Park Amphitheater. The concert is free. Those attending can sit on the fixed park benches in front of the bandstand or bring lawn chairs.

The Santa Fe Band got its start in 1924 in the Topeka shops of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and was led until 1989 by C.M. Whitlow. He died in 1995.

A company band for a number of years, the contemporary ensemble includes spouses and children of railroaders and community members never affiliated with Santa Fe, but the band still rehearses at the BNSF railroad office building in downtown Topeka under the direction of Aaron Zlatnik.

Sunday's program will include a number of marches, including "The Green Beret," the Ken Whitcomb-penned official march of the U.S. Army Special Forces.

GRACE CATHEDRAL

Grace Cathedral again will mark the Fourth of July with its annual Community Independence Day Celebration at 10 a.m. Monday in the historic house of worship at 701 S.W. 8th. Admission is free.

Sporting news: Gold Cup call ups, Sporting Club adds KC Blues ...

During the Gold Cup next month, Sporting Kansas City will be without the services of forward Teal Bunbury, midfielders Craig Rocastle and Stephane Auvray and defenders Roger Espinoza and Shavar Thomas. According to manager Peter Vermes, all five have been called up to their respective national teams for the month-long tournament. </p><p>The news on Rocastle (Grenada) and Espinoza (Honduras) had already leaked out. Speculation on Auvray (Guadeloupe) and Thomas (Jamaica) has been around since January when both captained their respective nation to qualification. Bunbury (United States) is the surprise. His inclusion has been speculated, but U.S. coach Bob Bradley wasn't expected to announce his squad until early next week.</p><p>Vermes revealed the call-ups during his regular press conference on Thursday following training. </p><p><h3>Club adds rugby to the network</h3></p><p>One day after establishing an affiliation with several youth athletic organizations, Sporting Club announced Thursday they have added the Kansas City Blues rugby club as a founding member of the Sporting Club Network. </p><p>"Sporting Club is very pleased to be affiliated with the Kansas City Blues Rugby Club," Sporting Club vice president and Blues board member Rory O'Connor said in a press release. "The Blues are a tremendous organization and together we feel that there is a great opportunity to help grow the sport of rugby in this region."</p><p>The Blues were founded in 1966 and have participated in both national and international competitions. Several members (both past and current) have represented the U.S. national team. The Blues field an Under-19 team, the Junior Blues, and have many affiliations with high school clubs in the metro. </p><p>The Club were keen to point out in the release that they did not acquire or purchase the Blues. It's a "commercial sponsorship," and the Blues will wear a Sporting Club patch and train at the Swope Park Training Center. </p><p>If you followed the news on this blog last week, you'd already know that Sporting Kansas City and the Blues will hold a double-header on Oct. 15th, with the soccer club hosting the New York Red Bulls at Livestrong Sporting Park at 3 p.m. </p><p><h3>Smith, Bravo near full returns</h3></p><p>During a rain-soaked training session on Thursday, Sporting Kansas City got a double-dose of positive as winger Ryan Smith and Omar Bravo competed at near full speed. It's unknown whether either will earn a starting spot against Seattle this weekend, but both are key returns for the team. </p><p><h3>Injury Report</h3></p><p>The only Sporting player listed as out this weekend is Konrad Warzycha who is on injured reserve. The probables for Saturday: Bravo (recovering from a sports hernia), Birahim Diop (hamstring strain) and Davy Arnaud (neck strain). </p><p>Diop participated in training on Thursday; Arnaud did not.

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