Friends of Lincoln State Park

Spencer County, Newburgh, and Owensboro community band members perform at the Lincoln Amphitheatre in 2007.  

The Friends of Lincoln State Park will host a free Community Band Concert at the Lincoln Amphitheatre on Sunday, May 25th at 7:00 PM. Members from area community bands participating are the Spencer County Community Band, The Old Dam Band from Newburgh, and the Owensboro Community Band.

The bands will perform many patriotic, pop, and jazz selections including The Armed Forces Salute, Stars and Stripes Forever, Sinatra In Concert, and Hosts of Freedom. Also performing will be a jazz ensemble made up of members of the bands performing jazz favorites such as All of Me, Take the A Train, Georgia on My Mind, and Back Home Again in Indiana.

The Friends and the bands will also welcome a very special guest for this year's performance. Maestro Joseph Choi will be making a special guest appearance to conduct a few of the musical numbers. Maestro Choi has most recently served as Assistant Conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic Chorus, and Assistant Conductor of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. He is also Music Director and Conductor of the Owensboro Symphony Youth Orchestras and Director of Music at Eastminster Presbyterian Church. He is an accomplished conductor and musician, having served as an Artistic Director of the Maryland Chamber Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Asheville Symphony and Southern Adventist University Symphony Orchestra, cover conductor for the Phoenix Youth Symphony and University of Maryland Symphony, guest conductor of the Phoenix and Scottsdale Symphonies and Daejon Philharmonic in South Korea. He has also conducted the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, Lisboa Metropolitan Orchestra (Portugal), Jeju Symphony (S. Korea), Beethoven Chamber Orchestra, U.S. Army Field Band and Chorus, U.S. Bolling Air Force Band, Knoxville Chanber Orchestra and Symphony Chorus, among many others.

The concert is free of charge and concessions will be available at the concession stand. The per vehicle park entrance fee of $5 ($7 for out of state vehicles) will apply to the event. Because the amphitheatre is fully covered, there will be no rainout of the concert.

The three area community bands combined to play together for the first time last year at the Lincoln Amphitheatre, creating an ensemble of around 80 participants from at least six counties in the tri-state area.

The idea of a joint concert among the bands arose last year from discussions between Jon Patton (conductor of the Spencer County Community Band) and Dan Schultz (conductor of the Newburgh Old Dam Band). Patton, who is not only the director of the Spencer County Community Band, but also founder of Newburgh's Old Dam Band, thought it would be a great opportunity for members of all three groups to get together and have fun playing music together. The bands also joined forces this past December for a combined concert of Christmas music at the Owensboro Christian Church.

The Old Dam Band was formed at the old lock and dam building in Newburgh in 2000. Hugh Whittaker, a resident of Owensboro who plays with the Old Dam Band decided to form a band in Owensboro a couple of years later. Jon Patton, who had directed the Old Dam Band, moved to Rockport and, in 2005, with his wife Tina formed the Spencer County Community Band which has grown from just a handful of members to now well over 20 performers.

“We are excited to once again be hosting these area community bands at the Lincoln Amphitheatre and are especially pleased to be welcoming someone of the stature and talent level of Maestro Joseph Choi. We received excellent feedback from last year’s audience and the bands were anxious to come back to perform at the amphitheatre. I think many in attendance at last year’s concert who weren’t already familiar with the bands were surprised by the quality of the performance and talent level of the band members,” said Dan Wilkinson, Friends of Lincoln State Park president.

From a Press Release Issued by the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission

The Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has chosen the team of Will Clark, a sculptor from Fort Wayne, and George Morrison of the Fort Wayne architectural firm of Morrison Kattman Menze, as the recipient of the Lincoln Public Art Program Grant created as part of the statewide celebration of Lincoln’s Indiana roots.

Clark and Morrison were among artists from across the state who submitted proposals to create a piece of public art or arts experience reflective of 1816 to 1830, which is when Lincoln lived in Indiana.

This project will commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday and become a permanent fixture at Lincoln State Park, which is near the homestead where Lincoln spent 14 formative years of his life, from the ages of 7 to 21.

The program has a budget of $300,000 for the creation of the chosen work, which will be installed at Lincoln State Park in 2009. The public art plaza consists of a large circular plaza punctuated with limestone pedestals signifying key milestones in Lincoln’s formative Indiana years and a twice life size bronze bust of President Lincoln.

“It will truly be a destination for visitors to Lincoln State Park,” said Connie Nass, chairperson of the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (IALBC). “It’s educational in that it provides facts and information about Abraham’s life and his impact on the world, but it’s also fun in that there’s surprise and discovery.”

From the layout of the display to the limestone markers that express the different heights of a child growing from seven years of age to an adult, the memorial is interactive and provides a tangible experience for visitors. The setting will be on the knoll in the Oak Grove area of the park.

“It’s a beautiful location, and it will help attract people to come and learn more about Abraham Lincoln and his time in Indiana,” said Nass.

Plans call for the plaza to be constructed just inside the park entrance where the Oak Grove shelter house is now located with a completion date in 2009.

The new Indiana license plate commemorating the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial was unveiled today by Ron Stiver, Commissioner of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and Connie Nass, chairperson of the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Members of the Bicentennial Commission and Michael Blickman, chairman of the Indiana Historical Society Board of Trustees attended the ceremony that was held in the Rose McKee Lanham Gallery at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis.

The new license plate is now available at no additional charge for 2008 and 2009 and may be ordered at any Indiana BMV license branch as a renewal or new registration. After being ordered, the plate will be mailed to the customer's home. The plate may be displayed through 2013.

Stiver explained that the license plate design features a logo developed for the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission that is being used on special signage throughout the state.

“Too often it is forgotten that America’s most eloquent and greatest president spent fourteen of his most formative years in Indiana,” Stiver said. “President Lincoln truly does ‘belong to the ages,’ and it is only fitting that Hoosiers are able to take part in celebrating the bicentennial of his birth through display of the new Lincoln license plate.”

On behalf of the Bicentennial Commission, Chairperson Nass added, “The Commission is proud to have worked with legislators and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to design, develop and produce this special plate that proudly identifies Indiana as Lincoln’s Boyhood Home.”

The Bicentennial license plate was authorized by the Indiana State Legislature through House Bill 1202 with Representative Russ Stillwell as the House author and Senator Jim Merritt as the Senate sponsor. The bill was signed by Governor Mitch Daniels on March 3.

The Friends of Lincoln State Park would like to extend our thanks and a warm welcome to our newest members who have joined and generously extended their support to the Friends so far in 2008:

Special thanks also to these individuals and businesses who have provided additional support or consideration this year: Jason Meunier, Willy Loper, Grandview Aluminum, Holiday Foods, and Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari. You can view the complete honor roll of donors for 2008 in the “Meet the Friends” area of our website. It’s still not too late for 2007 members to renew. We want to add your name to our 2008 list of members and reach our goal of 100% renewal! If you’ve lost your renewal form, just visit the Membership area of our website where you can print a form or pay online with a credit card. We appreciate everyone’s support!

Over 4,000 Boy and Girl Scouts invaded Lincoln State Park for the Lincoln Bicentennial Encampment over Mother’s Day weekend. Scouts of every age walked for miles between Lincoln State Park, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, and Buffalo Run farm learning about Abraham Lincoln and pioneer life in early 19th century Indiana. After an early morning flag raising at the memorial, scouts trekked to various stations to experience the living history farm, visitors center, Lincoln, Civil War, and Native American re-enactors, preparation and eating of pioneer meals, and black powder shooting just to name a few. The Friends of Lincoln State Park participated by operating a concession stand and gift table at the amphitheatre. Weather was perfect for Saturday’s events, but hampered the Mother’s Day ceremony on Sunday which was moved from the memorial to the Lincoln Amphitheatre. Between 400 and 500 in attendance heard remarks from Gov. Daniels, Rep. Baron Hill, and other dignitaries.