Hello all,  Just read all the MMD posts about instruments being
played on the Fourth of July.  We left town just after a parade
and just returned yesterday.  I played my calliope, which I call
"Windsongs", at the Stone Mountain, Georgia, annual parade.  This
was my sixth year in the parade.

Stone Mountain is a small suburb of Atlanta and is the home to the
world famous carving the size of a football field.  The carving is a
tribute to the great Confederate leaders, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E.
Lee and Jefferson Davis.

The parade is rather short but very well attended and features units
representing all branches of our Armed Forces, various government
agencies and any organization that wants to celebrate our Glorious
Fourth.  The Confederate Army is also very well represented.

In the parade I play only patriotic music, from the keyboard, and the
response from the crowd is tremendous.  As I play the various military
themes different parade watchers will applaud as they acknowledge their
branch of service.

Also, each year I ask the announcer to ask that everyone please sign
their Organ and Tissue Donor Card.  As a kidney transplant recipient
of almost 3 years (on the 15th of this month) I know the value of this
gift of life.  I ask that all who read this please consider being an
Organ and Tissue Donor also.  Please inform your families as to your
wishes so that in case the unfortunate happens, your loved ones know
your wishes.

I thank you in advance for all who might benefit from a donation that
allows a relatively normal life for others.  My music helped me get
through 10 years of illness, 6-1/2 on dialysis.

If you live in the Atlanta area, please consider coming to the Veterans
Day Parade, Nov.11 starting at 11:11AM, the date and time the Armistice
was signed.  It is the second largest Veterans Day parade in the nation
and will have a longer route this year, starting at Pershing Point and
going down Peachtree.  I will look for you there.

Dean T. Smith
Lawrenceville, GA