A song of community; Austin comes together for singing, fellowship
Published 10:34 am Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Bret Hesla helps lead the music with Mary Preus.
Dozens of voices sang out Tuesday inside the Veterans Pavilion at Bandshell Community Park.
From classics like “Home on the Range” to country songs like “Take Me Home,” area residents bonded with music as part of the Minnesota Community Sings event, the opening to the fourth Austin ArtWorks Festival this week.
“It is so exciting here, just to hear everyone sing together,” Bonnie Rietz, co-chair of the festival’s steering committee, said. “It’s such a cool, wonderful thing to hold in the summertime.”
Erin Felten and her 7-year-old daughter Olivia sing along during the Minnesota Community Sings Tuesday night at Veterans Pavilion. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Minnesota Community Sing tours around the state holding community singing events just like the one in Austin Tuesday. Co-director Bret Hesla, an Austin native, was excited to come back home and to share in Austin’s singing history.
It wasn’t the first time Austin had held a large-scale singing event, according to Hesla. In June 1918, Austin residents from all area churches were encouraged to come and sing commonly known gospels and hymns.
Of course, the event also served another purpose, as Hesla told the audience.
People gather in the Veteran’s Pavillion for the Minnesota Community Sings Tuesday night.
Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin Daily Herald article Hesla read from also asked area congregations to recruit more singers for church choirs.
More than 50 residents at the Veterans Pavilion on Tuesday may not have sung church hymns, but they did sing well-known show tuns such as “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from the Disney movie “Mary Poppins.”
“It’s really great,” Ruth Monson said.
The singing event marks the first large-scale event as part of the festival week, which culminates in the fourth annual festival this weekend.
