Part Four Kentucky Derby Hats

                                               

The Kentucky Derby is just as known for its race as it is for the crazy and stylish hats!  When one wears a hat or fascinator at the races, one has .. Hat-a-Tude!  

A more recent trend in Kentucky Derby headwear is the fascinator.  Smaller than a traditonal hat and just as stylish, this piece of headwear has become more popular among Kentucky Derby attendees over recent yeaers.  Recently popularized by Kate Middleton, these chic headpieces are made from a woven disc topped with feathers and netting and secured to your head via a comb or headband. They can be simpler to wear than a hat and won't give you .. hat hair!  

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse

                                               

Part Three Kingsley Walker Florist

A small suburban Louisville florist named Grace Walker who owned one of the town's oldest shops, Kingsley Walker Florist got the job of designing the Derby winner's garland in 1932.  She took the job to heart.  She promptly took herself to Churchill Downs, took out a measuring tape and sized up a thoroughbred's height and shoulder width.  Then then set to work figuring out how to do two things:  1) make sure no horse would ever feel a prick from that garland's wire or a rose's thorns and 2) make sure no rose ever fell off.

Grace cut and designed a garland of plain-weave cotton lined with a soft protective pad and topped with a green background of thick, wide, flat green leaves. She selected 500 matched deep-red roses, broke the stems to the right length, wired each rose individually by pushing the wire into the stem and sewed each to the cotton, by hand.  A rose leaf was placed on every other flower and each rose was sewn three times, using green button-hole thread. The finished product measured 14 inches wide and 2 1/2 yards long. Every wire in the wreath was protectively covered with floral tape.

After the first year, Walker came up with the ingenious idea of rigging a wrought iron frame .. similar to those used for quilting .. for just this one task.  Her six employees, her daughter and her granddaughters eventually all pitched in.

In the 1930s, the rose Walker preferred was named Happiness.  But Happiness didn't last.  Never did American Beauty or Forever Yours.  She told Sports Illustrated in 1986 that every five or six years she had to change the strain of rose she used because the strain tended to lost its umph and go purple, then pink. Not on her garland! 

Walker always ordered flowers in January from her hand-picked Indiana grower, who delivered matched roses early on Derby Eve.  Work started around 2 p.m. and ended around midnight.  Their work was displayed at the shop until around noon, then ceremoniously trucked to the Downs.

Walker made sure the five or six dozen roses for the jockey's bouquet also matched his horse's garland .. she hated the use of any other term for the things she created .. and trimmed it in 10 yards of silk ribbon.  

The most she ever charged Churchill Downs was $3,600 and that included flowers, labor and delivery for the garland, bouquet and every single one of those tall vases of roses in the Winner's Circle, too.

The final year for the Derby garland of roses made by Kingsley Walker Florist was in 1986. 

Thank you, Ms. Grace for the 50 plus years of dedication you and Kingsley Walker Florist gave to the Kentucky Derby.  

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse

 

Part Two The Kentucky Derby Garland of Roses

Why is the Derby called The Run for the Roses?  It's because the winner gets a blanket of over 500 roses after the race.  According to Churchill Downs' president Colonel M. Lewis Clark in 1884 each lady would receive a red rose at the parties that were held prior to race day so when the Colonel saw their popularity .. he made the rose the race's official flower. He might have gotten that idea from the wealthy and always extravagantly dressed New York race fan, E. Berry Wall who had given out roses at his lavish Derby party the year before.  In 1906, the Derby started taking pictures of its winners and they all are adorned with familiar roses then and thereafter. 

Continuing a tradition that has been in place since 1987, onlookers gather at the Middletown, KY Kroger to watch its master floral designers assemble the garland of roses that will be awarded to the winning Kentucky Derby horse.

It takes about a dozen florists and several volunteers seven hours to complete the garland which measures 122 inches long by 22 inches wide and weighs 40 pounds. The assembly team hand inspects about 5,000 Rainforest Alliance Certified roses, choosing only the most perfect flowers which are then sewn into the green satin backing with individual vials of water to keep them fresh.  The garland has the seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky on one end and the Twin Spires and race number on the other.  It is also adorned with green fern and ribbon and a single rose points upward at the garland's center to symbolize "the struggle and heart necessary to reach the Derby winner's circle".  After the massive garland is finished police escort it to Churchill Downs, where it is put on display and guarded by the U.S. Navy until it is presented to the winner.

The Garland of Roses on Display

The tradition of presenting roses to the winning horse and jockey started in 1896 when the winner, Ben Brush, was given a floral arrangement of white and pink roses along with lilies in a horseshoe-collar form.  The gesture took off and by 1904, red roses were the official flower of the Kentucky Derby.  The roses were first assembled into the garland, that is seen today, in 1932.  

Kroger took over the creation of the garland in 1987 from Kingsley Walker Flowers.

"The adrenalaine flows every year".

Carol Belser, Kroger Floral Delivery Manager (retired)

The above photo was taken from the April 2021 issue of Todays Woman Now published in Louisville KY.  (TodaysWomanNow.com)

For 32 years, Carol Belcher worked alongside the garland team and designers to create the elaborate garland of roses for the Kentucky Derby.  Working on the garland is a time-consuming task, but Carol said the final results are worth the effort.  Although she retired in 2019, Carol couldn't resist the temptation to be part of the 2021 momentous occasion again.  "I will be sorting the roses and prepping the urns for the Winner's Circle.  I have a passion for flowers.  It is in my blood .. seeing that full garland draped across the winning thoroughbred gives you an awesome feeling."

"We ordered in approximately 6,000-7,000 roses in the early week of Derby. We hand-picked and sorted every rose to find the perfect roses to use for the garland. There are other projects that the roses are used for such as the Winner's Circle.  So at 4 a.m. on Derby Day .. after we created the garland .. we adorned the Winner's Circle with 3,000 roses."

Carol Belser

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse

 

Part One of a Five Part Derby Series

The Kentucky Derby Trophy is a set of four trophies that are awarded to the winning connections of America's most famous race:  the grade on $3,000,000 Kentucky Derby.  The owner receives a gold trophy while the trainer, the jockey and the breeder win a silver half size replica of the main gold trophy.  The trophy, itself, has been run since the 50th running of the Kentucky Derby in 1924.  Churchill Downs Race Course of Louisville, Kentucky has annually presented a gold trophy to the winning owner of the famed Run for the Roses.

There is no record whether a trophy was presented to the winner of the first Derby in 1875.  There is evidence that trophy presentations were sporadically made between 1876 and 1924.  In 1924, Matt Winn, who was the president of Churchill Downs at the time commissioned a standard design from artist, George L. Graff for the 1925 50th Golden Anniversary of the Derby. 

Outside of the jeweled embellishments that were added to note special Derby aniversaries in 1949 (75th), 1974 (100th) and 1999 (125th), only one change has been made to the original design.  For the 125th Kentucky Derby in 1999, Churchill Downs officials decided to defer to racing lore and change the direction of  the decorative horseshoe.

The horseshoe, fashioned from 19-karat gold, had pointed downward on each of the trophies since 1924.  To commemorate Derby 125 the change was made and the horseshoe was turned 180 degrees so that its ends pointed up.  The trophy now annually incorporates the horseshoe with the ends pointing up.  

Racing superstition decrees that if the horseshoe is turned down all the luck will run out.

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse 

 

Robin Grandin with Dallas Marsh

"Chillin with my main lady Robin after the final victory performance.  She's the best mentor and even better friend.  Can't even explain the thrill of singing with a full orchestra behind me.  It's been an amazing summer and I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had to make music with such talented people."

"I made it to the finals!  It's down to the top 3 this Monday! Thanks to all my family and friends for coming out and everyone who voted!  And a big thanks to my amazing mentor Robin Grandin!"

August 17, 2015

Congratulations Dallas!

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse

 

The funkiest most disco-loving band in all the land, Boogie Wonder Band is .. party central.  With disco era costumes and a very solid set of talented musicians and singers, the Boogie Wonder Band gets crowds into the music like few others can!

After 3,000 shows around the world Boogie Wonder Band has become the most celebrated DISCO band of our generation!

There is no event too big or too small for a disco extravaganza with Boogie Wonder Band. They’ve performed at casinos across the world, small clubs in New York City, theatres across the United States and some of the world's largest festivals.  They do it all!

BWB transports their audience back to the 70's groove and glamour with their flamboyant and attention-getting costumes, tight choreography and incredible light show. It all adds to the authenticity of their performance and to success of the band!

Disco still rules the dance floor when Boogie Wonder Band comes to town!  

As many of you know, by now, one of my favorite bands to ever perform on the floating stage in Bemus Point was .. Boogie Wonder Band.  In 2019, Boogie Wonder Band appeared on the floating stage in Mayville.  Besides their multiple appearances in Chautauqua County the band's schedule takes them around the world which even includes cruise ship appearances! When I first heard and saw Boogie Wonder Band on the floating stage I walked up to Dan and said three words .. "bring them back". Dan did bring them back many times to my delight and to others who watched and heard this disco band perform for the first time in Bemus Point at the Bemus Bay Pops!  

Since becoming the Chautauqua Lake Pops this group of talented performers took to the floating stage in 2019 in Mayville. 

Make It Mayville!

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse

Christine Begalla

 

 A Walk Down Memory Lane

Part Seven

A Tribute to Funny Girl  .. An Evening with Barbra Streisand

Starring Sharon Owens

August 20, 2011 On The Floating Stage

 

A beautiful Pops memory on Bemus Bay. 

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse

 

 

2003

A New Beginning Afloat

This was the year the Bemus Bay Pops Symphony Orchestra moved from the roof of the Italian Fisherman to .. a stage that floats.

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse

                                              2002                                                

                                       

A Summer Symphony in the Chautauqua Sky

Pam Tillis with the Pops Orchestra in 2012

Pamela Yvonne Tillis is an American country music singer and actress.  She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis.  Originally a demo singer in Nashville, Tillis was signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1981 for which she released nine singles and one album.  Tillis was born on July 24, 1957 in Plant City FL.  She grew up in Nashville and made her first debut on the Grand Ole Opry at age 8, singing Tom Dooley.  She also began taking piano lessons at this age and taught herself how to play guitar by age 12.

Her father, Lonnie Melvin Tillis was born August 9, 1932 in Tampa FL and died on November 19, 2017.  Her brother, Mel "Sonny" Tillis, Jr. is also a singer and songwriter. One of their father's biggest hits was I Ain't Never.

Pam's father found a way to turn his speech impediment into an asset by using his ready smile and innate comedic timing to get his audiences to laugh along with him.  He stuttered his way to regular appearances on television talk shows and to clowning bit parts in Hollywood movies.  He even went so far as to make the nickname Stutterin' Boy the title of his autobiography (written and published in 1984) and to have it painted on the side of his tour bus!  He named his personal airplane Stutter One and referred to his female backup singers as the Stutterettes.  He certainly had a sense of humor despite it all.

Mr. Tillis stuttered only when he spoke, not when he sang.  His stutter might not have figured so prominently in his career had he focused exclusively on songwriting or had country entertainer, Minnie Pearl not asked him to perform some of his songs on her television show.

Mel was named entertainer of the year by the CMA in 1976.  He was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.

September 1, 2012

On that date after Pam performed on the floating stage she drew the Car on the Barge winning ticket for Neil Boardman (story published April 18). The proceeds from this car raffle benefited WCA's Sharing the Gift of Health which was the capital campaign for their emergency department. 

Julie Morton, RN at WCA Hospital; Tim Shults, President/Owner Shults Chevrolet and Todd Glenn, New Vehicle Manager join Neil Boardman

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse

 

For Neil Boardman the night of September 1, 2012 turned out to be an evening of great surprise for him and his entire family! One that Neil nor his wife, Sue will ever forget! During my recent interview with Neil he expressed that he and his wife bought 2 tickets in each of their names on the same day of the drawing to help benefit the local hospital.  The 2013 Ford Mustang was generously donated by Shults Auto Group. 

Video of when Pam Tillis drew the winning ticket

Neil Boardman was not in the audience when his ticket was drawn among thousands in the barrel though he was in Bemus Point at the time with family and eventually made his way to the stage and had his picture taken with Pam. When his grandkids told their "Boppy" he had won Neil replied .. "Ok, kids, that's real funny".

The word Neil shared with me that best described what transpired on that September evening in Bemus Point was .. exciting.  He had never won anything before so I think, for him, winning a car was surreal as it would be for most of us!  When Neil and Sue took delivery of the car they drove it to a friend's home though later in the day most of their neighbors weren't around to see what he had won!

A few years after winning the car Neil learned that Pam Tillis would be performing at the Warren County Fair in nearby Warren PA.  Neil and Sue drove to the fair and were able to meet Pam after her performance.  She remembered drawing the winning ticket in Bemus Point and was happy to see Neil Boardman, again.  She told Neil that she enjoyed performing at the Bemus Bay Pops and hoped to return.  Pam gave him an autographed photo and a photo was taken of Neil, Sue and Pam to remember another exciting moment for the Boardmans.  Prior to Neil crossing paths with Pam at the fair after winning the car he and Sue met her at the Chautauqua Institution when they saw Mel Tillis give a concert performance.  Pam was with her father that evening so while backstage they purchased a CD and had Mel autograph it.  Neither Neil nor Pam could have known that evening at CI they would meet, again.  Their paths would, indeed, cross two more times .. on a stage that floats and at a nearby county fair! 

My first question to Neil was .. do you still have the car?  The answer was no though Neil and Sue enjoyed the Mustang on nice weekends in the summer months for approximately 3 years eventually trading the car in at Shults Auto Group with less than 5,000 miles, for a new pickup truck.  The new pickup was red so I think it's safe to say .. Neil liked the color, red!

Thank you, Neil for sharing your fun story of winning the Car on the Barge at the Bemus Bay Pops and sharing this photo that officially reads And The Winner is ... Neil Boardman!

Congratulations!

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse

 

A Match Made in Vegas!

Two great artists paying tribute to their characters.  Singing the most memorable music and songs ever written!

Sharon's national success has created a whirlwind of Barbra fans.  She has performed her Tribute to Barbra Streisand to critical acclaim nationwide in major showrooms, for corporate events and as a headliner in Las Vegas.  She graced one of the finest stages in Berlin, Germany performing in Stars in Concert.  She also appeared in Legends in Concert at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. 

One of the highlights of the Barbra and Frank, The Concert That Never Was show was a performance in the Rainbow Room, New York City!  

"New York City is quite a site from the 66th floor!"

Sharon Owens

Sebastian is fast becoming one of the top "Sinatra" interpreters in the country.  He has honed his act to perfecting the essence of the musical icon.  With the voice, looks and mannerisms of 'Ol Blue Eyes, Sebastian has wowed audiences from coast to coast.  Sebastian originates from Omaha NE and grew up in a musical family (father was a sax player and later a talent agent, his mother a singer). Sebastian started playing drums and singing at age 11.  Eventually, his passion for jazz led him to New York City, compliments of The National Endowment For the Arts.  

Sebastian Sings Sinatra is the result of a great love and understanding of the 'Great American Songbook' as Francis Albert sang it.

"Let's face it, "I'm a fan, too!"

Sebastian Anzaldo

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse

 

Lake Night at the Movies was featured last year on May 13, 2020 though this time I wanted to express my thoughts regarding the final movie that played in 2019, The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum and why Dan Dalpra chose one of Barnum's quotes to truly sum up the Pops .. for the people. 

The tradition of Lake Night at the Movies continued in 2019 as a popular free event at the Chautauqua Lake Pops in Mayville. The featured movies were The Cobbler, On Golden Pond, The Prestige, Jumanji, Beauty & the Beast and The Greatest Showman.  There were 2 large screens on the floating stage to allow viewing from the lawn or from a boat. 

On a personal note, my favorite movie that summer was The Greatest Showman.  At the end of the movie there is a quote by P. T. Barnum .. "No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else."

Another P. T Barnum quote is "The noblest art is that of making others happy." 

This blog adopted those nine words after seeing it printed in black on a wall in the Chautauqua Lake Pops office in Mayville. I adopted it simply because I truly feel that Dan Dalpra lives by those words.  They best describe why he created the Pops .. for all of us to enjoy.

The Greatest Showman

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse 

 

The Chippewa Lake Water Ski Show Team is Ohio's only competitive water ski show team.  Their "home lake" is in Medina, 1/2 hour from Cleveland and the Akron metro area.  The team is actively recruiting new members during the winter months.  Monthly training and practices are held at the Akron General Health and Wellness Center. 

The team performs many types of water skiing which includes slalom, barefoot, doubles, swivel, ballet, wakeboard, jumps and hydrofoil.

This team of talented water skiers were a popular show on Chautauqua Lake whenever they appeared at the Bemus Bay Pops during the summer season.

Dan Dalpra's granddaughter, Emma gets a thrilling ride on the shoulders of team member, Matt Ribley at the Bemus Bay Pops ski show!

"After all the excitement of a great show and an amazing crowd, Emma was excited to hop on my shoulders for a ride with no hesitation!  For me, this is what it's all about when introducing my love and passion for water sports to others and watching the excitement it gives all walks of life, big or small.  Emma was a great sport and if memory serves me correctly, we were able to take her out and all the way back in keeping her hair dry the entire time."

Matt Ribley

Thank you, Matt and team for giving one special little girl a memory to last a lifetime. 

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse