Arbor Terrace Celebrates Veterans Day with ASU Trumpet Ensemble

SAN ANGELO, TX - Earlier this afternoon, a Veterans Day performance took place at the Arbor Terrace Senior Living Facility.

John Irish, the Associate Professor of Music in the High Brass studio at Angelo State University gathered with four ASU students to perform a trumpet presentation for Veterans Day.

Irish explained, “We have a program sponsored by the San Angelo Symphony called ‘Music and Wellness,’ and we have played here [at Arbor Terrace] many times. We play at senior centers and nursing care centers for the purpose of music and wellness.”

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Irish added, “I was fortunate to have our ASU Trumpet Ensemble play Alto with me today. We have been working hard and have a big performance next week. So, it was really good to perform here before next week as well.”

A veteran himself, Irish said, “Happy Veterans Day and thank [everyone] for [your] service.”

Helen James, activity director at Arbor Terrace, helped organize this event.

James explained Veterans Day as a day “to celebrate the men [and women] who served and are serving, and to let [all of them] know that we care here at Arbor Terrace about them and what they’ve done for us and for our country.”

This is the first year that the ASU trumpet ensemble has performed for Veterans Day, but James is hoping to make this an annual performance.

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“We have done many things throughout the years for Veterans Day, like writing to people overseas, but the most important thing is that we are proud of our country and proud of the [veterans] who have served our country to make it free for us,” James concluded.

Sandy Walker was helping take pictures during the Veterans Day event. Walker had a son who was part of the U.S. Military and explained that Veterans Day means a lot to her.

“Today is really important to me because I am a Blue Star Mother. A Blue Star Mother is a mother who has lost a [child] in the military.”

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Walker’s son was an Apache Helicopter Pilot and lost his life in the line of duty in South Korea. Through heartfelt tears, Walker explained, “Today we are honoring the men and women who have made our freedoms what they are in America. I learned that lesson from my son, who knew that years before me, who understand that years before I did.”

Walker said Veterans Day “is a reminder for people to see firsthand why they have the freedoms they have.”