Abby, and anyone else interesed
Mom and I just got home from a Roger Williams concert at the concert hall at the new ISU performing arts center. We took Grandma and Grandpa for Grandpa's birthday. He was in heaven. Not literally -- not yet. Apparently Roger Williams (then Louis Werts) was a student at ISU back in the 40's. He had been a child prodigy musician up to that point, but joined the navy during WWII. The navy sent him to ISU to study engineering. He then went out into active duty for a few years but returned to ISU to finish his engineering degree. He apparently has fond memories of Pocatello, so was pleased to return here again to do the concert, especially now that we have such a good concert facility. I remember Verna Lee talking about him when I was a kid. While he lived here, he studied piano with Verna Lee's teacher, Mrs. McCloid.
Going into the concert, I wasn't expecting much from what I thought was probably an old has-been. But, it was actually very good. He played most of his hits (he had 26 on the charts over the years, including a number of movie scores -- or maybe it was twelve?) plus some of the songs I used to hear Verna Lee and you play, e.g. Flight of the Bumble Bee, Clare de Lune (sp), Maleguenia, etc. He had a back-up orchestra with him, and he even brought his own Stienway signature concert grand piano. Steinway now makes a Roger Williams signature piano, and I'm sure they pay him to promote it, because he certainly did so at this concert.
He is now 83 years old, but still plays like a champ and is very sharp mentally. I guess the intricacies of music are good for the ole' brain. Sort of like statistics. He was sort of limping around up there on the stage (bad knees), but his hands and his brain were intact. He bantered a little with the audience. Used a lot of age humor. Told stories about doing special concerts for all the presidents since Truman. One of the band members asked him to tell about the concert he did for George. and he said, "Oh, the Bushes, which one, Senior or Junior? So the Band member said, "No, not them, George Washington." He also said that he started playing the piano at 3 years old, and back then, the critics would say he had an amazing talent for his age. Then he followed with, "They're starting to say that again." I guess you're never too old. Apparently he still practices 4 hours per day and does concert tours. They say he knows something like 10,000 songs. I'm sure that by now the keyboard is just an extension of his hands and brain, and all he needs is the tune in his head and he can play it in tight harmony. Grandma Croshaw was like that. For the second half of the concert, he took requests for any song from the crowd, and with the orchestra backing him up, played them all, including... "Great Balls of Fire". That's when I really became impressed -- when he even knew rock songs. Anyway, I thought you might be interested in that bit of music memorabilia. Maybe I will also post this on the blog also, just in case the rest of the fam might find it interesting.
Love you all,
Dad
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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