Family Reunion Recital

Yesterday was the Burk/Anderson/Peterson family reunion in the fellowship hall of Palm Valley Lutheran Church in Round Rock, Texas. It was good to visit with many relatives I had not seen for a while. It had also been quite some time since I had last been on the grounds of that church, so I was able to visit the grave sites of my grandparents and great-grandparents. My great-grandfather, Carl A. Burk, immigrated to the United States from Sweden at age 17.

Next to my grandparents are the graves of my great aunt and uncle, Annie and Henry Peterson. In an earlier post I wrote about "Aunt Annie" being the person who first taught me to play on her reed (pump) organ. In an upcoming blog I will try to post a video clip of me playing on that organ which is now in my home in St. Louis.

As a conclusion to the family reunion on Saturday, we went into the church sanctuary and I was able to play a short, informal recital. The current organ is showing it's age (although I wasn't able to determine what that age is!), but it was a treat nonetheless to be able to play on this instrument. Here is a picture of the console and church chancel showing the organ chambers on either side.

A few video clips of this recital may be found on YouTube at https://youtu.be/YtjCZvTNsUU, https://youtu.be/3iidJATu0iA, https://youtu.be/lHy8CpWY_U8 and https://youtu.be/YsKEP4mCiHk.

As I close out this posting I wanted to share two more pictures. One is of Palm Valley Lutheran Church taken on the day of the reunion and the other is of the cornerstone of the church.