Reflections in Nature
The Ottawa Temple Band - Canada

When Jesus looked o'er Galilee,
so blue and calm and fair,
upon her bosom could he see,
a cross reflected there.

When sunrise dyed the lovely deeps,
And sparkled in His hair,
O did the light rays seem to say:
A crown of thorns He'll wear?

When in the hush of eventide,
Cool waters touched His feet,
Was it a hymn of Calvary's road,
He heard the waves repeat?

But when the winds triumphantly
Swept from the open plain,
The Master surely heard the song:
The Lord shall live again!

This is about the best Bass section of any band I've ever played in. On your left is Curtis, the former officer who put the band together. Curtis knew how to get things done.

Next to Curtis, is another great Bass player. We'll call him Larry. When he first came into the band he played trombone. This guy came into the band after I gave my standard: "You can play in this band. Come and see me after the concert." He was a security guard for the astronauts. He worked out of the Clear Lake City location. Larry told me that he had been a bandmaster in Virginia.

When he told me he had been employed by the government in D.C., and went to the corps in Virginia, I asked him if he had ever heard of Bob Clemons.

He said (I'm paraphrasing because the language was a little stronger than what I'm telling you), "Yes."

I said, ":How did you meet him.?"

He answered, "One Wednesday night I was getting ready for band practice and he just walked in and said, 'I would like to play in your band.' I asked him if he had ever played in a Salvation Army band before. He said he had never had any contact with the Salvation Army before. So I asked him if he were a Christian ad he affirmed he was. He had a Gold lacqured four valve Mirafone Bass with him and I told him he couldn't play that in the band. He wanted to know why not so I told him that we only used silver plated Bessons in our band."

Larry continued. "Then he told me he wanted to see my commanding officer. I said, 'You told me that you've never been around the Salvation Army before. How do you know we have a commanding officer?" Clemons told me, 'It's and Army, there's got to be an officer somewhere.' So we went in to see the Corps Officer. Clemons told the officer that he wanted to play his Gold Mirafone in our band, but I wouldn't let him. So the officer turned to me and said, 'What about it?' I said, 'We play silver plated Bessons.' The officer turned to Clemons and said, 'We play silver plated Bessons. So Clemons agreed to play a silver plated Besson. After all, he was in the US Army Band and knwew when a discussion was over."

Larry was a great Bass player, but Bob Clemons was the best Bass player I have ever heard in my life. For his side of the first meeting wiith the Salvation Army, go to Bob Clemons. You'll also hear Leslie Condon plalying the Bass solo ":Celestial Morn" with the International Staff Band.

The really blonde haired Bass player was the corps officer in Orange, Texas. He was every bit as good as Larry, Curtis, and Major Frerson, Area Commander, who is not in this picture. His wife played First Baritone.