The Rocket's Red Glare
The Boston experience ended with a bang last night as most of the HSU contingent drifted toward the Charles River for the evening concert and fireworks. Although many of the Cowboy Band members were down at the Esplanade catching the Boston Pops concert (with special guest Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith), I joined the Six White Horses riders, their coordinator Debbie Jones, Dr. Wayne Dorothy (Cowboy Band Director), Lawson (dean of the School of Music and Fine Arts at HSU) and Jane Hager at the home of Jim and Jocelyn Sugden for dinner and fireworks.
The Sugden’s (supporters of HSU and the Six White Horses) home, on Beacon Street, overlooks the Charles River, was directly in front of the fireworks barge, and was only blocks from the Esplanade. We had front row seats for the show, gracious hosts, and a cool breeze carrying the sweet honeysuckle aroma of the Linden trees through the windows. As the last notes of Steven Tyler’s cover of “Dream On� echoed down the river, the crowd of 500,000 lining the banks began to roar in anticipation of the fireworks. The riders leaned out the windows to get a better view,
and at precisely 10:30 a full half-hour of the most amazing fireworks display began. There wasn’t a moment when at least a dozen shells weren’t painting the sky. It was a non-stop feast for the eyes that one literally had to see to believe. There were three-dimensional cubes, planets with rings, multi-colored happy faces, and hundreds and hundreds of starbursts, streamers, bombs, and sparkling showers. We were too astonished to even “ooh� and “aww.�
If you ever make it to Boston, try to make it the 4th of July. You’ll remember it forever.
Everyone should be packing for the trip home by now. We leave at 7:30 p.m. tonight and should be in Abilene by 3:00 tomorrow morning. The horses, who've thoroughly enjoyed the New England pastures,
will begin their 3-day trip home early this afternoon.
2 Comments
Charles Ray Richardson writes:
Great report on HSU Cowboy Band, Six White Horses and their riders in Boston for the Lions International Convention. Charles Richardson, Abilene
Matthew Irish writes:
Did you take that picture of the White Horses all running in the pasture? Is that available to someone like me, maybe at a higher resolution?
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