A few weekends ago, we had the enjoyable below 90F. The air was so pleasant and the Saturday dance was more crowded that usual, with people all over the square taking pleasure in the "cool' weather, music and companionship.
As it happens, though, since then, the temperatures have switched to the other side and it is hot again.
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"Red Belt" (Czerwony Pas) was one of the songs that we sang with my primary school girls' choir. One of the two I can recall.
A traditional version of the Red Belt
More modern version of the song by a contemporary folk group
Our choir director was also our Music teacher, a man in his early thirties. As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, the Music curriculum in Polish educational system is related to general knowledge of music, its history, composers and their main pieces + basic understanding of notes and musical notation. The choir was an extra/after classes activity, officially not mandatory. However, if the teacher said you had a good voice/musical ear, you had to participate in the choir activities to get an A in Music.
So we did sing at school assemblies and once even participated in a regional school choirs competition. I cannot remember what the outcome of the latter was, though. Our teacher was quite good at his profession, he played the piano during the Music classes and accompanied the girls' choir. We had the songs sheets, with lyrics only, as singing songs/notes was not part of the school subject curriculum. We simply followed the musical instructions given by the teacher and the melody played by him on the piano.
During the summer break, the teacher was part of the music band on the Stefan Batory passenger liner, that regularly cruised between Poland and the USA. At that time, traveling to the Western countries including the US was not a thing that everybody could do. Mainly those people whose jobs required crossing the border were allowed to do so. The man must have been a good piano player to get a job on that passenger cruiser and/or perhaps had some "connections" that helped him achieve that.
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| Stefan Batory |
Another thing that made us little girls laugh was the teacher's socks that he tended to wear quite often.
It was the time of the "Interkosmos" mission project, when the international astronauts crew made their first spaceflight. Our teacher seemed to like wearing colorful socks with the "Interkosmos" logo on them. I do not know whether anybody else noticed that, but we, silly girls, did.
Wherever the man is these days, I wish him all the best. I liked the choir days/time.
The other song I can recall we sang with the girls' choir was a Polish version of Joan Baez's song "Donna". The Polish lyrics made it an anti-war song. Somehow, I can still remember the song words.
(My free translation into English)
One life you have,
who will you give this flower to,
do not go across the river,
you will perish there.
One life you have,
who will you give this flower to,
when a shot will come from across the river.
People, people do not perish,
you will save the world.
People, people, I pity you,
It is the war that is to perish.
Dona, Dona...
PS
Years ago, when I was still working in Poland, one day, I happened to wear a t-shirt with the word "Texas" on it. During a class, some students of mine started giggling "O - Texas, Texas". I guess, my Texas t-shirt was in their eyes an equivalent of the Music teacher's Interkosmos socks.
Credits:
Stephan Batory ship photo: By Wolfgang Fricke - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103579976
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Nigdy nie byłam w Cieszynie, ani w Polsce, ani w Czechach.
Które z ciekawych miejsc w Cieszynie polskim proponuje w swoich slajdach Pani Alina Zielińska, sprawdźcie sami.
Tradycyjnie, jeszcze wiadomosć od Pani Aliny.
Maria Paulina Leutbecher was born on 18 May 1865 in Prussia. According to the information published in a local newspaper*, she came to Texas with her parents, Karl and Elizabeth in about 1879. Her brothers, William and Robert, had already settled in Fredericksburg, Gillespie, TX.
♦ 24 May 1887 - daughter Hulda (stillborn?) came to this world at Pecan Creek, Gillespie, TX. Her death is given as the same day.
♦ 3 August 1888 - second daughter was born to the family. Her name was Anna Louisa.
♦ 28 December 1890 - son Richard August was born.
♦ 27 April 1894 - son Arnold John arrived.
♦ 31 August 1897 - daughter Ida came to this world.
🏡 29 June 1900 - Census clerk Charles F. Luckenbach recorded the family of John and Maria at Justice Precinct #4 Gillespie, TX. John run his own farm (2).
A few years after that, the family moved. In 1900, they lived in Justice Precinct #4, Refugio, TX (3).
👉1918 - WW1 - Richard and Arnold were drafted (4,5).
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Richard served with 165th Department Brigade and, later, with Company D
105th Infantry. He served overseas and was honorably discharged on 20
May 1919 (7).
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👉 Census 1920 shows that they had moved again - to Justice Precinct #3, Starr, TX. Richard, a single man then, had his place next to his parents' home. (8).
⚭ Ida Elizabeth was married to Mr. Edwin C Ahrens on 31 December 1922.
👉 At the end of 1925, John Grossenbacher's house got burned with everything that was inside (check out the newspaper clippings). It let to another move (in January 1926) that took John, Mary, and their daughter Anna, to Roosevelt, Justice Precinct #2, Kimble, TX (9).
⚭ Richard married around 1920/1921. In 1930, The man lived with his wife Mary in Precinct #2, Kimble, TX. On the day of their marriage, Richard was 30 years old, Mary 17 (10). The marriage did not survive.
⚭ Arnold John married in about 1924 - his wife Mildred M (Milda), born on 24 January 1905, was around ten years younger than him. In 1930, the couple lived in Justice Precinct #2, Kimble, TX. Arnold owned a farm (11).
Clipping source: Source: Davis, Fletcher. The Hondo Anvil Herald. (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 23, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 2, 1926, newspaper, January 2, 1926; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth564608/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.
♦ 18 June 1937 - Maria's husband, John Hermann passed due to cardiac failure (12).
♦ 23 January 1941 - Maria (Mary) Grossenbacher left this world.
Source: The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, January 31, 1941, newspaper, January 31, 1941; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth896774/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.
⚭ 17 July 1952 - Richard remarried. His second wife was Mrs. Allie Lee Smith nee Davis, born on 10 January 1902. She was the widow of Mr. L. L. L. Smith (14).
♦ Richard August Grosenbacher died on 23 January 1956, at his home in the rural area of Kimble County, TX, due to chronic heart related condition (15).
♦ Arnold John Grosenbacher passed on 30 December 1963 at his home, 18 miles north-west of Junction, Kimble, TX (16).
♦ Anna Louisa died on 1 March 1967 (17).
♦ Ida Elizabeth Grosenbacher Ahrens passed on 8 December 1977 (18).
Clipping source: Source: Dietel, Norman J. The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 16, 1977, newspaper, December 16, 1977; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1034986/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.
