Happy 4th of July!

Just a fun little side note...

When I was about 8yrs old we held a little musical of sorts at

Westside Christian Church.

There was a wonderful man there named Art Williams who everyone just adored. He was from Cornwall, England and came to the USA in the 30's to work at the movie studios, predominantly MGM.

Oh, the stories he would tell! He was a ship builder and a special effects man and worked on such classics as Mutiny on the Bounty, National Velvet and The Wizard of Oz. He would tell us about developing the trap door for the Wicked Witch of the East to magically appear in Munchkin land, with the flames and smoke. Gosh we miss him.

Anyway, he use to coach all of us kids in staging and singing for little events, and for this particular show, he turned each of us into a popular celebrity of that time.... and here is the tie in to today's holiday, and the first song on my Playlist today.

He made me into the grand 1930's  singer Kate Smith.

Bare in mind I was a slightly built child so to help with the illusion, he fashioned a coconut bra of sorts, and I wore Smiths trademark Navy dress with broad padded

 shoulders and a white collar. I learned the proper stance, how to gesture,

 where to look and how to lip sync.

I walked out onto the stage and nervously belted out

God Bless America, as only Kate Smith could do.

Ahhh, those were the days. :-)

Queen Mary Rose

Rue blossoms

Snap Dragons

Wishing everyone a Happy Fourth of July 2011!