It's been a cool spring, but horticulturalists say that is good as far as the Lilac Festival is concerned. Because of our mild winter, many flowers and shrubs were blooming ahead of schedule. The cool weather has slowed their progress and they appear to be back on schedule. The parks looked beautiful for the festival and parade.

TJ and Kayla carried the banner. Flutists Irene and Karen G. showed their spring spirit by wearing flowers on their hats. Mel was the only clarinet, but we were loaded with saxes: Margaret, Steve, Steph and Maria.

We also had a full row of trumpets: Mike B., Tom J., Bob and Mike W. It was good to see Mike W.; he doesn't make many parades because he has a long drive. Unfortunately, we didn't have slide trombones, but Pully covered the part pretty well with his valve trombone. Some of you might already know that Pully reads treble clef baritone music, which is sometimes similar to the trombone part, but sometimes different with a countermelody. Josh played sousaphone.

Even though Kristen and Nancy usually march in color guard, both of them were playing cymbals for this parade. They were in good company with Scott M. on snare drum, Andy on bass drum and Theresa on bells.

There was some good news. Tim and his wife, Amy, recently had a baby girl, Lucy. Mike B. and his wife, Kaleigh, are expecting in November. Congratulations to all!

Our next event is Honor Flight at the Rochester International Airport on Sunday, May 22. This is always an inspirational event when we welcome our WWII and Korean War veterans as they return from visiting their war memorials in Washington, DC. We are grateful for their service to our country.