Calling all citizens! The music center wants your wartime photos and letters to share in a collaborative community celebration of those who have loyally served our nation.
Submit your letters by February 25 to be considered for this event. If you have any wartime photographs or letters you would like to submit for this show there are many ways you can do so.
To send by mail: CLICK HERE
To submit electronically: CLICK HERE for PDF or CLICK HERE for WORD
You may also stop into The Music Center in person, Monday through Friday between 9am-6:30pm to have your letters or photos scanned. If you come in person to share your memories, The Music Center is located inside of the Davidson Building on the campus of Kellogg Community College.
Please limit your submissions to no more than 3 of each letters or photographs. Letters and photographs included in the show will be at the sole discretion of The Music Center and must be received no later than February 25. Positive and upbeat submissions will take precedence above all others. The Music Center accepts no responsibility for submissions lost or damaged through the mail.
The Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra will be presenting a USO Tribute on Saturday, March 23 at the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium. This unique evening will feature not only the Battle Creek Orchestra but also the talents of the nationally acclaimed USO Liberty Bells and a multimedia experience with wartime letters and photographs submitted by our very own community. Executive Director of The Music Center, Stacy Little, envisioned the idea to include our community in this homage, paying tribute to our local wartime heroes in an exciting and positive way. "I became inspired with this idea when we began our programming with the USO Liberty Bells. The joy and positivity they have brought to our troops, home and abroad, for more than 70 years is just amazing! If we are already creating a program that pays tribute in such a fantastic way, why not extend that to our community and share some of the more upbeat or romantic memories that have come from a place and time where hope and optimism were essential," explained Ms. Little.
The letters and photographs will be reproduced and displayed in the lobby of the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium prior to the concert and the multimedia screens will also project our communities' memories. Heather Stratton will be handling all submitted letters and photographs, ensuring proper handling and a safe return. "All of the photographs and letters submitted will be digitized so there is no need to worry about these artifacts being on loan. If you would like to submit something, you may simply stop into the office and wait while I make a reproduction!" Stratton said.
This community involved event is only part of a much larger endeavor which includes many talented arts organizations such as the Art Center of Battle Creek, What A Do Theater, Sweet Adelines, Battle Creek Youth Orchestra and many more local organizations. We are very thankful for the support which makes these collaborative efforts of Heroes Past and Present possible.
Advance tickets start at just $13!
The USO Liberty Bells
The only official chartered USO show troupe, the USO Liberty Bells travel throughout the world performing for service men and women, their families, veterans and audiences that actively support the troops here and abroad. The USO Liberty Bells are part of this American tradition that began with the muddy camp shows of the South Pacific 71 years ago. The 21-member troupe is comprised of Broadway and off-Broadway professionals who are chosen each year after an extensive audition process in Manhattan. This year's performers hail from Broadway shows such as "Spiderman: Turn off the Dark," "Les Miserables," "Hairspray," "The Color Purple" and "Cirque du Soleil." Full biographies of each performer can be found here at the USO of Metropolitan New York website. The USO Liberty Bells make more than 200 appearances throughout the year at deployment and homecoming ceremonies, veteran's hospitals, aboard ships and at military installations, as well as at many corporate and fundraising events.
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