The Greene County Historical Society will hear stories, reflections and possibly songs from our local music heritage when the group meets this Friday, Sept. 9, at historic St. Patrick Catholic Church in Cedar Township, about four miles west of Churdan.
Sheilah McGregor Pound of Jefferson will present the 1 pm program, which is free and open to the public, in the church sanctuary. It will follow a lunch in the church basement, which is $8 per person. Reservations are required for lunch and can be made through the Historical Society’s community contact persons or by calling program chairperson Ces Brunow at 515-370-5531.
“We’ve always been a very musical and artistic community,” Pound said. “It seems like through the years, we’ve had an influx of very talented people.”
She began performing early in her life with her sisters and brothers in their “McGregor Family Band,” which her mother Monica McGregor directed and accompanied. “We played all over northwest Iowa,” Pound said, “and we also performed in the 4-H building at the Iowa State Fair the day President Gerald Ford visited there.”
As an adult, she was music director at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson for 15 years, and she has also been music director for a number of musical productions by the Community Players of Greene County. Last winter, she was co-founder and is still director of the new county-wide chorus, the Greene County Singers.
Pound has also recently opened her new business, Interpretations Music Studio, where she’ll teach vocal and piano lessons on the second story of the building at 101 N. Chestnut Street in Jefferson, the same building that is home to All Ability Cycles.
In her program Friday, Pound plans to review the contributions of many notable musicians and teachers who’ve been part of the music scene in Greene County – Bill & Doris McGregor, Carson Griffith, Chuck and Virginia Radke, Richard Carey, the Oatts family, Tanner Taylor and many others.
Might she sing some of the story, including some of the songs that would have been favorites of Greene Countians through the decades?
“Well, I’m open to that,” Pound said. “I’ll see what I can come up with by Friday.”
Notable for people considering attending the historical society gathering on Friday, historic St. Patrick Church now has a “lift” that will make it much easier for people with physical challenges to deal with the stairs in the building.
More information is available on the Historical Society’s new website www.greenecountyiowahistoricalsociety.org.
