From Crab Fest to Golf Tournament to Odori; SLOBC is in overdrive as its members strive to not only make each event successful but also an enjoyable experience for all the participants. After they are all done, it’s time for us to exhale and take the time to reflect.

A Melancholy Tune
Come Memorial Day (May 30th), many of you will be spending time with family or friends, having a barbeque, hiking or just relaxing and enjoying each others’ company. For those few that will attend a Memorial Day Observance at a cemetery or other public venue, you will probably hear the familiar tune of “Taps” being played by a bugler or trumpeter. Those haunting and melancholy 24 notes evoke many emotions from those listening, oftentimes resulting in the shedding of a tear or two. However, “Taps” was not always meant to solicit these emotions. Prior to the Civil War, a similar bugle call that originated from the French was used by the Union Army. It was meant to tell the troops to “put the lights out” and go to sleep; it was Napoleon Bonaparte’s favorite bugle call. At Harrison’s Landing, Virginia in 1862, Union Army Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield had his bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton rearrange the French tune. The resultant 24 note tune was then used daily by not only the Union armies but also the Confederates too. The tune was given the name “Butterfield’s Lullaby” or “Day is Done” but later, simply “Taps.”

From signaling that the day was done, it was then used regularly at burials beginning in 1848. Today “Taps” is played at military burials, wreath laying ceremonies and yearly during Memorial Day and Veterans Day Ceremonies. As mentioned earlier, it is usually played by a single bugler or trumpeter but if one cannot be found, a recording can be substituted using a device that fits into the bell of the instrument. Thus, the person holding the musical instrument need not know how to play it. On a rare occasion, “Taps” may also be sung. Some of the lyrics follow: