This is so cute you will get a kick out of it

[Don]

Music store adds to diversity of Liberty Square
By: Angie Anaya Borgedalen

The addition of Palen Music Center to the mix of businesses will add a little more diversity to Liberty Square, and it could bring new customers to neighboring stores.

Palen, which is at 249 W. Mill St., will move several blocks north to 2 E. Franklin St. on the north side of the Square in October. Palen's music repair business is moving there this week.

Store manager Dick Murdock said the new location was larger and would allow the business to consolidate its instrument repair operation, offices, music lessons, retail shop and storage. Some of those services are now scattered elsewhere.

Seven sound-proof studio spaces are under construction in the former Awesome Possum building. So there should be no music to their ears for tenants living in two apartments upstairs.

?You can't hear anything outside the studios,? Murdock said of the spaces used by students to practice. He said all the studios would have at least one original brick wall in the 1868 building.

?I'm excited about being on the Square,? Murdock said. ?It's a perfect location for us.?

He said parents would be able to get coffee at By the Book or stroll around the Square while their children took music lessons. He said a holiday recital was planned for December in Corbin Theatre.

?They can go get ice cream or go to a restaurant. It'll be so cool,? Murdock said.

That's exactly what Coni Hadden, president of Historic Downtown Liberty Inc., likes to hear.

?It will stimulate foot traffic and bring more young people to the Square,? Hadden said.

Rich Groves, program manager for HDLI, said the group was also working to attract more nightlife to the Square.

?I'd love for us to be able to generate something for the Boggess building and get an upscale restaurant downtown, and I'd love to see more occupancy upstairs,? Groves said.

With the exception of the Boggess building on the corner of Main and Kansas, which the owners have shown little interest in selling or leasing, Groves said there were few empty buildings on the Square.

Murdock said Palen had about 100 students, ranging in age from 4 to the 50s. He also said the store would expand its offerings of piano, guitar, string, brass and wind instrument lessons. Students come from Liberty, Kearney, Excelsior Springs and other nearby communities.

The youngest student is 4-year-old Emma Engleman, who plays a tiny violin.

Emma's mother said all three of her daughters, including 10-year-old twins Alberta and Hannah, took lessons at Palen.

She said Emma was learning to play ?Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star? but her real love was Celtic music, especially songs played by fiddler Mariread Nesbitt.

?She wants to be a Celtic woman like Mariread,? Engleman said. ?She listens to her over and over.?

Murdock said one reason the Liberty Palen store ? it's one of five in Missouri ? had been so successful was because of the Liberty School District's music program.

?It is absolutely incredible,? Murdock said. ?It's amazing what they've accomplished with those kids. In Liberty, it's cool to be in the band or orchestra.?

In May, the Liberty High School Orchestra was invited to perform at a ceremony celebrating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Va. Liberty made national news when President George W. Bush joined in conducting the local musicians. Guests included Queen Elizabeth II.
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Always Remember All Things Are Possible With God !!

[Scott]

That is so cool Don, thanks for posting.
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May your day be touched
by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles
of the people you love.

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