Not too long ago, my good friend Herb Kraft invited me to play with the Jubal Brass. The concert was going to be in Hartwell and it seemed to be a good chance to start playing my trumpet again… especially since I live in Hartwell and the concert was at First Baptist Hartwell, which is only 7 miles from home.
To back up a bit… It was in the third grade when I first started playing the cornet and later switched to the trumpet. I played through high school and into college, but unfortunately I quit for a few years while I was living a life that was not very pleasing to my family or God. My life changed when I came to my senses and repented, which I will write more about later. I decided to join my father in attending First Baptist Atlanta and ended up playing in the orchestra there for about 20 years. I especially enjoyed playing in the Atlanta Passion Play every year around Easter. We moved around a bit and I played at other churches along the way. Then we moved to Hartwell, and the first church that we joined was First Baptist Hartwell.
Moving forward… just a few years ago, during the Covid years, I had torn my right rotator cuff, and a few months later, the left. For a couple of years afterwards, I was unable to hold up my trumpet, but I desperately missed playing. Herb had invited me to play with the Jubal Brass, and even though I only had a month or two to prepare, I was able to play in that concert.
It was unfortunate that Herb was not able to play in this concert, but I did get to reunite with Greg Gajownik, who I knew from South West Dekalb High School. Greg and I sat next to each other in the trumpet section, always competing for the next chair up in the section. We also played Call to Colors over the loud speaker each morning from 9th grade through our senior year. Now I get to see Herb and Greg every few weeks at the concerts that we play all over the state of Georgia.