St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra Salutes Veterans

ST. CLOUD -- The St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra is honoring our nation's veterans. Their concert titled "Coming Home - The Armistice Anniversary" is Saturday night.

Principal Conductor Brian Dowdy says the evening will include family war stories, including his own. His grandfather was killed in World War II.

I'll tell a little bit of my own family story, and I'll play a very interesting recording that we discovered just shortly before my grandmother died, which is a recording of Melvin Senior -- the brother who was killed in action.  This was the first time any of the grandchildren and the first time my father had ever heard his father's voice.

In an interesting twist, when Dowdy's biological grandfather's brother returned home from the war he married his brother's widow and became Dowdy's adopted grandfather as well as his great-uncle.

A pre-concert discussion starts at 6:30 p.m. with the music starting at 7:30 p.m. at Ritsche Auditorium at St. Cloud State University. Tickets are available on the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra's website.