May 18, 2007
Click here to watch a video of the kids singing.
Gas prices too high? Your raise too low? Barry Bonds too close to breaking the all-time home-run record?
Never fear. I'm here to cheer you up.
Actually, I'm not - wouldn't want to ruin my reputation. Instead I'm going to turn the job over to 27 preschoolers from Altoona Kidsworld Too. I'm hoping you'll be as enchanted, and impressed, by them as I was last weekend.
Let's set the stage: It's last Saturday night. OK, it isn't, but pretend.
The weather is, and here's a word not often associated with the Iowa climate, perfect. It's a great night to enjoy an evening of Triple-A baseball at Principal Park in Des Moines with the Register's political writer, Tom Beaumont, and my buddy, 5-year-old Sam "The Future Albert Pujols" Beaumont. (No pressure, kid.)
Before the first pitch, I noticed a group of children - very young and very small children - assembling behind home plate. A microphone stand was placed in front of them.
Uh-oh.
Whose foolish idea is this?
They don't expect these kids to sing the national anthem, do they?
"The Star-Spangled Banner" has tripped up many an adult performer. That linguistic obstacle course between "the twilight's last gleaming" and "o'er the ramparts we watched" contains lyrical land mines not easily avoided.
So you can imagine the challenge facing 27 4- and 5-year-olds.
Standing in front of thousands of people.As their images are beamed on the giant video screen.
"It was the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever done," says Shannon Bruchert, a preschool teacher at Altoona Kidsworld Too.
A year ago, Bruchert attended an I-Cubs game, heard the anthem and thought, "My kids know that. We could do that, too.
"But all of the games were already spoken, or sung, for, so she tried again this season.
In the meantime, the Altoona youngsters practiced. They sang the national anthem at the grocery store, at two banks, at Altoona Elementary School.
Another preschool helper, Amber Sneathen, made each parent a CD of the anthem, so the kids could practice those tricky lyrics at home.
Everyone pitched in. The preschool's owners, Mike and Joyce Morr. The director, Traci Lovell. The other teachers. The parents.
But the children were the stars. If they stood on that grassy field, looked up at all those people and developed a sudden case of stage fright - something else for Bruchert to fret about - well, you can imagine the possibilities.
Kenny Houser certainly could. He's the I-Cubs' director of group sales and community relations, and he chooses the anthem singers. The Altoona children were "by far the youngest" who have sung in his three years there.
Earlier this year, he had them try out at the ballpark, and they did so well he gave them a shot.
So there they were last Saturday night. The I-Cubs announcer asked everyone to stand. The players - the I-Cubs and their opponents, the Sacramento River Cats - stood outside their dugouts.
And Bruchert gave the children their cue.
They nailed it. They sang at the top of their little lungs. Their enthusiasm commanded the attention of everyone.
"They just knocked it out of the park," Houser says.
When they were finished, the crowd roared, and even the players turned toward them and applauded with gusto.
Bruchert didn't notice.
"We had to get them off the field in 45 seconds," she says. "I was so nervous about the whole thing, I didn't even pay attention.
"I was just so proud of them.
"If you want to see a video of their performance - it'll cheer you up, promise - go to www.desmoinesregister.com/Fuson.
On the video, you can hear a parent say, "That was so good, I almost wanted to cry."
Or stand and applaud a little longer.
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