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Jump Into Fall with the Arts!

September 19, 2021

Hard to believe, but back in the 1950s, when my grandparents opened Callaway-Jones, the Brazos Valley was not the vibrant site of the arts in our region that it is today. As we approach this fall’s entertainment opportunities, we have much to be thankful for, particularly the Arts Council of Brazos Valley, founded in 1970.

Many early College Station residents were professors at Texas A&M College (until 1963, when it became a University), and we had occasional concerts in town, but they were not regular events. Several professor’s spouses (virtually all faculty were men) had degrees in music from northeast schools, and they set about bringing classical music to town. It was common in Houston and Dallas, why not here?

Currently we are celebrating the 60 th year of the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, and our two newest museums are the African-American Museum of the Arts (15 th anniversary) and the Museum of the American GI (now in 7 th year of operation).

In 1990, ten community leaders were interviewed and shared several unique pathways by which a symphony group became reality, how arts programming began on the Texas A&M campus, and how a community choral program would start.

Later on, printed arts, painted arts, and arts productions on stage were added as member groups to this overall umbrella of what is known and thriving today as the Arts Council of Brazos Valley. Down the road, the TAMU MSC OPAS group found strong community support. They staged their own annual galas; later, the BVSO and BV Chorale conducted special fund-raising performances to supplement ticket sales. Many music performances are free today thanks to endowments and gifts left in trust.

The prestige our ACBV member groups have attained is strong. Community volunteers, of which I’m proud to be one, oversee the operations of the ACBV, so the arts can flourish.

This fall, we have an amazing series of performances that are listed in my blog across several of the member groups. Chelsea and I hope you’ll take time to include some of these and explore others in your upcoming schedule. The arts are the heart of the Brazos Valley!

60 th Year of the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History , Now through January 2022, Vintage photos, artifacts, and specimens for only a $5 ticket price for adults. Visit https://www.brazosvalleymuseum.org/

Voices from Vietnam: Stories from Those Who Served, Now through September 30, 2021, at the Museum of the American GI , $6 ticket price for adults

40th Season of Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra (BVSO)  http://bvso.org  This is the 25th year of Music Director Marcelo Bussiki leading the BVSO, another reason to celebrate.

49 th Season of MSC Opera and Performing Arts Society (OPAS) with the season theme: “Let’s Get Together” http://www.mscopas.org 

New Dawn, New Day, New Life Season, the theme of the season of the Brazos Valley Chorale https://bvchorale.org/

October 11, 2021       BVSO Golf Tournament presented by BMW of College Station

October 17, 2021       BVSO Summer Nights, starring international opera star and College Station native, Sasha Cooke, Rudder Auditorium

October 20, 2921      OPAS with Michael Cavanaugh, described as the “new voice of the American Rock & Roll Songbook” and Broadway star of Piano Man

October 24, 2021      BVC  Fall — The Spheres — Kyrie, First Presbyterian Church

November 9,10, 2021   OPAS-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Rudder Auditorium

November 16, 2021  BVSO Wind Serenades, Rudder Theatre

November 16, 2021  OPAS 7000 Miles to Broadway

November 30, 2021  OPAS The Kingdom Choir

December 3-4 2021  BVSO Premiere Market for the Holidays

December 6, 2021     BVC    Christmas — Sunrise —Gloria, First Baptist Bryan

December 12, 2021   BVSO The Holiday Pops Concert, Christ United Methodist Church

January 30, 2022      BVSO The Music of Queen, Rudder Auditorium

February 4,5, 2022   OPAS- Beautiful, The Carole King Musical

February 16,17, 2022 OPAS, Rent

February 27, 2022     BVSO Romantic Piano, Rudder Auditorium, sponsored by the Ham Family Trust

March 6, 2022            BVC — Winter — The City — Credo, First Presbyterian

March 8,9, 2022        OPAS – An Officer and a Gentleman

TBA  2022                   BVC — Spring — Identity & The Ground, Sanctus & Agnus Dei

March 28,29, 2022    OPAS – Fiddler on the Roof

March 27, 2022          BVSO Latin Flavor, Rudder Auditorium, sponsored by The Clearfield Family

April 26, 2022            BVSO ABBA The Concert, Rudder Auditorium

May 7, 2022                BVSO Derby Day Gala Fundraisers

May 8, 2022                BVC  Identity & The Ground — Sanctus & Agnus Dei, TBD

Just scanning this list quickly, we can quickly conclude that our community is truly blessed to enjoy a full sampling of the very best of the arts across the Brazos Valley. Our deep thanks to all those who worked relentlessly to provide the funding, leadership, and guidance so that we may enjoy all of the wonderful opportunities we have today.

Cody ‘02 and Chelsea ’11 Jones

Owners and Community Members

New Beginnings, Clean Slate Begin This New School Year

August 27, 2024
As longtime Brazos Valley residents know, we’ve been taking the back streets the past two weeks now, and until after the first home game traffic settles back, you can count on our staying there. The annual ritual of Back-to-School brings yet another 1500 Aggies to the community, much to the delight of local business owners, who survive the summer to reach the thriving days of fall and summer.

Olympic Times and Trials —What We Learn and Can Teach From Them

July 29, 2024
It’s an exciting first weekend we just experienced, with the opening of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. The week of the Olympics landed in the midst of a very busy series of news cycles that document world events and daily news. Good and bad news abounds, everywhere you look it seems. You just have to pick and choose what you want to let into your day. Yet, it’s important to be aware of the world around us, because the earliest displays of the lessons we teach our children revolve around how we respond to the ups and downs of life.

Independence, Freedom, and Choices

July 4, 2024
This is the day when we break out the red, white, and blue décor and display our pride in being Americans with the rest of our community, same as we do every year at this time. Across the Brazos Valley some of our neighborhoods are staging their own parades and parents have helped their children decorate their bike handles with streamers. Sound systems are playing “The Stars and Stripes Forever” as a parade route forms. Pedal cars are moving into position behind the four- and five-year-old drivers maneuvering into position. Electric cars driven by Batman or John Deere III slide into view.

Why We Attend — The Value of a Visitation

July 1, 2024

The Love Wrapped Inside My Father’s Arms

June 16, 2024
Just looking at these two photos, separated by three decades, I’m overwhelmed to think of how it still just seems like yesterday that my dad was loading up the station wagon, ready to drive me and our soccer team all across the back roads of Texas as we competed across the state, trying our best to stand out.

Mother’s Day — A Promise of Remembrance

May 12, 2024
Of all the women in our lives, mothers certainly hold a position of supreme love and regard that often are set far above others we hold dear in life. Mothers are, frankly, our first very best friends and throughout life, others may come close but there’s a place that only they can hold dear in our hearts.

Who Will Be Your Informant (When the time comes)?

April 29, 2024
In the past few weeks, I’ve heard from high school friends that two of our classmates had died. This is not uncommon by itself, but the surprise came as I learned that one of our classmates had died two years ago, and another some three months ago. Yet, not one person we knew in common had known of their passing before now, so none of us who grew up together had any idea that we’d lost two “of our own.” That meant sorrow upon sorrow at the delay in learning of their passing.

Joy in the Morning: Easter Blessings for All

March 31, 2024
Just as excitedly as children rush from their beds on Easter morning to see what might be awaiting them in their Easter baskets from the Easter bunny, adults have reason to approach this blessed Sunday with similar enthusiasm. The promise of the memory of the stone that was rolled back, revealing an empty tomb brings to all of us the reminder that Christ rose from the dead and God took him back home to be with him. The victory of the resurrection is our guarantee as adults that we can celebrate each year.

Teaching Our Children About Holy Week — Introduction to Palm Sunday

March 24, 2024
Now that our son Rowen is two years old, Chelsea and I are beginning to introduce him to the elements of a regular church worship service that occur with regularity each year. True, one can only make a preliminary impression on a youngster with respect to helping him or her understand the rituals we as adults have grown up with, all of our lives. The occasion of Palm Sunday gives us a chance to help Rowen know that on Palm Sunday, we are going to be seeing everyone we know waving a large palm frond as we come into the church.

Social Media Footprints — Have You Planned for What Happens When You’re Not Here?

March 19, 2024
Over the years we’ve all become more friendly with social media, whether we’re texting our family and friends or whether or not we are adding a smiley face to the post of our latest grandchild playing a sport, and we share it on all our outlets too, because you know, we are proud!
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