After sounding bugle calls in the morning at the Memorial Day ceremony, 26 May 2025, at Veterans Park in Lynnwood, I drove to (formerly) Edmonds Landing Retirement Community in Edmonds in the afternoon to perform my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag.” It consists of about two dozen patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls. The residents sing along with me.
I have six one-hour trumpet shows. During this one, I use all five of my horns: Getzen trumpet and bugle, Jupiter pocket trumpet, ACB (Austin Custom Brass) flugelhorn, and Olds Super cornet (71 years old, given to me by my parents when I became a freshman in high school).
Photos courtesy of Edmonds Landing by Cogir. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Veterans Day, 11 November 2024, found me in Bellevue for my third performance at The Gardens at Town Square retirement community. That afternoon, I presented my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag” to a large, generous audience.
Actually, I have two versions of this show. In 2021, after the Covid Pandemic peaked, I performed the “talk version.” In this show, I not only play patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls, but also, I talk about veterans’ current well-being, concerns, and activities. But this year, I performed the “standard version”–about two dozen pieces of music with a bit of talk to introduce each piece. The audience sings along as I play my five horns: Getzen Eterna Severinsen trumpet, Super Olds cornet, Austin Custom Brass (ACB) flugelhorn, Getzen bugle, and Jupiter pocket trumpet.
We had such a great time that I look forward to returning sometime in 2025, God willing. I have six different trumpet shows, so there’s plenty to choose from. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
It was Independence Day, and I was returning to Mercer Island, where I lived for 30 years (1973-2003), to perform my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag,” at Island House MBK Senior Living, a retirement community. Moreover, I was returning to Island House itself, where I had sounded “Taps” six years ago in a ceremony on Memorial Day, 28 May 2018. It was good to be back!
It was a bright, warm day, so the staff, led by Jacqueline Lilly, Director of Wellness Programming, set things up in the courtyard, where I and many of the audience sat under large, dark green umbrellas. I wore my VFW Honor Guard uniform, and as usual, played five horns–Getzen trumpet and field trumpet (bugle), Olds Super Cornet, ACB flugelhorn, and Jupiter pocket trumpet. The show consists of two dozen patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls.
For more information about Island House, please see https://www.mbkseniorliving.com/senior-living/wa/mercer-island/island-house/. It is located downtown and offers assisted living and short-term stays in studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments. Photos courtesy of Island House, Mercer Island.
If it’s your birthday, where do you go? You go perform a one-hour trumpet show, “In Retrospect,” at Edmonds Landing in Edmonds, WA, because they invited you to do so! And that’s exactly what I did at 2 p.m. on 24 June. It was my third performance for the residents there, courtesy of Lifestyle Director, Sonia Pace.
For this show, I use four horns: Getzen trumpet, Olds Super cornet, ACB flugelhorn, and Jupiter pocket trumpet. I play about two dozen popular songs from the residents’ era. They were composed during the 84-year period from 1892 to 1976. As I play each song, I comment on it and relate it to something that we all experience at some time in our lives, including courtship, marriage, family, death, and national pride and loyalty. It’s a favorite of mine among my six different trumpet shows.
Edmonds Landing offers Independent Living and Assisted Living in 83 apartments on two floors in the “Edmonds Bowl.” It is part of the family of retirement communities operated by Frontier Senior Living (please see https:/www.frontiermgmt.com).
Photos courtesy of Edmonds Landing (except for poster).
Almost every Flag Day (14 June), I get to perform my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag.” This year, I did so at a brand-new community, Cogir of Kirkland, located near Carillon Point. It opened last February, offering assisted living services.
Among the residents who attended was a couple celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary. He used to play trumpet, and she used to play the French horn.
My show consists of about two dozen patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls. I use four horns: Getzen trumpet, Olds Super cornet, Getzen field trumpet (bugle), and Jupiter pocket trumpet. Residents sing-a-long with me on certain songs.
Cogir Senior Living operates nearly 70 facilities in 11 states. In Washington, it has 18, ranging from Spokane to Walla Walla to Vancouver to Everett to Bellevue. Collectively, Cogir’s services include independent living, assisted living, connections care, memory care, and respite care, but most facilities offer one or two of these five levels of care. Together, these communities are staffed with more than 3,700 skilled, compassionate team members (please see https//:cogirusa.com).
This was my fifth performance at Fairwinds, Brighton Court (FBC) in Lynnwood–the most, so far, at any of the 29 retirements communities in the Greater Seattle area where I have presented at least one of my six trumpet shows!
Glenn Ledbetter plays “You’re a Grand Old Flag” on his Jupiter pocket trumpet.
The occasion, this time, was Flag Day, the 14th of June 2023. Flag Day commemorates the adoption on 14 June 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress, of the USA flag. The idea of celebrating this event was born in 1885. For more information about Flag Day, please use the Archives column to the left to see my blog post of 16 July 2019.
At FBC, I performed my show, “I Stand for the Flag,” which consists of about two dozen patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls. I used four instruments: my Getzen trumpet and bugle, Super Olds Cornet, and Jupiter pocket trumpet. With the trumpet, bugle and pocket trumpet, I used my Yamaha Allen Vizzutti mouthpiece, and with my cornet, I used to two mouthpieces, a Denis Wick 4 and Bach 8C.
Glenn Ledbetter performs at University House, Issaquah. Photo by Tina Kaiser.
Era Living has 8 retirement communities in the Greater Seattle area, and on five consecutive days around Veterans Day (11 November) I performed my trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag,” at five of them (please see http://www.eraliving.com). I hope to perform at the other three in 2022.
If there were such a thing as a contest among these five for Best Veterans Day Decorations, then First Prize would have to be awarded to The Gardens at Town Square in Bellevue, where is Stephanie Butler is Life Enrichment Director. See photos below.
Interesting people come to talk with me after a show. For example, a lady at Ida Culver House, Ravenna in Seattle said her husband (deceased) was a direct descendant of Gen. Daniel A. Butterfield. With the help of his brigade bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton in July 1862 during the Civil War, Butterfield composed the bugle call, “Taps,” at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia after the Seven Days Battle. Please see my blog article about this, dated 19 November 2012.
After my show at University House, Wallingford (UHW) in Seattle, a man and his wife told me that her ancestry tree includes a relationship with Frances Scott Key. Key, of course, is the author of the poem which became the lyrics of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
I wear my VFW Honor Guard uniform when I perform this show, which consists of patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls. And I use four horns: my Getzen Eterna Severinsen trumpet, Super Olds cornet, Getzen field trumpet (bugle), and Jupiter pocket trumpet. Next spring, I’ll be able to add my new Austin Custom Brass Doubler flugelhorn, which is now on order as a Christmas gift from my wife.
My six one-hour trumpet shows include sing-alongs and jokes. They are:
“I Stand for the Flag” – Patriotic marches, songs and bugle calls
“Things Remembered” – A mix of Christmas songs and popular songs loved by residents
“Showtune Favorites” – Hit songs from musicals and movies
“In Retrospect” – More of residents’ favorite songs
“St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” – Irish ballads, jigs and reels
“Where Were You, Back Then?” – Popular songs from selected years during residents’ era
Normally, “I Stand for the Flag” consists of 25 pieces of music. However, this time, the Executive Director of UHW, Deborah Montelaro, asked me to combine the music with a talk about Veterans affairs. That reduced the pieces to 16, and I performed that version of the show at four of the five venues.
I have now performed at least one of these shows at 24 different retirement communities in the Greater Seattle area, and I look forward to many more appearances in 2022, Covid and God willing.
9 Nov – Aljoya, Mercer Island (Photos courtesy of Aljoya and me)
10 Nov – University House, Issaquah (photos by Tina Kaiser of UHI and me)
11 Nov – Ida Culver House, Ravenna (photos courtesy of ICHR and me)
12 Nov – The Gardens at Town Square, Bellevue (Photos courtesy of TGTS by me)
13 Nov – University House, Wallingford, Seattle (Photos courtesy of UHW and me)
Fairwinds, Redmond, a Leisure Care Retirement Community
About 30 residents of Fairwinds, Redmond gathered on 16 November to hear my trumpet show, “Showtune Favorites.” For one hour, I played 25 hit songs from musicals and movies of the residents’ era, such as “Over the Rainbow,” “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Bali Hai,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Hello Dolly,” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” And along the way, I told a few jokes.
I brought three horns—my Getzen trumpet, Super Olds cornet, and Jupiter pocket trumpet—along with a Denis Wick 4 mouthpiece to make the cornet sound like a flugelhorn. And I used either a Harmon and straight mute for certain tunes. Fun!
Randee Young is the Guest Services Manager at Fairwinds, Redmond. When I return here someday, I’ll perform a different show—I have six.
Fairwinds, Redmonds
This facility is among the family of 53 Leisure Care retirement communities located in 18 states (https://www.leisurecare.com/our-communities). There are 9 in Washington state. Fairwinds, Redmond offers independent and assisted living accommodations and amenities in the Education Hill neighborhood. There are 22 floor plans and two dining venues, along with a private dining room, fitness room, pool, theater, salon, game room, activity room, patio, and garden. The size of the apartments range from 468 s.f. for a studio to 1,504 s.f. for a two-bedroom with den. Please see https://www.leisurecare.com/our-communities/fairwinds-redmond.
Two photos of the entrance (below) were taken by me. All others in this article are courtesy of Fairwinds, Redmond. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Four trumpets, all completely disassembled and ready to clean. Upper left: Getzen Eterna trumpet, Super Olds cornet, and Jupiter pocket trumpet. Upper right: Getzen field trumpet (bugle). Lower left: all the slides from the three horns above. Lower right: Nine valves and 11 mouthpieces (including one trombone).
I’m switching from petroleum-based valve oil to synthetic, so I want to take no chances on possible incompatibility. If the two brands don’t mix, they can cause the valves to stick badly—almost freeze. So I wanted to rid my horns of all traces of the petroleum oil before I applied the synthetic.
On 25 August, I took over the kitchen for a few hours. And as long as I was going to clean my three horns with valves, why not clean the bugle, too? These are the four:
Getzen Eterna Trumpet, Doc Severinsen Model (c.1977)
Super Olds Cornet (1954)
Jupiter Pocket Trumpet (2000)
Getzen Field Trumpet [bugle] (2015)
It’s fall. Had to get my horns ready. In September, UW football games began, and I’m in the Husky Alumni Band. We play at home games. Also, the orchestra at Alderwood Community Church in Lynnwood resumes performances at certain Sunday services and begins preparations for the annual Christmas musical in December. I’ve played in this orchestra since 2010. Sometime in September, I’d like to busk at Veterans Plaza in Edmonds one more time before this year’s nearby Saturday Market shuts down until next May. I do it to fundraise for the VFW. In October, I begin my 9th year teaching beginning brass at Skyview Middle School in Bothell. And meanwhile, I’m booked to play one-hour trumpet shows at some retirement homes this fall. It’s all very fun.
My horns are now ready. I’m ready. Needless to say, I admire and love my horns. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Three sets of partially disassembled valves and 11 mouthpieces: six trumpet, four cornet, and one trombone.
Valves were added to trumpets and cornets in the 1830s.
All are B-flat instruments, so each is a 4.5 feet long tube.
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 