LEGISLATIVE COFFEE The final legislative coffee of the 2015 legislative session will be held Saturday at the congregate mealsite in the restored depot in Uptown Creston. See page 3A for more information.
RUN OF SUCCESS The Panther boys track team looks to continue Creston’s run of success this spring. They open their season today at Clarinda. More in SPORTS, page 7A.
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TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015
A ‘swell’ musician
CNA photo by IAN RICHARDSON
Judy Gale plays “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” on the Creston First Presbyterian Church pipe organ. Along with her organist duties every Sunday, Gale also plays at about five weddings and five funerals per year, as well as a variety of community services.
Creston First Presbyterian Church organist Judy Gale plays for more than 35 years. ■
By IAN RICHARDSON CNA staff reporter
irichardson@crestonnews.com
J
udy Gale brings new meaning to the phrase “pulling out all the stops.” For more than 35 years, she has been the organist at First Presbyterian Church in Creston, playing for hundreds of Sunday s e r v i c e s , Gale weddings and funerals during that time period. It’s an art she admits is becoming more and more scarce in the days of electric instruments and modern, rock-style worship music. “There aren’t that many
pipe organs anymore. Or even people who know how to play them,” she said. But for Gale, the organ brings something that ties the modern church to its heritage. “Tradition,” she said. “Church music, wedding music — that’s just what I think of.” As a girl growing up in the Cedar Rapids area, Gale’s exposure to music started early. Her mother and father both played piano, and her father played banjo as well. At age 6, Gale was already taking piano lessons. Her love for the pipe organ music in her local church would soon inspire her to take up the organ, too. “I adored our organist that we had at our church,” she said. Gale began taking lessons at Coe College the summer after her sophomore year of high school. Already a 10year veteran on the piano, the main adjustments she had to make were coordinating her feet to work the organ’s many pedals and learning to use the organ’s multiple manuals, or rows of keys.
While studying at Iowa State University, Gale continued taking lessons for a few semesters. She also began playing at a local Lutheran church. After graduating college and moving around a few times, Gale and her husband, Frank, settled down in Creston in 1979. They began attending the First Presbyterian Church, and it wouldn’t take long before the chance for Gale to play the pipes rose again. “The organist here had decided she only wanted to do it every other week,” she said. “When I started here, then the Salem Lutheran Church needed somebody. Their organist wanted every other week, so I started going back and forth.” The on-and-off pattern wouldn’t last for long, however. In November of the same year, the organist at First Presbyterian moved to Texas, and Gale was left with the job every Sunday. Gale said she plays at least three different pieces every Sunday morning — a prelude, offertory and postlude — as well as hymns and other music
“I said something about retiring one time. They said, ‘well you have to play until you’re 99.’” — Judy Gale
throughout the service. “Usually the postludes are pretty peppy — something bright to go out with,” she said. “The prelude, it could be something that’s soft, but I usually do more classical pieces.” And those pieces are always fresh. Gale said she tries to never repeat a song during the course of a year, which means she plays a minimum 156 songs every 12 months. “I write down the dates,” she said. Gale has a two-drawer file cabinet stuffed with music she has amassed over the years, some of it from her first years of lessons in Cedar Rapids. Her favorite piece to play: Please see GALE, Page 2
Early school start bill heading to Branstad DES MOINES (AP) — Iowa schools will be able to start the upcoming academic year no earlier than Aug. 23, under a compromise bill that is now headed to Gov. Terry Branstad for approval. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal on Tuesday lifted a procedural hold he placed on the bill last week. The state House and Senate both approved the legislation, but Gronstal stalled, citing concerns that high schools would be excluded from setting year-round calendars. Gronstal says it was time to move on. Branstad promised to sign the bill into law. The state announced plans late last year to stop issuing automatic waivers to allow districts to bypass current start date rules. Many lawmakers wanted districts to have control over their calendars, but Branstad argued that early start dates hurt tourism.
U.S. pledges up to 28% emission cut in treaty WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States pledged Tuesday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions up to 28 percent as part of a global treaty aimed at preventing the worst effects of climate ■ Early in his change, the White House presidency, said. The Obama adminis- Barack Obama tration’s contribution to committed to the treaty, which world leaders expect to finalize cut U.S. emisin December, codifies a sions 17 percommitment President cent by 2020. Barack Obama first made late last year in Beijing, when he announced a joint U.S.-China climate deal that raised global hopes that developed and developing nations can come together to fight climate change. Please see EMISSIONS, Page 2
Grant presented:
The Creston FFA received a $10,000 grant from Farm Bureau Monday to help start a hydroponic lab in their shop. Accepting the check, from left, were Creston FFA officers Wyatt Thompson, Zach Hoffman, Macy Evans, High School Principal Bill Messerole, Union County Farm Bureau agent Jill McKnight and Creston FFA Advisor Kelsey Bailey.
CNA photo by JAKE WADDINGHAM
Big pull: Matt Warren fights against the clock to complete The Crossfit Open
15.5 workout that included rowing and thrusters while Mallory Peterson counts his reps at Crossfit TYL, 500 S. Oak St., in Creston Friday. A total of 32 athletes signed up for the the five-week competition between the Creston and Mount Ayr locations. Scores were recorded online and could be compared with other CrossFit athletes from around the world who completed the same workout.
CNA photo by JAKE WADDINGHAM
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