Glenn’s Trumpet Notes

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“Taps” Twice at Seahawks Game Brings My Lifetime’s “15 Minutes of Fame”

Posted by glennled on November 14, 2025

Glenn Ledbetter, VFW Post 1040 Bugler, sounds “Taps,” as shown on Lumen Field’s Jumbotron by Seattle Seahawks, 11-09-2025. Photo by Monica McNeal
Glenn Ledbetter during sound check in the morning. Photo by Seahawks

When the bugler faded-away the last of the 24 notes in “Taps” and lowered his bugle, the football crowd roared, the same way they do after hearing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before kickoff. It was the first step in the “Salute to Service” halftime ceremony on 9 November, two days before Veterans Day and 50 years after the end of the Vietnam War. Glenn Ledbetter, 85, is a Navy veteran of that war. Wearing his VFW Post 1040 Honor Guard uniform and sitting on the seat of his walker, he was aware that, to those watching, he symbolized the wounded warrior, although his infirmity was simply a damaged nerve in his lower back in old age. He was proud he had served and proud to represent the other soldiers and sailors who wore their nation’s uniforms and fought that war.

Here he was on the 50-yard line of Lumen Field during the game between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals—a dream come true! And only a year and a half ago, he had sounded “Taps” at a baseball game at T-Mobile Stadium between the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros—the first such dream to come true! The Seahawks dream grew out of the Mariners dream.

It all started with a referral to the Mariners event-planning staff by Monica McNeal, a Gold Star Mother. They wanted a bugler for the ceremony they were planning for Memorial Day in 2024. She recommended Glenn after hearing him sound “Echo Taps” at the dedication ceremony for the new Gold Star Mothers Families Memorial Monument in Veterans Park in downtown Lynnwood on 24 September 2023. Monica also contacted the Seahawks in 2024—if they were planning a program at a Seahawks game around Veterans Day, she recommended Glenn to sound “Taps”—but it did not happen.

So, three huge dominoes fell in succession—in 2023, 2024, 2025. Then, last July, Glenn sent an email to the Seahawks, volunteering to sound “Taps” at the game on 9 November, two days before Veterans Day. They agreed to consider it. In early October, he wrote again and was told it was unlikely. Then, on 30 October, he got an email from the Seahawks: “Sorry for the late ask but any chance you’re available to play Taps for us during our Salute to Service halftime ceremony next Sunday (11/9)?” He immediately replied, “Yes, I’m thrilled to accept your invitation!” The next day, Halloween, the Seahawks sent another invitation: could he play “Taps” pre-game in the Ticketmaster Tailgate area at 11:45? Yes, of course. And he dropped practically everything else.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War (1975)

Here is Glenn’s timeline on game day:

  • 6:00 a.m.          Alarm says, “Wake up, Get up.”
  • 7:00                     Depart for Lumen Field. Park in NE parking lot.
  • 8:30                     Pass through security at NE entrance, meet Escort.
  • 9:00                     Sound check on the 50-yard line in stadium.
  • 9:20                     Sound check in the Ticketmaster Tailgate room.
  • 9:40                     Wait in private “Green Room.”
  • 11:45                   Sound “Taps” at Ticketmaster Tailgate.
  • 12:00                   Arrive at guest seat in stadium to watch game.
  • 1:05 p.m.          Kickoff—Seahawks vs Cardinals.
  • ~2:00                   Halftime score: Seahawks 38, Cardinals 7.
  • ~2:00                  Sound “Taps” to begin Salute to Service ceremony.
  • ~:2:30                 Exit stadium rather than watch game to the end.
  • ~3:15                   Arrive home. Watch 4th quarter on CBS-TV. Seahawks won, 44-22.
  • 5:00                     Toast the day with Prosecco and have dinner with wife.

After he sounded “Taps” at halftime, the crowd immediately roared. He was surprised and happy. Then he sat on the field’s sideline and watched the ceremony. When it ended, he walked with his escort behind the endzone toward the southwest exit tunnel. Suddenly, he heard nearby fans cheering loudly. He looked up to his left and saw them yelling and waving. Who, me, pointing at himself? They pointed back, Yes, you, cheering and clapping. He waved, blew a kiss, and walked on. Then a second group did the same, and so did he. That’s what “Taps” can do—make people cry, make people cheer!

“Salute to Service” halftime ceremony. Photo by Monica McNeal

Inside the tunnel, several other members of the ceremony and Seahawks staff congratulated him. Glenn asked his chief contact among the Seahawks staff if he knows Monica, a Seahawks volunteer. “Yes,” he said with a quizzical look in his eyes. “She’s my ‘in’,” Glenn said. “Monica’s everybody’s ‘in’,” he said. Soon, Glenn told his escort, “I’d like to go home.”

People began to post on Facebook. So did the Seahawks and Lumen Field. Likes, comments, and re-posts multiplied. It went on for two-three days before fading out, as time marches on.

Recall that Andy Warhol was quoted in Time magazine in 1967 as saying that in the future, with the rise of mass media, “Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”

You could say that without modern medicine and three stints in his heart arteries, Glenn wouldn’t have been at Lumen Field that day. None of his male ancestors, going back through his family branch to the first Ledbetter immigrant to America from England in the 1640s, ever lived past age 78.

Photo by Lynnwood Today

And without the referrals of Monica McNeal, he wouldn’t have been there either. She is the Gold Star mother of Lance Corporal Eric L. Ward, who tragically died in Afghanistan in 2010, may he rest in peace.

And if he were a young man, confidently out to make his mark in the world, Glenn might have said to himself, “I did it.” Even now, after sounding “Taps” 248 times in the past 14 years, he might be tempted say the same thing.

It’s certainly true that all those things vitally factored into his performance at Lumen Field. But today, at age 85, having recovered from being a broken man in 1994, he now gratefully says, “God granted my 15 minutes of fame.”

The official attendance was 68,723. The game broadcast was by CBS-TV. Glenn used his Getzen Field Trumpet (please see blog post of 4 May 2015, “My New Getzen Bugle!”). The Getzen website is https://www.getzen.com/trumpets/field-trumpets/. A relative of Glenn’s found a fan’s video of the “Taps” performance (absent the first three notes) on You-Tube: https://youtube.com/shorts/_9pHKNe-u1c?si=fK2OcbRqe8SBrvuG (~35 secs).

Photos are by Seahawks, Monica McNeal, Lynnwood Today, and Glenn Ledbetter. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

First Trumpet Show at Vineyard Park at North Creek, Bothell

Posted by glennled on November 12, 2025

Vineyard Park at North Creek (VPNC) in Bothell just opened last January, and it’s now the 36th retirement community where I have performed one of my six one-hour trumpet shows. It was my first appearance there (on 8 November), and the show was “Where were you, Back Then?” This new place is lovely. As I played before the fireplace in the large dining room, the crowd grew, as it often does when people begin to hear tunes they remember well and like.

In this show, we recall songs from selected years from 1947-2008. I invite the residents to sing along (or hum), and they do! Here’s the format: I name a year and cite a few significant events that happened that year; then I ask them to remember where they were and what they were doing; I might tell them something about my own life at that time; and finally, I play a hit song from that year. I use four horns: trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, and pocket trumpet, four mouthpieces, and three mutes.

For example, in 1968, the Apollo 8 crew of three American men became the first humans to orbit the moon (10 times), the first humans to see the dark side of the moon, and the first to see the whole earth. And for that year, I played “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” written during the Great Depression in 1931 but made popular for the residents’ generation in 1968 when the Mamas and the Papas recorded it with Cass Elliot the lead singer. Did you ever sing that song about your lover? “Say nightie-night and kiss me….” Bet you can hear it as you read this!

VPNC is a CarePartners community; for more information, please see https://www.carepartnersliving.com/vineyard-park-at-north-creek/

Photos are courtesy of VPNC. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

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Third Trumpet Show for My Classmates at Our 67th High School Reunion in South Texas

Posted by glennled on October 22, 2025

Attendees, Class of 1958, Sinton High School, Sinton, Texas, 9-27-2025

On Saturday, 27 September, my high school classmates, spouses, and children gathered for our 67th annual reunion at The Inn at Fulton Harbor on the Gulf coast of Texas, near my hometown, Sinton, where we grew up. We are the SHS Class of 1958.

First, we had supper at the Butter Churn Restaurant in nearby Aransas Pass, and then we reassembled in the meeting room at the Inn, where some people simply talked while others solved a jig-saw puzzle. And for the third such reunion (2022, 2023, and 2025), I performed a short trumpet show–afterwards, one classmate shouted, “It keeps us young!”

Practice mute and Jupiter Pocket Trumpet

I brought my Jupiter Pocket trumpet so that I could practice on the beach or in a local park or in the condo where we regularly stay. When I practice indoors, I use my Japanese-made Best Brass practice mute so I won’t disturb anyone. When I practice outdoors, I let ‘er rip (see photos below).

Each year, I open the show with our school alma mater and fight song. This year is the 100th anniversary of our alma mater, “Maroon and White” (see photo left). Daniel E. Sharp, Sr. wrote it in 1925, and one of his sons, Mike, came to this reunion and spoke about his Dad and their musical family.

In between these three core pieces, I entertain with a few songs and jokes. In 2022, I played “When I’m 64” and “What a Wonderful World.” In 2023, I played, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” (My wife and I did not attend in 2024.)

This year, I chose a hit song from each year that we were in high school, fall of 1954 to spring of 1958. The five in-between pieces were “That’s Amore” (’54), “Rock Around the Clock” (’55), “Blue Suede Shoes” (’56), “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” (’57), and “Splish Splash” (’58).

Before I close with either “God Bless America” or “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” we stand with hands over our hearts, facing the USA flag, and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, as we did beside our desks each morning in Grammar School (grades 1-8).

I pass out the lyrics to all the songs and invite my classmates to sing along as I play. As the songs remind us of our school years, we interact with each other, take group pictures and videos, tell stories, remember our friends, reminisce about things we did, what we wore, where we went, who our teachers were, and such. It’s fun, and they’ve invited me to do it again next year, God willing–we’re all about 85 years old! Many of our absentee classmates would like to come but simply can’t make the trip anymore.

Years ago, the high school building where we attended was replaced by a much larger and nicer one. But now, it also has been superseded by a new, even bigger group of buildings, athletic fields, gymnasium, and tennis courts, and this year is the first that students are attending classes in it (see photos below). The buildings are sized for enrollment growth. I visited with the long-time band director, Mr. Robert Flores. (He kindly lends me a music stand for my reunion shows.) He showed me the new, first-class Performing Arts Center, including the huge band room with surrounding practice rooms, and a very large percussion room. The magnificent theater seats a thousand. For perspective, just think–my class graduated about 77 kids.

Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

Almost all our attendees
Practicing at Don & Sandy Billish Park, Padre Island
At St. Andrews Park, Corpus Christi
At Whitecap Beach, Padre Island

Posted in School Class Reunions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Fundraising for VFW—Busking Again at Veterans Plaza in Edmonds

Posted by glennled on August 24, 2025

Glenn Ledbetter busks again at Veterans Plaza on Saturday’s Market Day, Edmonds

Last Saturday, 23 August, I got out there again, using my horns to raise money for VFW Posts 8870 (Edmonds) and 1040 (Lynnwood). The yellow sign reads, “All Donations go to VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars),” and people gave generously, as usual. I started busking here in 2017, but I missed a few years, starting with Covid-19 in 2020. My last appearance was in June 2022.

I played for more than one and half hours. My busking book contains some 100 songs, and I played about half of them, some more than once, as the large crowd kept changing in and out, mingling, sitting, eating, coming and going. I always play in the Veterans Plaza in downtown Edmonds, adjacent to the Edmonds Museum Summer Market (please see https://historicedmonds.org/summer-market). The warm, clear summer day was perfect.

The crowd responses are always great fun. For example, parents give their little kids a few dollars to toss in the trumpet case. They approach carefully, one eye on the open case and one eye on me, quickly drop the money onto the pile, and run back to their parents! Other kids will dance to the music, and both kids and adults will talk to me. Remember being taught to donate to charities? Remember teaching your kids the same? Often, people just say, “Thank you for your service,” and I reply, “You’re welcome.” (I’m a Navy vet who served on three ships in the Pacific and taught NROTC at the University of Washington.)

After I played “Summertime,” a woman came up and told me that’s her favorite song. After “Wand’rin’ Star,” one man shouted “Lee Marvin!” [the actor (and a Marine) who sang it in the movie, “Paint Your Wagon.”] We waved to each other. An elderly lady in a motorized wheelchair came up and asked me if I have seen the movie, “The Legend of 1900.” I have not. She said there’s a great trumpeter in that movie. “That’s when I fell in love with the trumpet and that trumpet player,” she said.

I brought only two of my five horns this time–my cornet and flugelhorn. One song got stuck in my mind, and so I played “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” three times. It was written in 1917, shortly before WWI ended. I always loved the tune but never paid attention to the words. So, I looked up the lyrics. It’s about a depressed person who always dreams about success and happiness but is just a natural-born loser who always fails. But I remember it from the MGM musical, “Ziegfeld Girls,” in 1941, early during WWII. Judy Garland sings the song, but eventually her character does become the top showgirl in the Ziegfeld Follies.

As is my custom as VFW Post 1040 Bugler, I split the donations in two and gave half to each VFW Post (please see https://vfw1040.org and https://vfw8870.org).

Posted in Busking | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Husky Alumni Band Performs at Peer Pathways’ Health Conference in Lynnwood

Posted by glennled on August 15, 2025

(L to R): Yesterday’s Trumpeters Stephanie, Roy, Dave, and Stan (and Glenn, cameraman)

Yesterday, for the first time in 9 years, I played trumpet as a member of the University of Washington’s Husky Alumni Band. We performed a few lively tunes at the closing ceremony of the 10th annual conference of Peer Pathways, held at the Lynnwood Event Center on 13-14 August. The conference brings together peer supporters, advocates, and community leaders.

Peer Pathways is engaged in peer support, wellness, and empowerment (https://www.peerpathways.net). The event was funded by the Washington State Health Care Authority and hosted by The Rainbow Makers and Jones Community Solutions. For the band’s performance, they made a “very generous donation” to the scholarship fund of the Husky Marching Band Alumni Association. HMBAA’s scholarships are for current students. Please see https://hmbaa.org.

The band is available for hire for numerous kinds of events, including parades, weddings, birthday parties, engagement parties, retirement parties, business/office openings and parties, celebrations of life, and more. All proceeds go towards supporting the UW Husky Marching Band through scholarships and financial support.

The band’s next performance will be at the UW’s annual Varsity Alumni Game (the first game of the football season) when the Huskies host the Colorado State Rams on Saturday, 30 August.

The last time I had performed with the band was on 30 September 2016 when the Huskies stomped the #7-ranked Stanford Cardinals, 44-6 before 72,000 roaring fans. On 9 November 2016, I posted an article here on my blog, where you can re-live that terrific game by viewing about 80 stellar photos. Use either the Archives in the left column or search the keyword “Stanford” in the search box in the right column.

Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

My Husky Purple
Band Director Issues Instructions
Entrance from Parking Lot
Where conference attendees sat and where we performed for them

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“Where Were You, Back Then?”–Trumpet Show at Vineyard Park, Mountlake Terrace

Posted by glennled on July 22, 2025

Vineyard Park at Mountlake Terrace

This was a very fun event! The audience was responsive to my songs and jokes, and judging by the banter among them, they all seemed to know and like each other. The more I played, the bigger the crowd! I’m talking about my performance of “Where Were You, Back Then?” at Vineyard Park at Mountlake Terrace on 17 July 2025.

“Where Were You, Back Then?” is comprised of 15 hit songs that appeared in musicals, movies, and recordings during 1947-2008. I name the year and ask the audience members to remember their own lives during that year. Then I read some major events in the world that happened that year. Sometimes, I tell what was going on in my life. Then I play the song I’ve selected for that year. For example, 1956—Actress Grace Kelly marries Rainier III, Prince of Monaco—“I Whistle a Happy Tune” from the musical, The King and I. I used my trumpet, pocket trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn, sometimes with mutes. Meaningful fun!

Vineyard Park at Mountlake Terrace offers independent living, assisted living, and memory care (https://www.carepartnersliving.com/vineyard-park-of-mountlake-terrace/). Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

Photos courtesy of Vineyard Park at Mountlake Terrace

Posted in Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

“Church Call” and Two “Taps” Performances

Posted by glennled on July 19, 2025

Of the 67 bugle calls published by Carl Fischer, I have sounded six in public, plus “Echo Taps.” But until the morning of Saturday, 12 July 2025, at a memorial service, I had never had the opportunity to perform “Church Call.” The service was for Merlin D. Staatz at Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood (https://opendoorbaptist.com/). My “Church Call” opened the service, and my “Taps” helped close it.

In the afternoon, I sounded “Taps” for Gerald “Jerry” L. Seldon, Sr. at Nile Shrine Center in Mountlake Terrace (https://nileshriners.org/). It was a Masonic service, the second one in which I’ve ever participated. Inscribed on the statue in front of the clubhouse is this: “A man never stands so tall as when he stoops to help a Child.”

Each ceremony attracted about 100 friends and relatives. They were honorable men who served our country and on whose shoulders we stand. Regrettably, I know nothing of Seldon’s military service. Staatz was born in 2026 and was 99 years old when he passed in June. According to the program, he “served in the Philippines during the last year of World War II, sleeping in foxholes and leading his unit as a scout as they tried to take back the island of Luzon, one hillside at a time. He was awarded a Purple Heart. A week after Japan surrendered, he was stationed near Tokyo.”

At each of these two events, the flag presentation ceremony was performed by the Color Guard of the Shoreline unit of the U.S. Volunteers-Joint Service Command (USV-JSC) (https://www.usvjsc.org/). With these two, my “Taps” performances now total 245. I use my Getzen bugle.

Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

“In Retrospect” Trumpet Show at Mountlake Terrace Plaza

Posted by glennled on July 15, 2025

Glenn Ledbetter with four horns for “In Retrospect” trumpet show at 2:30 p.m., 10 July 2025.
Photo by David G. Ledbetter

This was a very special day, 10 July 2025, because I got to return to Mountlake Terrace Plaza and perform another one of my six trumpet shows for the residents. In August 2021, I performed “Showtune Favorites,” and this time, I presented “In Retrospect,” where we look back, through great songs from the residents’ era, at common experiences that we all share in living life.

It was extra special, also, because my son and his family were visiting from New Zealand, and this is the first time they ever attended one of my shows. My two grandchildren helped me by distributing a handout to the residents. It contained 25 jokes, so that they could have some fun and laughs with their friends and relatives. And afterwards, the whole family helped me load my gear into the car.

Moreover, energetic, friendly Anne Paine, Director of Wellness Programming, also made it special. She printed and displayed a brief bio of me (see photo). That was a first, too—that’s never happened at any other of the 35 retirement communities in the Greater Seattle area where I have performed since 2017. In other ways, too, her support was exceptional. Mountlake Terrace Plaza offers assisted living and is a member of MBK Senior Living Company.

“In Retrospect” is comprised of two dozen hit songs during the 84-period, 1892-1976. The oldest is “Bicycle Built for Two,” and the most recent is “Money, Money, Money,” by ABBA. All these songs stir deep memories, and people sing along or hum. Each song has a unique message, so I choose the horn with the most appropriate sound—trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, or pocket trumpet.

Posted in Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Independence Day, La Conner Retirement Inn

Posted by glennled on July 11, 2025

L to R: Bugle, Pocket Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Trumpet, and Cornet

On this Independence Day, I finally got to perform one of my six trumpet shows at La Conner Retirement Inn. In 2022, I was scheduled to perform “I Stand for the Flag,” on Flag Day in June, but Covid struck in March, and we cancelled that show. Then the Activities Director, Allie Kester, booked me for a Christmas show, and we had to cancel that one, too. This year, we hit paydirt. On 4 July, I performed “I Stand for the Flag” for the residents during their Friday afternoon Happy Hour.

The Inn offers both Independent and Assisted Living accommodations and services. Allie proudly told me that they have three residents who are 100 or more years. The oldest one to attend my show is 98, and I dedicated “You’re a Grand Old Flag” to her. She and others liked to sing along to some of my patriotic songs and marches. The audience voluntarily stood while they sang “God Bless America,” and stayed standing while we said the “Pledge of Allegiance” and closed with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It was an extra-special performance for me because my youngest son from Las Vegas happened to be visiting in nearby Oak Harbor and came to hear me play for the first time. He helped with the handouts and reloading my car. We shared dinner afterwards.

I used all five instruments and used my flugelhorn mute once. The bugle and trumpet are Getzens, the pocket trumpet is a Jupiter, the flugelhorn is by ACB (Austin Custom Brass), and the cornet is a Super Olds, given to me by my parents when I became a freshman in high school in 1954. This show features about two dozen patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls.

Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

Courtesy of La Conner Retirement Inn:

By Me:

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Memorial Day at Edmonds Landing by Cogir–My 3rd Performance There

Posted by glennled on July 9, 2025

Edmonds Landing is now Cogir of Edmonds

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.

It was my third performance there, but this time, the ownership and the facility’s name are new—Edmonds Landing by Cogir—and so is the Lifestyle Director, Stephanie Fyfe. Please see https://cogirusa.com/communities/cogir-of-edmonds/?rcstdid=Mg==-YRjTEizZPgM=&utm_source=GMB&utm_medium=organic. They offer assisted living and memory care. I am grateful they invited me to play there again.

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.

Posted in Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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