Las Vegas Sun

November 10, 2009

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Letter: Lyric alteration makes song fit

Friday, May 24, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

In the mid-1930s, when the state song was first introduced to Las Vegas school children, our perceptive music teacher taught us to sing Colorado instead of Truckee -- an excellent modification, a perfect fit and no legislative approval required!

And why not? The Truckee is a pathetic little runt of a stream by Clark County standards, although it too gets out of hand occasionally. The Colorado is still a mighty titan among rivers, although very much tamed in its Nevada portion. And it still has "silvery rills" as any whitewater rafter can testify.

As for the Kit Carson Trail, Christopher knew the old Meadows (Las Vegas for those readers who don't speak Spanish) just as well as John C. Fremont did. Kit was the captain's indispensable right-hand man and the two were a formidable combination in Nevada.

Finally, "Home Means Nevada" is a great, spirited, bouncy marching tune. Why the high school bandmasters don't show it off in Nevada parades is beyond me. So please belay the "Viva Las Vegas" nonsense. Just teach our kids to sing Colorado and both north and south will be happy.

It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. My grammar school teacher had it nailed down perfectly way back then, 65 years ago.

EDWARD MARSHALL

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