Yvonne Caruthers is a cellist in the NSO

One of the hardest things about being on tour is having major events happen to you when you're not with your family or friends. Daryl Donley, our production manager, celebrated a "big" birthday a couple days ago, so several people organized a party for him. I don't know if we made it as nice as he wanted, but he got a special surprise today when he toured the Clinton Presidential Library. Daryl is an amateur photographer, and he discovered one of his photos on display at the Library. He took it at one of the White House dinners that the NSO played for. Congratulations, Daryl!

Congratulations too, to James Nickel, our third horn player. He learned this evening that he's now a tenured player in the NSO---I'm sure he would have liked to be with his wife and children when he got the news, but we're all happy to have him with us. Most of our events today took place in Conway, about half an hour from Little Rock. The hall was nice, we had a warm reception, and Governor Beebe attended. He "conducted" our final encore, The Stars and Stripes Forever.

A few of us were invited to the (University of Central Arkansas) President of the University's house after the concert for a reception. It's always nice to meet sponsors and patrons after a concert.

On a lighter note, I finally made it to the Peabody Hotel for the march of the ducks. They enter at 11am and exit at 5pm. They climb out of the fountain, descend a staircase, walk down a red carpet and take the elevator to their rooftop home.