Transplant’s infatuation with city inspires song
Tom Mach hopes there will be a giant sing-along Saturday afternoon in South Park, with people who care for the city giving their renditions of “Lawrence, We Love You.”
Mach wrote the song shortly after moving to the city a few years ago.
“I moved to Lawrence two years ago, and I got so infatuated with it,” he said of his adopted hometown. “It’s got such an interesting historical background, and I thought, ‘Lawrence isn’t getting enough recognition for that.'”
Mach’s song will be performed at the South Park gazebo as part of the activities scheduled for Lawrence’s sesquicentennial celebration.
A writer and retired market research analyst, Mach initially penned “Lawrence, We Love You” for a musical play he wrote about the city, set around the time of Quantrill’s Raid in 1863. The song was meant to evoke the spirit of those who survived the raid, a bloody attack by pro-slavery marauders that left 150 Lawrence residents dead.
“This is the place where they hid slaves on the Underground Railroad,” Mach said. “This is the place where they stood up against the pro-slavers.”
Megan Helm adapted the music for the song from a Civil War-era folk song, “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp.”
Helm and Mach met as singers in the St. John the Evangelist Church choir. Helm, who will lead the singing Saturday, has a degree in music education and teaches in the Lawrence Parks and Recreation “Tiny Tots” music program. The program meets Tuesday nights at the South Park Recreation Center, 1141 Mass.
Joining Helm for the song’s performance will be guitarist Maria Anthony and violinist Megan Hurt, from the band Uncle Dirty Toes.
The performance is set to begin about 2:10 p.m. Mach said he planned to distribute copies of lyrics to people in the crowd.
— Kansas University journalism student Jesse Truesdale can be reached at 832-7154.
6News video: Descendants of city’s namesake remain in Lawrence (09-13-04)
