Lawrence teens to sing national anthem at Royals game

Eagle Scouts and Free State Choir members from left, Joseph Cary, senior, Charles Burdick, senior, Ethan Kallenberger, senior, Simon Burdick, junior, and Zach Dixon, senior, practice the National Anthem in the choir room at Free State High School on Friday, April 8, 2016, at Free State High School. These five students and three other seniors will perform the National Anthem during Sunday's Royals game at Kauffman Stadium. Kallenberger will also be singing God

Some local talent will be on display at the Kansas City Royals game on Sunday.

As part of “Scout Day at the K,” eight Lawrence Eagle Scouts will sing the national anthem before the game. The scouts submitted recorded auditions through the Boy Scouts Heart of America Council, and were notified last week that they had been selected for the honor.

“Once [the auditions] were approved, we said, ‘OK, this is for sure, we need to start rehearsing,'” said Ethan Kallenberger, one of the scouts who will be performing. “Ever since then we’ve just been meeting and getting stuff together.”

All eight scouts are members of the Free State High School choir and have been rehearsing after school leading up to Sunday’s game. In addition to singing the national anthem, Kallenberger will sing “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch.

Kallenberger said he and the other scouts are really excited for the game.

“I love singing and I love the Royals, so it’s kind of cool to get to combine the two,” he said.

The Royals play the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Sunday’s game begins at 1:15 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports. As part of Scout Day, there will also be a pre-game scouting parade and other activities for scouts and their families following the game.

The eight Eagle Scouts who will sing on Sunday are: Charles Burdick, Simon Burdick, Joseph Cary, Zach Dixon, Michael Gates, Sam Goodwin, Steele Jacobs and Ethan Kallenberger.