Before the roar that reached the rafters, before the caps of red and white were tossed with abandon and fell to the floor, before the beach balls surfed the crowd — there was Pomp and Circumstance, there were parents taking pictures, there were carefully chosen words spoken from the heart.

This Sunday, July 6, we celebrate Independence Day as our nation continues to struggle to find the balance between the modulation of fear and the maintenance of freedom. Fr. Scherck will exposit the given texts for 4 Pentecost .

GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland Town Band  will perform its second concert of the season on Thursday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Guilderland Performing Arts Center in Tawasentha Park.  The program will feature Dan Ainspan as the recipient of the 2014 Donald E. Webster Scholarship.

The Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission is seeking citizen scientists to help monitor bird populations in the Pine Bush Preserve.

To the Editor:

On June 10, the Guilderland School District released a building capacity report, created by Dr. Paul Seversky. The report was created with the purpose of determining efficiency of space and teacher use in the district.

To the Editor:

The family of Jean Forti would like to heartily thank all those that made Saturday such a celebration of life. It was a humbling, uplifting, and moving day, and a lot of fun!

A big thank-you to everyone who ran or walked or cut though the park in the morning 5K.

Brian H. Perlee, a craftsman and devoted family man, died on June 19, 2014, with his wife by his side. He was 63.

He “completed his life in the very same way he lived it – at peace, at the side of his beloved wife, Donna, and with a quiet sense of dignity, strength, and courage,” wrote his family in a tribute.

GUILDERLAND — Catherine R. Easley of Guilderland is engaged to be married to Brian Schappert of Wyckoff, New Jersey.

GUILDERLAND — Daniel and Silvia Carsillo of Novato, California are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Ginelle L. Carsillo, to Michael E. Poole, son of John and Elizabeth Poole of Guilderland.

GUILDERLAND — W. Brian Barr, president of Senior Hope Counseling Inc., was selected as the 2014 recipient for the Third Age Achievement Award for Health and Human Services.