Today, I write to you about pride, respect, flag and our national anthem.

On Aug. 1, 35 members of our singing group, The Greater Freeport Community Chorus, were invited to sing the national anthem at Hadlock Field before the Sea Dogs game. We wore our new shirts with an insignia adorned with magic music notes. We brought our rain gear in case it rained. It poured!

I’ll tell you how devoted we were as Americans to sing Francis Scott Key’s anthem, rehearsing six Wednesdays at the Freeport High School. On game day, we gathered together with great pride and enthusiasm, arriving at Hadlock at 6 p.m. for a 7 p.m. performance, hoping the rain would subside. It didn’t! Nevertheless, we stood under a roof overhang, watching spectators leave and standing our wet ground, even though the rain worsened.

At 7:45 p.m. or thereabouts, the game was “called.” But we arrived with a mission and didn’t want to leave until that mission was accomplished. Then our director declared … as we stood outdoors under the overhang … let’s do what we came to do. We proudly sang our national anthem. We felt good that the patrons leaving the stadium stood still as we sang with heads lifted and proud hearts.

“Oh, say, can you see …”

Pat Clements

Yarmouth