August 3, 2016 at 1:49 p.m.
Lac du Flambeau church pastor sings for Miller Park crowd
Next stop: Lambeau Field?
Lac du Flambeau church pastor sings for Miller Park crowd
Pastor of the Bible Baptist Church in Lac du Flambeau, Earl and his wife moved from Louisiana to northern Wisconsin in 2012.
His love for singing got him a spot as the singer of the national anthem prior to the start of the Milwaukee Brewers/Los Angeles Dodgers game at Miller Park on June 28.
Earl has occasionally sung the anthem prior to Mercer High School varsity volleyball and basketball games over the past few years. It was a performance at a Mercer basketball game this past school year that, with some help, got the attention of the Brewers.
Earl said a teacher in the Mercer school district, Jerry Gross, asked him if he'd like to sing at a Brewers game.
"I said, 'Well, that'd be pretty neat,'" Earl said. "So, Jerry's wife took the iniative and she made a video of me singing the national anthem at a ball game and sent it off."
He said the Grosses received an email from the Brewers front office in May.
"They said they'd like for me to do the national anthem and to pick out some dates and we'd go from there," Earl said. "So, we did that and it turned out on the 28th, there was an opening so they invited me to come down and sing the national anthem."
'I'm glad to do it'
Earl's dad was a music director at their church and his mother played the piano.
"I was singing with them ever since I was big enough to sing," he said. "For 15 years, I was in music ministry as well, before coming to Lac du Flambeau. When it comes down to singing, I've been doing that most all my life."
Earl said his mother had always said she wished she could sing the national anthem at a ball game.
"That was one of those things she wanted to do," he said. "When I got the opportunity to sing for the Brewers game, she got really excited about it and of course, when my wife sent her the video, she's been showing it to everybody back in Louisiana. She's making sure everybody back home sees it. She's kind of living vicariously through her kid, I guess."
Earl doesn't sing at the Mercer games as often as he did the first couple of years - a new music teacher encourages students to sing the national anthem - but he still gets the opportunity from time to time.
"Whenever they don't have one of the kids and I'm there at the game, I'll do it," he said. "I haven't done it at any other events. It's not because I won't but because nobody's asked. I guess, nobody knew. If I'm available, I'm glad to do it and help out anyway I can."
Earl said Gross told him as they left Miller Park at the conclusion of the game, a 6-5 loss by Milwaukee to Los Angeles, that was "quite an experience."
"'Next stop, Lambeau Field' he told me," Earl said with a chuckle. "That would be pretty exciting. You just never know."
As for singing for the Milwaukee game, he said that was truly an honor and he would definitely do it again if asked.
"Anytime you can give back to the community in whatever way, especially when it comes to singing the national anthem, giving honor to our country, to the flag and all it represents, to me, that's an honor in itself and a blessing," Earl said.
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].
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