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Monday, August 31st, 2026

Mountain Musings with Uncle Mott: Star Spangled Banner

Aug 11, 2025 | Uncle Mott

Person standing under Mottsville sign outdoors.

If you’re ever awake at 4 o’clock in the morning – and I am almost every morning – do yourself a favor and tune into KCBS Channel 2 a few minutes before 4 a.m. and give a listen to an amazing, 12-year-old songstress, Reina Ozby, perform an ear-shattering version of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Mariah Carey and Beyonce don’t even come close to this pre-teen adolescent, who woke me up once again this morning, just before 4 a.m.

And now, please place your right hand over your heart and give it your best. Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light? What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o’re the ramparts we watch were so gallantly streaming, and the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave? O’er the land of the freeeeee and the home of the brave. (“Star-Spangled Banner” – Francis Scott Key- 1814)

You may be seated now, wipe the tears out of your eyes, thank you for your participation and have a nice day!

It’s not just the singing, folks, but also the film footage in the background as you watch drone-captured footage of snow-covered mountain peaks and amber waves of grain below, a rampart with a Ferris wheel, pyrotechnics bursting in the air, a whale breaching out of the sea, brave soldiers waving flags and rows of tombstones.

As for the segment of this five-minute serenade that’s sure to wake me up, it’s when Reina belts out…and the home of the freeeeee! Every time I hear this, I’m afraid this young lass is going to bust her larynx.

 

Keep it flyin,’

Uncle Mott

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