The Streets of Old Nauvoo

"Come Walk the Streets of Old Nauvoo, Meet me at Kimball and Main."

So begins one of our Rendezvous songs.  The streets of Nauvoo have been very lively and interesting this summer.  During the summer we have the pageant and we have the Young Performing Missionaries.  Approximately 40 young people between the ages of  app. 18 and 25 come to Nauvoo for 3 months.  They live mission rules and they work very hard.  They sing and dance and play in the band all day long and part of the night.  About half of them are in the Nauvoo Brass Band and the other half perform in plays and vignettes.  The band also plays during the pageant and the young performing missionaries dance in the pageant. 

On a summer day you can see the band on a horse-drawn wagon riding around town and playing beautiful songs for us.

Elder Dahl and Elder Hall driving Joe and Jerry.

I have a hard time getting the horses and the entire band in one photo.

Most of the band



You have to see the drummer.  He is very good.  As they all are. 






Elder Brague is the leader of the band.  He is walking alongside here.  He is also very good.

The band can also be seen in my pageant post.  They play the Star Spangled Banner every night at the pageant.

During the pageant and during the summer, there have been historical vignettes presented at various locations around town.  One of my favorites is the "Youth of Zion" vignettes performed by the young performing missionaries at the corner of Kimball and Main most days.

 Young performing missionaries entertaining the folks



The Parley P. Pratt pageant actor at left and the young performing missionaries.  The boy in the western hat is also a pageant actor.



Singing before the vignette.

Portraying the Rollins sisters who saved some of the pages of the Doctrine and Covenants when the mob ransacked the printing press.

The whistling and whittling brigade

At one time, the people were not allowed to have guns, so young boys formed a whistling and whittling brigade.  They would surround "questionable characters" and walk around whistling and whittling until the characters would leave town.

Another vignette playing around town right now is "The letters of Joseph and Emma."  The actors who portray Joseph and Emma Smith in the pageant read and talk about some of the letters that Joseph and Emma wrote to each other.

Joseph & Emma coming from the Mansion House to do the vignette.

A great sound on the streets of Nauvoo is the bagpipe band.  They are just here during the pageant and they are very good.

The other day I was taking their photo and they insisted on taking my photo with them.  They are very nice.

The bagpipe band plays before many of the vignettes.  I love their music.  The drummers have a very unique way of hitting the drums.

The drummers with their interesting drumsticks

The Women of Nauvoo vignette.  The women were compassionate to the women who needed help. 

The Relief Society ladies then and now help those who are in need.  I'm so thankful to belong to Relief Society.  This vignette was held in the Women's Garden. 

All of the ladies after the vignette.

There are some other vignettes--the King Follett discourse, the missionary vignette, and the Trail of Hope vignette.  They were very enjoyable but I didn't get photos.

The streets of Nauvoo have been very beautiful this summer.  There have been lots of pretty planters on the streets.  The women who serve in FM (Facilities Management) have had to water them often because we haven't had any rain for quite a while.  They are very good at keeping things looking good here.

The Browning Gunsmith Complex all decked out with beautiful plants.

The foliage in the women's garden with the bagpipe band.

The street in front of our house has been very pretty this summer too.  The American Lotus or water lilies are growing in the Mississippi River in front of our house.  I guess it only grows in shallow water--18-24 inches deep.  We have lots of them and they're so pretty.

The American Lotus from our street.

More American Lotus or water lilies

Driving along our street--along by the lower steamboat landing there is a beautiful view of the river and the heather growing along the banks.

The heather.  The brown picket fence encloses the Smith family cemetery.  What a beautiful resting place for the Prophet Joseph and his family.

Another photo of the heather.  It is so beautiful.

Here is a sunset photo that Mark took from our house the other night.

Sunset on the Mississippi

The moon over the Mississippi.

At the end of Rendezvous we go back to the streets theme.  "Won't it be sweet when we gather to meet!  A Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo  on the streets to meet and greet in Old Nauvoo!"

If you come to Nauvoo, the streets are really exciting in the summer.