[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO KATHERINE AND ELIZABETH GANT

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                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 1, 2008

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Katherine and Elizabeth Gant, residents of Kansas' Third Congressional 
District, who are retiring after 46 years as music educators in 
Leawood, Kansas.
  In anticipation of a celebration honoring the Gant sisters that will 
take place on August 10, the Sun newspapers of Johnson County recently 
published an article detailing their accomplishments and plans for the 
future, which I am including with this Congressional Record statement. 
Having spent a lifetime composing children's music and teaching music 
to children, they will now focus on composing and promoting their own 
compositions.
  Madam Speaker, I know that all House members join with us in paying 
tribute to Katherine and Elizabeth Gant, who are beloved by several 
generations of Johnson Countians for their dedicated and selfless work 
to bring music into the lives of our children.

            Gant Sisters Stop Teaching To Focus on Recording

                          (By Kelli Bamforth)

       After 46 years as music educators to countless children 
     across the metro area, Elizabeth and Katherine Gant are 
     hanging up their hats after the sale of their Leawood music 
     school, 3658 W. 95th St.
       But do not expect the sisters to retire. In many ways, 
     their work is just beginning.
       Elizabeth and Katherine will now focus on composing and 
     promoting their original children's music beyond Kansas City.
       ``Schools and churches use our music but we knew we had to 
     start aggressively marketing our music to get it out of 
     Kansas City,'' Elizabeth said. ``We want to get it all over 
     America, but knew we couldn't teach and market 
     simultaneously.''
       The sisters sold their school two months ago to Cindy See, 
     a pianist with two daughters who are former students of the 
     Gants.
       ``With the See family, (the school) will continue to be a 
     family affair,'' Elizabeth said. ``They just finished their 
     summer session and will start back up in the fall.''
       A celebration honoring the Gant sisters will be held from 2 
     to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, at Hallbrook Country Club, 11150 
     Overbrook Road.
       Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn will present a proclamation 
     declaring ``Gant Sisters Day'' in the city and a children's 
     choir will perform with school alumni.
       ``It all fell into place,'' Katherine said. ``I thought 
     (declaring Gant Sisters Day) was so sweet. Politicians and 
     big important people get things named after them all the 
     time, but for two sister educators. . .they keep telling us 
     there are other things planned, but it's a surprise.''
       The sisters began what they call a ``lifelong love affair 
     with music'' when their mother inspired them as children.
       ``She taught us to sing with harmony,'' Elizabeth said. 
     ``She was a working mother but we never felt neglected.''
       Elizabeth and Katherine attended the Cincinnati 
     Conservatory of Music, where they majored in opera and 
     education. When Katherine graduated a year ahead of 
     Elizabeth, Archie Jones, dean of the Conservatory of Music at 
     the University of Missouri-Kansas City, asked Katherine to 
     create a new and different children's music education 
     program.
       Elizabeth and Katherine began writing their own children's 
     music and lyrics when they could not find anything suitable 
     for children age 3 to 6 in their program.
       ``We started writing music to fit the needs of our 
     classes,'' Elizabeth said. ``We saw the need and we always 
     loved children. We like to think we have our finger on the 
     pulse of today's children, the dreams they dream. Our mom 
     always told us the most important people in the world are 
     children.
       ``We decided to write music for the child in all of us.''
       The program eventually moved to the Avila University campus 
     for 10 years before being relocated to Leawood's Ranch Mart 
     shopping center.
       The sisters have recorded CDs and cassette tapes of their 
     music, and eventually began writing children's books, 
     adaptations of classic fairy tales such as ``Pinocchio'' and 
     ``Little Red Riding Hood.''
       ``We write our own original music for each character,'' 
     Elizabeth said.
       One recording that already has reached audiences across the 
     country is ``America, I Love You!'' Katherine and Elizabeth 
     re-recorded the children's national anthem after the Sept. 11 
     terrorist attacks.
       ``That Sunday after 9/11, Katherine and I were at home 
     watching television and Itzhak Perlman, a very talented 
     violinist, was performing in New York near the site,'' 
     Elizabeth said. ``After he was done, he didn't know the 
     camera was still on him, and he just started weeping. And it 
     touched us. . .we knew we had to do something for the 
     children.''
       Eleven years prior to Sept. 11, the sisters wrote and 
     released the patriotic song, but re-recorded the tune with 
     more than 400 children on the Pembroke Hill School campus. 
     All proceeds from the recording go to two charities in New 
     York for children whose parents lost their lives.
       The video and CD have been distributed to all five branches 
     of the military and every public television station in 
     America.
       But the music school remained their passion, the sisters 
     said.
       Business mostly came from word of mouth, Elizabeth said, 
     and the sisters routinely taught children and grandchildren 
     of former students.
       ``We've had a beautiful response to our music from children 
     and parents alike,'' Elizabeth said. ``When you put music and 
     children together, beautiful things can happen. We've always 
     had the feeling in our hearts that children and music should 
     come together to bring about peace in the world.''
       Elizabeth and Katherine, both widowers, live together. 
     Katherine said the past 46 years have been ``a dream world of 
     a perfect job.''
       ``It's our passion,'' Katherine said.
       ``This wasn't just a whim or a passing fancy,'' Elizabeth 
     said. ``Music is like food, an ongoing necessity the world 
     will always need. We're not trying to launch a rocket from a 
     canoe but from the flagship of everything we've built for 46 
     years.''

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