Taylor Moore is Fighting for our Country

           “Bang, bang”,” attention soldiers”,” at ease”, these are just some of the things that you would have heard if you were back with Taylor Moore in Iraq between 2010 and 2011. All of us are acquainted with the words “war” and “protect.” America has been in a handful of wars to protect our people and others needing help dating back to the American Revelation. Taylor has done a job that we may not be able to work up the nerve to do. Taylor served our country very well, and he has done something that we will always remember him for.

            Taylor Moore is a 22 year old student at Horry Georgetown Technical College, and is currently working at Giant Crab restaurant. He is new to this part of the state. He is originally from Greenville, South Carolina. Taylor’s major is Criminal Justice. He plans on being a local cop and then going higher in his career from there. He is smart when it comes to history because that is his favorite subject, which makes his past job so great. War, soldiers and anything to do with protecting a country are the highest things known in history. The history of war is and always will come before any history of anything else. Taylor decided a few years ago that he wanted to help our country. He spent a year of his life in Iraq guarding high ranking officers. Like almost anyone else that would be in his boots, he wasn’t thrilled about being where he was but happy to be a part of something bigger.

             Along with guarding high ranking officers, Taylor also countered IDF patrols to look out for rockets. Taylor got to work along with the Iraqi Special Forces. He also got to train Iraqis. Taylor left the Army because his contract was up, and the military was cutting troops. In keeping with the protect and serve mentality, Taylor hopes to have a successful career as a local police officer. Although he is guarding a much smaller geographical area, he is still a foot soldier on the streets, trying to keep us all safe from harm. 

Victoria Ray's Musical Disney Experience

            Musical Instruments have been played for thousands of years. The oldest musical instrument found by archaeologists was a simple flute carved from the bone of a crane in china. It is very interesting to see how something from so many years ago is still used today. Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci, as well as classmate Victoria Ray all played the flute.

           Victoria Ray is a 19 year old student at Horry Georgetown Technical College and part time electronics specialist at Walmart. She dedicated five years of her life to playing the oldest instrument known to man, the flute. Early in her grade school education, Victoria was mesmerized by a performance from the marching band and orchestra at North Myrtle Beach High School. She decided to learn an instrument and join. She initially was not able to decide on which instrument to play, debating between multiple instruments including drums and the saxophone. Victoria finally decided on the flute and spent two years taking lessons and learning how to play it. She immediately joined the marching band her freshman year of high school, with her new Yamaha brand instrument and freshly tuned flute playing skills in hand. She participated in many concerts and competitions and the marching band, and the drum line in particular, won a lot of awards. In her freshman year and first year in the band, they were prestigious enough to be chosen to march down the main street at Disney World. The Disney company asked them personally to take part in a parade at the Magic Kingdom theme park with many famous personalities such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Snow White. Playing the flute with the rest of the group, marching through Disney, was the highlight of Victoria’s time in band. She spoke of the memorable sights of the theme park to the time one of the drum majors foot got stuck in a trolley track, almost causing the band to bunch up in an accordion like effect. She will forever remember such memorable tunes such as "Hakuna Matata", "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", and other Disney classics. After that Victoria stayed in the band for 2 more years, leaving to pursue other passions and hobbies her senior year.

                                                      

         While Victoria left the marching band a few years back, the flute remains in her closet. From a distance it seems like just a few years in the marching band, but upon taking a closer look you see that Victoria Ray took part in one of the oldest forms of entertainment which is music. She played an instrument known to have been played for at least 9,000 years. Despite not playing anymore, she still has the ability and skill to flute out some mad jams.