TMCnet News
Area man to have song featured during St. Louis Cardinals television broadcastMT. VERNON, Jul 02, 2010 (Mt. Vernon Register-News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A local man's song will be part of a national and international broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals game tonight, which will be honoring Missouri troops deployed overseas. Jon Henninger's song, "We Will Stand," has been chosen by FOX Sports Midwest as part of its "This One's For You," special telecast of the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers game to be held at 7:15 p.m. tonight. "With the events of 2001, I wrote this song, 'We Will Stand,' and I never really did anything with it," Henninger explained. "Now, nine years later -- just this last end of May -- I had the opportunity to record it with 2009 Grammy Winner Jonathan Crone producing it (in Nashville, Tenn.). ... Right now, it's not even released yet. They're getting ready to market it in Nashville." Recording a song was exciting for Henninger, he said, however, a call he received Wednesday surpassed that excitement. "I was visiting someone at the hospital and I had a voicemail on my phone from David Pokorny with FOX Sports Midwest, which is doing a big tribute broadcast for troops in Afghanistan and encouraging people to bring signs to the game (tonight) to support the troops," Henninger said. Pokorny, marketing director for FOX Sports Midwest, said Henninger shared the song via e-mail. "We're doing things in the Cardinals game in support of men and women overseas and working with the Missouri Guard," he said. "We think it'll fit in nicely. It has a nice chorus, a nice unity message of standing together as Americans." Tonight's broadcast, produced by FOX Sports Midwest in coordination with the St. Louis Cardinals, American Forces Network, Digital Video & Imagery Distribution System and the National Guard of Missouri, will utilize a live satellite link from Afghanistan to interact with troops. Cardinals fans are encouraged to participate by bringing banners and signs which may be shown on television, information from Pokorny states. Missouri National Guard families will be in attendance and fans watching the broadcast will be invited to send messages to soldiers via FOXSportsMidwest.com. "In a lot of ways our broadcast is to remind us that the soldiers serving overseas are our neighbors and friends," Pokorny added. "I think it helps a lot of people understand the sacrifice and service these men and women have as part of their jobs. ... We know baseball serves as a taste of home for (soldiers), so by producing one game where we can focus the storyline around them is a way to remind everyone else of the significance of images of home to those deployed on a mission." Henninger, who has been involved in music all of his life and began playing the violin at the age of 3, says he's excited about the broadcast. "They're supposed to close out the broadcast with my song, so it will be going out nationally and overseas to troops in Afghanistan -- that's pretty cool," he said. "We'll be able to see them enjoying the game and talk to them about what it's like to be a Cardinals fan overseas and how their mission is going," Pokorny added. "FOX Sports Midwest loves doing this. Everyone is looking forward to it." Henninger is also no stranger to writing and recording music. Three years ago, he began leading worship at Central Christian Church and is its creative arts pastor. Earlier this year, he helped produce "We Are Your People," a live worship concert recorded in January and distributed in the spring. "We Will Stand" is expected to be released in the next couple of weeks, he said, and will be available Friday on his Web site. And though he has been writing for years, Henninger said he's been blessed through his work.. "Through working here at Central, I really believe if you're patient, and if you wait on God's timing -- he knows the desires of your heart and what he has planned for you -- it's better than what you plan for yourself," he said. "That's what I'm coming to experience here." For more information about the broadcast, visit FOXSportsMidwest.com. Additional information about Henninger's "We Will Stand," is available at jonhenninger.com. To see more of Mt. Vernon Register-News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.register-news.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Mt. Vernon Register-News, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). |