I got into the holiday spirit by attending a St. Louis Symphony concert. Friend Wife declined to go, so daughter-in- law, Cynthia, did the driving.

Getting there was a trip in the past.

We went north on Compton Avenue, past my old alma mater,

Roosevelt High School, and through historic Compton Heights with its stately mansions on Hawthorne, Longfellow and Russell boulevards, we crossed the Compton Avenue viaduct, which goes over the old coach yards where trains that once served St. Louis were assembled.

We detoured west of Grand boulevard.

Oh, what memories.

This took us into midtown.

Grand and Olive was a huge transfer point. The Delmar and University car lines crossed the Grand line.

On the east side of Grand were the Shubert, St. Louis and Missouri movie houses. On the west side was the University Club building, a late bloomer, the Fox Theater, a huge Woolworths, the Melbourne Hotel and the College Church.

The Empress was on Olive, just west of Grand. It gave up on movies and staged plays. Broadway stars came here to play leads in locally produced plays.

And to the east side, Third Baptist Church.

The old St. Louis movie house is now Powell Hall, home of the symphony.

The St. Louis Symphony was founded in 1880 and the Symphony Society acquired the old St. Louis movie house in 1966 and turned it into Powell Hall.

The last movie shown there was "Sound of Music."

The theater was beautifully decorated for the holidays. The orchestra performed old and new holiday favorites, under the baton of Ward Stare, director of the Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Four high school choral groups joined to sing beautifully. They were from Normandy, Fort Zumwalt, McClure North and Ladue.

There was also a guest soloist. His name is Sam Harris and he is on television.

The St. Louis Symphony is a gem and it should inspire you.

In my mind, every St. Louisan should attend a concert, as well as supporting such other St. Louis treasures as the Zoo and the Cardinals.

Save a few bucks and go to the Symphony, you will never forget or regret it.

Music, maestro, please!