I live in an interesting area – Bedford, IN. Bedford is known as “Limestone Capital of the World” There are many limestone quarries located in the area. Bedford limestone is also called Indiana limestone.

Limestone has been a major part of the local commerce over the years. It is quite common to see large semi trucks hauling huge pieces of limestone that are destined to become parts of buildings or works of art.

Many famous buildings throughout our country such as the Empire State Building, the Pentagon, Yankee Stadium, and the Biltmore Estate are made of Indiana limestone.

The Stonegate Arts and Education Center in downtown Bedford has a wonderful limestone display – The Land of Landstone. The exhibit explains the history and importance of limestone.It is a great way to learn about our local treasure through the photographs, displays and artifacts.

In 2023, Stonegate Arts and Education Center received a grant to create and produce an original show. One of the features in the grant was to promote local Indiana artists.My friend and colleague, Joe Voris and I were asked to create a musical for children. 

We make a good duo with Joe’s background in drama/directing/teaching and my background in teaching/directing/performing/composing music.

The grant was a unique experience because we were able to start almost from scratch and create a brand new children’s musical that focuses on our limestone heritage as well as hitting on important character skills for kids.Instead of working on a script someone else wrote, we were able to create and adapt our musical as needed. We were able to rework lines and scenes and create a story based on young people’s input.

A group of local students were brought in to help us brainstorm about the direction of the play.  Thanks to their creativity, we decided to have a limestone club, character education, aliens, and UFO’s included in  our limestone adventure.

Joe wrote the script “The Limestone Legacy Mystery”. I wrote the music or adapted songs I had written for my classroom to fit in the context of the musical.

“What are the mysterious lights over Needmore?  Who is the stranger that has come into Bedford? What are their connections to limestone and Lawrence County’s limestone legacy?”

We chose a cast of both young performers as well as adults. They portrayed local kids, but also characters/puppets that I created while teaching music at NLCS. The characters  include  The Professor/a crazy scientist/inventor, T-TAP’N- a dancing multi leg bug, Pinniped the Seal, Merlock the Mouse, ,Wormie/an adventuresome worm and Greta Gardener, Wormie’s owner.

We reached out to Madison, IN artist/teacher Aaron Kelsey to design the puppets. Local seamstress Reida Cummings agreed to design the costumes for our characters.

After many months of creating, writing, practicing and planning – the big day arrived! 

Our cast performed  “The Limestone Legacy Mystery” three times on a Saturday morning in Brinegar Hall Black Box Theatre located in the Stonegate Arts and Education Center. The musical is a 30 minute show.

The performances were free! There were additional activities for children.Limestone carvers set up a display outside the building where children and adults could carve a piece of limestone.

Small pieces of limestone called “Quarry Cuties” could be “adopted” and decorated by each attendee.

 A scavenger hunt map was given to kids so they and their parents could discover limestone landmarks around the county.

Parents and children were encouraged to tour the Land of Limestone exhibit located at the Stonegate.  This exhibit highlights the history of the limestone industry through displays, photographs, and artifacts.

There was a wonderful turnout of parents and children for all three performances. The musical and event was an excellent way for families from our community to experience local theater and learn more about our limestone heritage! The grant was a huge success!

Below is a link to the trailer promoting “The Limestone Legacy Mystery”.

The Limestone Legacy Mystery Trailer

Here is a link to the performance of the musical “The Limestone Legacy Mystery”.

StoneGate Arts & Education Center

Some of the songs featured in “The Limestone Legacy Mystery” are…

Problem Solving

Limestone Legacy

Cooperation

If you are interested in the songs listed above, sheet music and an audio can be found at the following websites…

https://www.noteflight.com

https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com

https://www.sheetmusicplus.com

 I share this story to encourage you to look around where you live and see if there isn’t something unique about the area you live in. Whether you are a teacher, parent or community member, what can you celebrate about where you live? What creative way could you share that celebration with your school, community, etc?

We all have something to celebrate.

“It’s a Limestone Legacy straight from Indiana. A Limestone Legacy.  We’re very proud of our reputation. It’s a limestone legacy”.

  Becky Muncy