GLEN ROCK — After more than two years of legal wrangling, Joshua Corney said he will play a recording “Taps” at his Glen Rock home for the final time Thursday night, according to an Event invitation posted on his Facebook page.
Corney, a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, said he’ll continue to play the song for his own personal use, but the recording will no longer be amplified.
He’s inviting the public to join him at his home on 49 Glen Ave. Thursday night for one last rendition. The event will begin around 8 p.m.
The invitation posted on Corney’s Facebook page reads:
“Please join us on November 30th at 49 Glen Ave in Glen Rock for the last night of Taps. I will be turning it down December 1st for my own personal use so please join us one last time at our property to honor our men and women of service. The Committee is getting close to putting up speakers at the park to continue the tradition. Come as you are… uniforms are always welcomed!Cookies and hot chocolate will be waiting for you. Thank you.”
Corney’s playing of an amplified recording of the song generated controversy after some neighbors complained about the noise. Others said they enjoyed the tradition.
The Glen Rock Borough Council voted in June to restrict Corney’s playing of “Taps” to Sundays and holidays, but the American Civil Liberties Union threatened a lawsuit over that policy in July, saying that it violated Corney’s First Amendment rights.
Corney began playing the song again later that month, while members of the borough council tried to find a compromise that appeased everyone.
That compromise was reached on Nov. 15, when the council voted unanimously to authorize the playing of “Taps” through speakers at Glen Rock Park on Fair School Road. Corney is part of a committee working to move “Taps” to the new location and produce a memorial explaining the song’s meaning and significance.
His decision to lower the volume on renditions of the song at his home is based on the fact that the issue is still generating sometimes uncivil discussion on social media.
