Yep......a rather strange cloudy-type day here in SE Missouri. Remained cloudy, but in the low 70's all day.....with the threats of rain. Well.....the rains we need so badly, once again, barely materialized this evening. Just a bit of rain.......not much, at least NOT enough. Oh well.......all my flowers are either dead or close to it.....gave up long ago on watering them.
The 1st Lady is visiting Dr. Jeni .....went last night and will return this evening......as she had a dental appointment with Dr. Jeni. Sooooo, today was rather dreary.....even though I did have a "to do list" that I did get accomplished during the day.
BUT..... most of the day was spent in copying pictures from the computer onto CD's for a more permanent place of storage. Well, this led me to another site on the web which I have been reading and researching for awhile......and so, I set up an account with them for storage and public viewing of my pictures........beginning with Saturday's pics of our visit to Vance Vineyards. However, the main purpose is so that I can post the pictures we will be taking of our trip to Egypt and Jordan next month.........I just needed more storage room and the capability of getting this pics out to all my friends and relatives. I set up the account with Flickr(http://www.flickr.com).....and some of you may be using that picture storage site. I think it will be what I need.......sure hope so!!
Soooo, that is basically the day here on Buford Heights at the stick and brick. I will be adding a new chapter to the summary of my Life's various chapters.......and sooooo:
Chapter 6:
At the end of the school year….spring of 1978...after teaching for four years in the Eldon Middle School… AND…..assisting the high school band/choir director(who was MY high school music teacher)……she retired, totally unexpected and not announced until she had left the community for the summer. I spent that summer teaching summer band……a six week program that was sponsored not by the school district but by the local music booster group. I should have known that something strange was happening because, in sharing her office for the summer band, I realized that ALL of her files, her memoirs, her office decorations had been removed and were gone.
So, in mid-June I was called to the Supt’s office and offered her position beginning in the fall. I was excited….and I knew that at sometime she would retire…..but it did come as quite a surprise. And sooooo, I spent most of the summer preparing for a change in my class schedule…..and a change in my Life……however, I did NOT have any idea how much of a change it would make.
Late summer began and it was soon all up to me! And……..the year was a busy one as I learned the ropes, kept some of the traditions alive and going……and made plans to make my own philosophies and ideas for the high school band and choir long-range program. And……even with the changes I implemented…..they worked and became successful, even though there was a certain element that did not want ANY traditions of the music program to be changed or deleted.
The band program began to GROW……very quickly. My hs teacher had begun to concentrate more heavily with the choral program as she began to feel her age and band always takes more time AND energy(some will debate that statement). Soooo, I sat about to increase the band membership and build for the future for the band…..taking it in a new direction to make it more visible and to represent the community across the state…..and eventually across the country.
In two years…..I was able to convince the administration that we needed a choral/vocal teacher AND an instrumental/band teacher……and so, I was able to concentrate on the instrumental program! Soon……..both programs were growing in numbers and the quality of the performances was climbing higher and higher.
In 1980.…..we had new band uniforms…..AND…..the band took their very first out-of-state trip to perform. We went to the Rapid City, SD Festival of Bands and were gone for a week, performing in the huge parade….and we were selected to give a marching show exhibition in the convention center there. WOW……what an exciting trip!! We toured the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, etc., etc……and the kids on the trip experienced such new sights and events that many of them are still talking about that trip today.
Time went by…my family was recovering from the dark valley that I discussed last month…..and the children were growing and having wonderful experiences. We continued to travel in our camper……across the country to the mountains in the west to the beaches of the Southeast area of the US. In 1980 I took my first group to Europe for about three weeks on a performing Missouri Choir Tour……and my eyes were opened so wide at the wonderful places in Europe that I have never been able to completely shut them!!! WOW……..why had I waited sooooo damn long to go to Europe????!!!!
More trips for the band: 1982 we were in Florida to perform at a national concert band festival, as well as go to Disney World and a day at Daytona Beach for the kids. We also were one of the six bands in the state of Missouri to be invited to march in the Governor’s Inaugural Parade in Jefferson City in JANUARY!!! Yep……sooooo cold that our horns froze up after the 1st block of the parade……the wind chill at -20 degrees!!!! Then in 1984 the band was again invited to Rapid City……and this time our Jazz Band was asked to give a concert at the Festival!!
In 1981.….the 1st Lady and my oldest son, Mike and I went to Europe on our own for six weeks!!! The only reservations we had were the plane tickets…..and our Eurail Pass which allowed us to travel across Europe over and again…….unlimited mileage on the trains and the pass was good for six weeks! OMG…….what an incredible trip!!! Such experiences for all of us as there were soooo many things that had to be dealt with that today one doesn’t have to be concerned about. Upon returning I made a pledge to myself and family……that each of the other two children would go to Europe with me before they graduated from high school…….and, I did just that for both of them!!!!
By the mid-80’s, the band program was growing and growing. And……I realized that we definitely needed an asst. band director. However………I did not get the support from the administration to make this request a reality……..and things began to go a bit downhill as the parental support and the community support was there, but there became an on-going problem(s) with the administration and my plans for the band program. Sooooo, in the spring of 1987 I submitted my resignation, having been offered a position in Financial Services with New York Life Insurance Company. This made the headlines of the local newspaper….the very one that my great-grandfather started and remained in my family until the 1950’s.
The band parents and music booster group attended the Board of Education in mass…..and were met by a board that had already made up their mind that no asst. would be hired and that these parents were just wasting their meeting time. Not said in so many words, but the implications were there……and quite noticed. And sooooo………another chapter of my Life began to draw to a close. The nine years in the high school program had made for a longer chapter in my Life……a very successful chapter…..and a time of my Life which I needed in order to recover from the darkness of our daughter’s untimely and very strange death at the age of eight in 1974.
Hmmmm……..the end of Chapter Six was visible to me, even at that point in time. A new vocation, a new lifestyle, and one that I wasn’t exactly sure about……however, it was then…..and as it is now…..
LIFE IS GREAT…….And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
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