Wednesday, May 21, 2008

MORE of Chapter Seven.......

Oh yeah......in re-reading this post this morning over my delicious, freshly ground, French Roast coffee, I realized that I inadvertently overlooked two important people who really were very important in the success of the F'town HS Band. In 1994, the band was growing, as I described, and I found myself spending way tooooooo much time at school in rehearsing, administering, and planning the activities of the band, which kept me away from home! As I have always said, .........You create a monster and then it consumes you.......and that is what was happening to me!!

So, I received that great support, again, from the Administration and they decided to hire an assistant/associate band director for me, at my request. The first individual was Leigh Smith whom I knew from my association with NE Missouri State University, now called Truman State Univ. She had been a friend of my oldest son while he was attending the university as a music education major. Leigh spent four years working with me and doing a wonderful job. A wonderful musician, a great instructor/teacher, and a person that all of the kids enjoyed working with.

The second Associate Band Director that worked with me was....a former high school student of mine from Eldon High School. He, too, had gone to NE Missouri State and then on to the University of Missouri in Columbia......and was teaching in the Columbia School District schools, including Hickman High School. Michael Goldsmith, another very good friend of my son's from both high school and the university, was an incredible associate!!!! He and I discovered that we were "cut off of the same model" and we began to read each other's minds, which only helped to make it very easy to work together towards the very same goals and using the very same techniques and methods. Michael then took over the F'town band when I retired and continued seeing success with theses hard working kids!!

Without these two wonderful music educators, my Life would have become unbearable for me and for my family with the amount of work that was needed to keep up the progress with the many, many wonderful band students! I will always be deeply indebted to these two friends!!

Now.....I have mentioned that the HS Band traveled quite a bit across this great nation to perform in venues where the kids would benefit the most educationally.......not at places where they would be "entertained", such as DisneyWorld, etc., etc. I always felt like if the community was going to raise the monies necessary for trip such as these, then the kids should be learning and experiencing new sights and sounds that they might not ever have a chance to do in later years. Many band trips are taken at great expense to perform at various "festivals", but these venues are usually ones which charge for each band member to participate(and the costs ARE high per person)......and they technically are nothing but money making festivals for the sponsoring company or organization. I just disagree with this concept.....knowing full well just how hard many kids HAVE to work to make the money for these trips! Ok....enough said...huh?

Not only did I take the band trips for these kids, but I did sponsor and take many trips to Europe with students and adults. These trips were funded individually....not by our band parent's organization.......and so, there were not nearly as many kids who could make these kinds of overseas trips with me. Over the years, I have taken 12 such trips to Europe.......varying from two to three weeks depending on the itinerary. ALWAYS a grand experience for everyone, including myself because each trip was always different, even if I was taking the groups to the same cities and countries. What a delight it was to see the faces of these young people when they would see London or Paris or the Alps or Rome or the Acropolis in Athens for their very first time!!!!!! I would still love to do this again........and, perhaps I will in the near future!

Ok......enough of this Chapter for today!

TODAY IN MY LIFE......

Oh my.....what a great day to be outside......and that I was!!! I spent all morning mowing the lawn, getting some much needed exercise as I pushed the power mower around the yard. Oh yeah.....I suspect there will come a time when I will have to buy a riding mower, but for now.....it is great, great exercise for me to do this myself......RIGHT???

Later this afternoon, after making a trip to the local Wal-Mart, I did spend some time watering the new blades of grass that are growing quite nicely. Then........I discovered some frozen shrimp in the freezer......some we had purchase and quickly frozen recently.....just can't remember when. I sauteed them quickly in some garlic butter and olive oil........fixed some linguine....and soon I was dining at our bar with my dark red medicine to assist in the digestion of these delectable little creatures from the sea. For some reason, I have really grown to enjoy the Turning Leaf bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. At one time I didn't really like it, but lately.....well, it just really hits the spot! And......it sure as hell is a good price for a bottle of this dark red medicine, even though for some strange reason Medicare will NOT pay for it......hmmmmmm....!!

The 1st Lady will return tomorrow sometime. Friday we will go to visit Mike....and then EARLY on Saturday we will drive to the Lake of the Ozarks as my sister is getting married(not for the first time...heehee). We also need to go to Eldon to the cemetery to leave some flowers on the graves of our family members: my grandparents, ,my parents, and our daughter Michele. We hope to get to see some friends, but that may not be possible.......time is going to be very short for each activity as the wedding is at 4pm at the state park there, and it IS a 3.5 hour drive up there from here. The reception is then down at Waynesville....about an hour south of there....and that is where we have our hotel reservation. Yep.....a busy weekend!!!

And so.......I have rambled on for tooooo long....and now it is time for the last of American Idol for this year. Who will win????? Doesn't really matter because........

LIFE IS REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

1 comment:

Megan said...

How weird that I stumbled across this post. I was JUST thinking about how I never got to go on one of Mr. Howser's Europe Trips and how I wish I would have had that opportunity. Maybe someday!