Personal experience

Two stories about small schools with larger bands

High Schools, Marching Band, Personal experience, Respect, Teaching, Teaching Music, Throw Back Thursday /

Joan suggested I respond to a post with a similar story… (shortened for this post). MY experience follows.

From David Bloss, Level 3 contributor in “Band” group.

“My small town HS in northern Oklahoma had a combined middle & high school band. I estimate the student population was around 300. We had 84 in the band (drum major and 2 twirlers for marching … ”

MY EXPERIENCE

Four days before graduation from the University of Kentucky, I was hired for my first teaching job. I went from a community of nearly 100K (Covington, KY) and an inner-city jr/sr high school (Holmes) of 2000+ — to a community of about 1000 (Pekin, IN) and a jr/sr high school (Eastern) population of under 400….. and no football team.

I somehow survived the culture shock and am grateful to have learned so much from that community. When I got stuck in the snow, no one drove past without getting out to help. When I drove a bandster home from rehearsal, I was expected to accept eggs from their chicken house. But, I also learned those teens were hard-working, talented, committed, and thrived at an opportunity to prove themselves to other communities….to me…..and to themselves.

I was befriended and mentored by an amazing artist (Richard Trueblood) who was my only outside staffer, although I don’t think we ever paid him — my ignorance. He did amazing things with our guard and together we created and taught winning choreography.

I was only there four years. Band grew from 39 (with 8th graders) to 93 with only grades 9-12, including 18 flags and 6 rifles….

In KY, we competed in “Band Size” competitions, which put us against large schools. When we could compete in “School Size” competitions, our band was normally 2-3x the size of our competitors.

We had a good run, receiving lots of guard, other caption and top placement awards. At the State Level, we were in Class C (there was no Class D at the time) and ranked 4th twice. Last year, that same school won 1st place in the small division in Scholastic Class, which also did not exist during my tenure.

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Whether greed or politics, it is expensive

Communication, News and Happenings, Personal experience /

Bank withdrawalI’m not saying a thing about POLITICS. I’m just talking about some local observations and ending with a quote from the CEO of Kroger. Some say it is greed. Others claim politics. I don’t care so long as someone can make it stop.

Recently, I was criticised for posting price changes that were higher than the “averages”….. Some I included, from local findings and things that affected me personally, included:

  •  $1 Sausage Muffin is now $1.89. $1 drinks are now $1.39.
  • Local car wash increased price from $7.50 to $10 for cars — and more for SUV’s and trucks.
  • My favorite meal at Casa has increased from @$12 to @$20.
  • Local specialty steak in restaurant is up $4.
  • $5-7 combo meals are now $11-12
  • My homeowner’s insurance is up $100’s and the insurance on my aging car just (yesterday) increased another $30…. up $64 in last two years. I thought insuring aging cars always DEcreased.
  • Private Selection bread at local Kroger has DOUBLED. Items where price has remained close are now in SMALLER packages….so same thing.
  • Oil change on my car has gone up +$30
  • And streaming services; Netflix, Prime, Paramount, PBS…. yeah, you know.
  • Amazon Prime — wow…..what is it now?
  • Treats like DQ shakes & Blizzards, Wendy’s Frosty…. up $2-3

    In the time that most things I spend money on have increased +40%, my Social Security has gone up about 3%.

    Feel free to add your examples.

    Below is a quote from the Kroger CEO. We’ve always been in the “budget conscious” group, but he mentions “other customer segments”. Are you in any of those?

“The reduction of excess savings built up during the pandemic, higher interest rates and the effect of inflation are pressuring customers’ ability to spend,” Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen stated on the company’s quarterly earnings call. “This is especially true for our most budget conscious customers, as we’ve been seeing for a while now, but we’re now seeing other customer segments beginning to make changes as well. Customers are purchasing lower-price cuts of meat, buying less, and focusing on essentials.”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-3rd-largest-grocery-chain-food-inflation-even-hitting-people-who-arent-budget-conscious?fbclid=IwY2xjawFSjd9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHfuXfgWlLbUgwKBQ6z09UJ7TBuHfbvVxutv9JP8qw8f-rRzPjgHbq-PEnQ_aem_sG_3-2QUvVhQqG4yZbp5dA

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Where were you on 9/11?

Family, Personal experience, Small Business /
WTC, September 10, 2001

My mother remembered Pearl Harbor. In the sixties, I remembered the Kennedy assassination. Since September 11, 2001, the “where were you when” question has been about 9/11.

Since I’m writing this on 9/11/24, I’ll focus on that experience.

It was a regular work day for Joan and I at our QDP Corporation office. Prior to leaving the house, we saw the news clip about a “small plane” that had flown into one of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers. A terrible accident, but it wasn’t going to stop our day.

After travelling the six miles to our office and settling in, Joan turned on the small radio she had on her desk. We did not have a TV in the office and this was in the pre-streaming era.

Shortly after the news was on, Joan called out (my office joined hers, but I couldn’t clearly hear and didn’t listen to her radio) that a plane had flown into the second tower — and the small plane we heard about was now a passenger plane….so we understood there was a more major event.

The she cried out,

One of the buildings just collapsed.

I distinctly recall commenting,

That is impossible. You realize how big those towers are. You must have heard that wrong.

Then the second building….and we decided to close for the day and go home to watch about it on TV….. and pretty must stayed glued to the news for the next several days.

Note: what follows is a side-note addition, but I hope you will find it interesting.

Our younger son, David, had just started classes at Duke University, with its significant international student body that included numbers from both Jewish and Muslim communities.

I called, out of some concern, but mostly just to calm my slight anxiety about the potential (I thought) for student unrest. His response caught me off guard.

We are very safe in my dorm, Dad.

I should note that dorms on the Freshman Campus at Duke (yes, a separate campus about a mile away from the campus you see online) were not the huge complexes of many larger universities….. His particular dorm, for example, had four floors and no more than a couple hundred students.

As a professionally trained information-gathering salesperson, I pressed him on that answer. He hesitated, but eventually added more context:

Dad, are you familiar with the King of Jordan?

I know who he is.

Well, his son is in my dorm …. and we are very safe.

I learned about some in his dorm who were not students. Also, about how the Prince of Jordan liked to evade his protection detail and would (on one such occasion) recruit fellow students who sneak him out of the dorm to get pizza. The challenge was to see how far they could get before caught. We had a discussion about the potential downfall of such games.

When David’s brother, John, traveled from Tennessee Tech University to visit and check in on his brother, John learned that the campus really had been buttoned up as they wouldn’t allow him entry until David vouched for him.

Similarly, in the way my mother recalled going to her high school classes the day after Pearl Harbor, and I remembered walking home for lunch from Tenth District Elementary School shortly after hearing about President Kennedy, I will never forget what I was doing on 9/11/01…and neither should you.

May we all, “NEVER FORGET”!

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Color coded clarinet

Assistant Directing, Classroom Teacher, Communication, High Schools, Music Department, Personal experience, Public Schools, Respect, Teaching, Teaching Music /
She was a new student who transferred in. I needed to listen to her so I could place her. I had never seen color-coded keys and it gave a good reason to have a nice get-to-know-you conversation. She said her band teacher labeled all their clarinetists’ keys like this. It was a nice horn.
Wow! I’ve spent my whole teaching career explaining the fingerings and expecting students to get it.
I HAVE had students label all their music notes. I didn’t allow it if I knew about it…..explaining that they were going to encounter more notes than they were going to be able to label.
btw I wonder if that teacher labeled trumpets or trombones.

 

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Car key fob lesson learned

Personal experience /
Definitely learned a lesson today. I was changing the battery in my car’s key fob and, apparently, damaged something inside the casing because now a battery won’t snap in. Yes, it is the right battery.
A replacement requires cutting the key and programming to the car. There are online options under $50, but that does not include cutting the key nor the programming. One hardware store in town sells, cuts, and programs a replacement — for @$200.
I called the Toyota dealer. Whoah! Over $400 there.
So, after I become the owner of a new fob, I’ll commit to taking it somewhere to get future batteries changed.
The Accord batteries are easy to change. But I like my 14-year-old Camry with its under 88K miles. Rant over. Lesson learned.
btw….if you know someone locally who can REPAIR a damaged battery compartment on a car key fob, please message me quickly as I intend to replace it today. Thanks.

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Floppy Installation

Personal experience, Sales and Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, Throw Back Thursday /

Joan and I are going to a place that sells both music instrument stuff and Apple tech. While she gets her bassoon reeds, should take this disk tray in and ask for recommendations on computer to utilize these. WhatDaYaThink? Would they even know what these are?

Note: This was from our business’ first computer software installation (early 80’s). I remember liking Word Perfect better than Word. Software was on 20+ disks, plus …. well you can see the 4th disk for printer installation. #floppydisks

I’m gonna impress some people today, ya think?

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Commitment: Cheerleader to Percussion and back

Assistant Directing, High Schools, Marching Band, News and Happenings, Personal experience, Repost, Respect, Throw Back Thursday /
Cheer for first half, band for halftime, back to cheer for 2nd half

One of my all time favorites because it shows commitment and dedication. This girl is a cheerleader during the first half of the game, then, while the other cheerleaders have a break, she runs to the band, grabs her drum and marches halftime…..and then back to cheer for the rest of the game.

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Did I really say something ‘racist’?

Leave a Comment / Assistant Directing, Family, High Schools, Music Performance, Personal experience, Repost, Respect, Storytelling, Teaching, Teaching Music /

In the high school where I taught, we were just beginning to work on Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual. It was an incredible piece of music written to display some of the beauty and complexity of African music and drumming.

I have two “racist”-related stories to go with our preparation of this piece. The first happened several years ago when I invited (and then had to un-invite) an area African drumming group to come to our school to lead a Master Class for our students and open our concert. That will be for another post.

More recently, as part of our discussion and preparation, I spoke with the class about how African drums are considered “sacred” and that we would treat this music and our performance of it with that type of respect.

As part of that discussion, I spoke a little of my son’s study abroad experience during his undergraduate work at Duke University, when he spent a summer in Ghana. He was one source of telling me how reverently the Gananians treated the drumming instruments. He also told me the exceptional level of respect they gave “white people”, especially men.

He stepped over some local cultural norms when he insisted on helping with the food preparation and in washing his own clothes. It should be noted that the home where he stayed was considered one of a “nobleman” from the area.

Not comfortable with the female servants doing his laudry, David tried to do his own. The best he could get was for them to let him help them.

“Everyone wanted their picture taken with the white guy, and they wanted hugs. When I went to church, they would always set me on the front row, if not on the platform itself.” -David Gardner

What really sparked the shocked response was when I told this class (mostly white with a small hispanic component) about my son’s experience in a Drumming Circle, where several of the students from his trip participated. The comment that the drumming leader made (multiple times) was that….

“You all are playing like a bunch of WHITE PEOPLE.”

I got a noticeable gasp of disbelief and shock when I shared that quote. I explained that this was not something a white person said, but rather was a critical statement made by a Gananian African about how non-Africans were playing his instruments.

I was not trying to be or show any form of racial disrespect, but rather, to use a quote from someone who should know the instrument….. Incident averted.

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Customer Service Upgrade at Trump Taj Mahal

Personal experience, Respect, Sales and Marketing /

Our fundraising convention was in Atlantic City — at the Trump Taj Mahal. I’d never seen anything like it. There were probably over a dozen check in agents. There were all sorts of people who wanted to open doors, carry luggage, etc — all for tips, of course. We experienced a major customer service upgrade.

When we got to our luxurious room, there was something wrong with one (yes, one) of our three phones. There was a phone next to the bed, one on the desk, and one in the bathroom. 

When I called the front desk about the phone, I was invited to bring Joan and go to the manager’s desk in the lobby. Once there, we were informed we’d be changing rooms. I didn’t want to move our stuff.

“It has already been moved for you….and I think you’ll like your new room.”

We were escorted via a private elevator to our “suite”. There were two front doors, a living room, a dining area with a chandelier, and two bedrooms (one had a TV that came out of the furniture, a jacuzzi and a mirror on the ceiling over the bed). The guest room also had a bath. There was a fireplace and large screen TV in the living room. Windows faced two different directions.

This upgrade because of a broken phone. They could have just replaced the phone, but this is exceptional customer service.

UPDATE: 8/17/24: This Casino/Hotel closed in 2016 as the result of a labor dispute and strike.

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Carefully consider your financial support

Communication, Fundraising, News and Happenings, Personal experience, Social Media, Social Media /

donationsDonations

I made two very small political donations to out-of-my-district candidates I couldn’t vote for, but whose positions I liked. Two complaints.

First, they make the $10-$20 donation process difficult as all the ‘defaults’ during the process are for a higher amount that automatically repeats monthly or quarterly. Ohhhhh, the lists those donations put me on. 

I also donated to PragerU, a cause and operation I support, even though I don’t benefit directly from all their children’s books and programming. I have watched and learned from several of their 5-minute videos on various topics and enjoy some of the interviews and programming shows they provide. I will probably donate to them again. But wow….do they ever have me on their list(s) now. Opportunities to support this cause or that one, to have my donation doubled or tripled (but only today)….. And they even use the USPS. 

Of course, we all know that if you click on something in Y-ville or F-whatchamacallit… that you are doomed for an almost never-ending onslaught of similar things to watch, read or support. 

The only entity I support significantly and regularly is my church and some of the specially targeted mission programs it supports. I won’t get into the thousands of missionaries or of the emergency services and help in times of disaster and for people in need — because that is not my main focus of this post. 

Just today (so far) and it is not even noon yet…. I have been asked to support, via email, text, and the tentacles of social media:

  • both presidential candidates (one just wants $1, yeah right). But today, not tomorrow.
  • both vice presidential candidates “if I can afford it”
  • a senator, who “for less than a cup of Joe – just $5” will make the senate his political color
  • PragerU
  • Daily Wire
  • Israel

Not today (yet), but I periodically hear from:

  • my university (I do enjoy the student callers)…
  • my university’s school of music – I even sent postcards to prospects on their behalf
  • My university’s philanthropic dept
  • several candidates (both major parties)

Newsmax (and others) want me to ‘vote’ or participate in a poll, but I’m confident those will lead to a donation opportunity. 

Recently, I received a letter with the return address of President Donald J. Trump. I was going to post it on Facebook (denied) on Instagram (denied) and X (denied). Maybe there really was something wrong with the way I took the pic….but that is why I did not include it in this post.

Most who offer audio or video podcasts advertise and also offer a subscription for a variety of benefits. There was one I really liked, but she stopped all “free” and went subscription only. I didn’t follow. But NOW… she’s back. 

I use Unroll Me app to reduce emails….somewhat successfully.

Sending “STOP” on texts is a joke. That just confirms the number and adds me to to other lists. 

If you donate everything away, will the government replace it? 

What’s your story? How do you avoid/reduce them? Or can you? Advice appreciated. Attackers not.

 

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