I was coming down the one-way street where we live. There is parking on both sides, but that doesn’t leave much room. Years ago, when I had a conversion van, I managed to take off someone’s mirror with mine. (Yes, I dealt with it.)
On this particular trip, in addition to normal cars parked, I encountered a lawn service truck, an Amazon van, a City Truck and one collecting trash…and I barely made it through with my car. I commented in a post that a fire truck wouldn’t make it and was reminded of a couple of Dad’s firetruck stories and events, one courtesy of my sister.
What happens when you block a fire truck?
Backdraft, a realistic presentation of real fire fighting
The movie, ‘Backdraft’ fascinated me. Dad was a 32-yr veteran firefighter in a full-time city department that had about ten “houses” around town. He was one of three “Chiefs”. He said “Backdraft” was pretty accurately done. I asked about the scene where there is a car parked in front of the hydrant and they break the windows and take the hose through the car.
“We would probably just use the truck to push the car out of the way. The car would be a wreck, but don’t put your car between my truck and our getting to a fire.”
Dad’s “Company 1” Fire House, @ 1975Problematic long driveway at Holmes High School.Entrance gate to Holmes High School. What you can’t see are the iron-works gates that matched the fencing to the right.
What happened when they blocked my Dad’s fire trucks?
Close to that in real life that involved Dad and his trucks happened at my high school around 1980 when my sister was a sophomore. There is a long driveway through the school and at times they would have problems with people speeding through there during school. On one particular day, someone chained shut the large ironworks gate. They weren’t supposed to do that, I’m sure, but those drivers and that long driveway could be disturbing and a safety concern.
There was a fire alarm and Dad was on duty.
When the trucks arrived at the school, they encountered the locked main gate. Guess what they did?
Dad never talked about that story, but sister tells me she remembers faculty talking about the Fire Department “busting the gates down”.
I learned late today that May 20th is National Band Director’s Day. I’ve had several directors who have impacted me different ways.
ROBERT CROWDER took over some of the elementary school bands when my initial teacher (more, in a moment) worked out to stay at the high school. Mr. Crowder was the first black teacher I had any extended contact with. He was so nice and soft spoken. He taught me at 10th District in grades 6-7. I was in 8th grade, at the huge, inner-city @2500 student Jr/Sr high when MLK was killed. Racial tensions were sky high for a while, including daily walk-outs 10 minutes before school end by hundreds of black students. I didn’t experience it directly, but apparently Mr. Crowder did a lot to help restore a calmer atmosphere in the school.
SAMUEL SANDERS was my Jr High director in 8th grade. I was 1st chair, but always goofing off in rehearsal. He pulled me aside one day and said something like, “You’ve got a lot of potential, but you’re going to throw it all away if you’re not careful.” That impacted me and I changed.
JAMES COPENHAVER taught me in his and my first years. I was in 5th grade and he just got the job. He didn’t like the way I held my horn. He sat down next to me, quietly explained hand position while patting me on the top of my head with his college ring turned around. I have great hand position still. Freshman year, he pulled me aside to say, “I understand you want to be a band director. That means you will have to go to college and I know your family can’t send you. You have four years to work on that clarinet, so that, by the time you graduate, you’ll be good enough that schools will pay for you to come.” He was right. I have so many stories about him. To say he was a strict taskmaster might be an understatement, but he did so many things to help me along. He got me scholarships to summer camps and connected me to the best clarinet teacher (below) in the area. He left after my sophomore year. He taught me to always strive, not only for excellence but for the top spot. I tried to pay him forward when I taught. It was hard because his tactics would be problematic today….but I get enough notes and feedback from students and parents that I know I impacted some lives.
RICHARD FOUST moved up from the Asst position for my last two years of high school. He was a great jazz musician. Overall, he kept the band strong through my graduation.
ROBERT RODEN was my clarinet teacher throughout high school. He was also a band director. He had the first chair clarinetists from two other area high schools in his studio. (Senior year he gave the three of us the same solo for festival). Mr. Copenhaver convinced him to give me an ‘audition’. After listening from his living room lounge chair, he offered me lessons with a condition. “You’re pretty good. I can help you get better, but you can’t afford me. I have a bad heart and am not supposed to do much hard work, so if you will mow my lawn, shovel my snow and do whatever else I need around the house, I will give you lessons UNTIL the day you show up here unprepared.” I have tried to pass that forward, but it is hard to find that level of commitment in the lives of super-busy teens. Mr. Roden died in the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in 1976. There were @160 deaths. My dad was off duty, but at the fire helping fire fighters.
WM HARRY CLARKE was my college band director. The day I walked into the Fine Arts building for a visit, there was a music major at the door waiting for me, calling me by name and escorting me to meet Mr. Clarke. I learned a lot about conducting and rehearsal technique from him. One skill I never mastered was his ability to always remember names. We had a huge band and he knew everyone by name. That is powerful.
PHILLIP MILLER was my college orchestra director and clarinet professor. He was a good teacher, not such a good human. Other than telling me he had wasted four years of his life on me (when he found out I was an education vs performance major), the most memorable takeaway for me was that, just before I would walk on stage for a solo performance, his words to me were, “Make them stand up.”
In the Fall of 1971, I received an invitation to participate in the United States Collegiate Wind Band, which would tour Europe and the USSR in the summer of 1972. Two from my school were invited. We both turned it down.
Word got to the local newspaper that I had been invited. A bank contributed half the amount and there was a drive to raise the other half. There was a picture of me in full Holmes MB uniform in the paper. Because I delivered newspapers, the headline was for a Newspaper Boy invited to travel to Europe and USSR.
It was a three-week tour. I flew out of the Cincinnati airport to New York, where I met the directors and staff. Professor Al G. Wright, Director of Bands at Purdue University, and his wife Gladys were the directors. The staff member responsible for woodwinds was Diana Hawkins, daughter of the Director of Bands at Morehead State University.
There were approximately 120 in the band, representing 26 states. Towards the beginning of the rehearsal process, we had auditions and I was appointed 1st Chair Clarinet.
Tour Stops
BRUSSELS and ANTWERP, Belgium
LONDON, England
PARIS, France
COPENHAGEN, Denmark
ZURICH and LUCERNE, Switzerland
MOSCOW, U.S.S.R.
Moscow, U.S.S.R.
1976 was in the “Detente” time between the US and USSR. We were a token of that effort.
It was a tense trip for us. Keep in mind that the Cuban missile crisis was only nine years old and the arms race was in full force (until the ’72 treaty).
We were to depart from a Swiss airport for the 4-hr flight to Moscow, arriving in the early evening. It wasn’t until we arrived at the Swiss airport that we learned the Soviets had decided we would fly in on one of their Aeroflot jets, which didn’t leave Moscow until they confirmed that we were waiting. That 4-hr wait plus the 4-hr flight ensured our arrival in the middle of the night, when no one would see us. Not an accident, I’m sure.
We did not pull up to the large, impressive airport terminal, stopping instead a fair distance from it. Our welcome included two busses, which pulled up alongside the planes, and two armed guards (rifles) standing at attention at the doors. We were instructed to deplane and get on the busses. “Your luggage will be taken to the hotel for you.” Not only did that prevent our entrance into the airport terminal for baggage claim, but it also gave them a few hours with our luggage.
The bus ride to the city was annoying and uncomfortable. Each time the manual transmission bus would get up to speed, the driver would shut off the engine and we would coast…. then as the speed decreased to a near stop, he would pop the clutch for a jerky engine restart and then repeat the cycle.
We were greeted warmly at the hotel and treated to some amazing food as they prepared us for our “orientation”, which also delayed our hotel check-in. Unlike our other stops, when we normally had at least half a day to ourselves and to explore the city we were visiting, the Soviet guides said we could not leave the hotel. The reason, “The Soviet people do not speak English and if you get lost, they won’t be able to help you get back.”
When we finally got our luggage, organized neatly and alphabetically for us, we discovered they had removed all the souvenir luggage stickers from the previously visited countries. There was no way to replace all that, and there was little doubt our luggage had been searched.
In most of the countries, we would get a “continental” breakfast (a roll and drink), were on our own for lunch, and then would get a good evening meal. In Moscow, we were fed multiple-course meals three times daily with some lasting two hours, leaving less time for sight-seeing. I tasted caviar for the first time there.
We never traveled by foot. As we bus toured the city, we kept seeing weird vending machines. Customers would take the community glass and put it over a nozzle for rinsing. Then they would dispense what looked like beer, stand there to drink it, then set the glass down for the next person standing in line. When we asked our guide we were told that “those are soft drink machines”. We concluded the machines were dispensing beer.
They took us to Moscow University, a huge, modern campus, and told us that college is free in the U.S.S.R.
We went to the pre-revolution section of “Old Moscow” to view poorly maintained buildings. “This is what Russia was like before the revolution“.
At a huge cathedral we heard, “Unlike what you hear in your country, there are 55 operating churches in Moscow“.
As we toured, we were constantly instructed when we could and could not take pictures.
Lenin’s Tomb was impressive and unique. The line to get in was very long. A married couple, still in wedding garb, was escorted to the front of the line. What an honor. Inside the tomb was extremely cold, dimly lit, and had a soldier every few feet. No talking. No cameras. And the main attraction……the actual body in a glass casket.
We were in Red Square, a huge area somewhat like a brick version of the National Mall in Washington DC, when we saw someone fleeing a group of soldiers. The soldiers released a dog. We’ve all seen videos of well-trained police dogs taking down and “holding” a criminal. Nope. Not this dog. We were too scared to take a picture. I did get one of some soldiers who were unhappy to have a picture taken by a teenager with a US Flag patch on his touristy shirt.
This was a music tour and we gave concerts before huge crowds everywhere we went. There was one town in Switzerland where they built us a stage in the town square and literally shut the town down so everyone could come. People wanted to hear us, meet us, talk to us, touch us, get autographs and pictures…. we were treated like famous guests everywhere, except in Moscow.
The Moscow concert was in an old building with a stage so small part of the ensemble had to set up on the floor and a pathetic audience of about 50. The explanation: “Everyone in Moscow has a job and you are giving a concert on a workday.”
Even the departure was eventful. In every country, we would exchange currency and try to end up with souvenirs. Our guides emphatically told us it was illegal to “smuggle” Soviet currency out of the country. I put a Ruble inside a chewing gum wrapper inside a reed box inside my clarinet case. Things got interesting as we were in the lobby of the airport preparing to board our Aeroflot plane when a group of people arrived and started physically searching us. I heard coins hitting the floor. That process took an uncomfortably long time…..enough that the plane was late for departure.
They wouldn’t allow us to leave until our director signed a document that we were late arriving.
Switzerland: Zurich and Lucerne
We spent nearly an entire week in Switzerland, a beautiful country with mountainous views. And the town of Lucerne went all out for us, building a stage in the town square and basically shutting down so everyone could come to the concert. They were friendly and appreciative. I bought my mother a small swiss cuckoo clock.
Paris, France
Paris was one of our final stops and I was running out of money. Our concert jackets were pretty fancy and we would be approached by “artists” who would draw or cut a caricature and then try to sell it to us. They expected us to purchase and I recall one angry artist pointing to my jacket when I tried to explain I didn’t have the money for his art.
London, England
I enjoyed the history a lot. I’ve always loved British pomp and pageantry.
I was arriving for an after-school meeting in a rural elementary school. Buses were pulling in and I decided to wait 5 minutes in my car for the bell. After the busses pulled away I entered and went to the office. As soon as I introduced myself I could tell something was wrong. The principal was standing behind the secretary with a troubled look. Just then I heard the sound of leather that you only hear if you are really close to a police officer wanting to quietly get your attention. The principal informed the sheriff I was ok. Recognizing MY surprise, he explained that.
“When we see an out-of-county car sitting in our parking lot at dismissal time, we call the sheriff.”
Made sense.
Added this to both my “Stories Through My Ages” and “Selling In The Schoolhouse” books.
In 2021, I signed up for a subscription to The Daily Wire, for two reasons:
Gina Carano had been fired from Disney, and hired by Daily Wire. The subscription was a way to support both TDW and Gina.
Candace Owens was hired by The Daily Wire.
Gina did her one movie (delayed into a second year of subscription due to the COVID mess), Terror on the Prairie. It was a good movie, well done, in that it could be filmed away from most population.
Not too long after her debut, Candace Owens hosted a TV show. At the end of every show, she moved her chair to show the nearly all white audience behind her and would answer 3-4 submitted questions that she did not see ahead of time.
At the end of her fourth show, she answered MY submission:
How do you think she answered?
She and her British (love the accent) husband were married on a Trump property in Charlottesville, Virginia. She was a huge supporter, but when she came out staunchly opposed to his vaccine support, asking him about it directly in an interview, there was at least a partial falling out. I am unclear of the current status.
Her audience-included TV show transitioned to a single presenter, sometimes with guests or even a panel. Candace and her husband are both devout Christians, but had very different stances on Protestant vs Catholic theology. In April, 2024, she converted to the Catholic Church. She featured him on a double podcast debate I thought was fascinating. Here is Part 1…
She had amazingly informative deep dives about George Foreman, Big Farma / Vaccines, and Black Lives Matter.
Candace and Kanye
Trouble started brewing when she appeared with her friend, Kanye, and in one of his shows, they wore “White Lives Matter” shirts.
Kanye posted some interpreted antisemitic tweets and Candace defended him. That put her at odds with the owners at The Daily Wire, who are Jewish.
The clashes continued until they recently parted company. She has been posting that, “I am free” and soliciting subscriptions and gifts to support her.
In a Youtube video, in giving the history of her experience, said,
“I am NOT anti-Israel, but I am also NOT anti-Palestianian.”
On 5/10/24, she tweeted about a new app. It said you could talk to her via text or video and get immediate responses. I downloaded the app, only to find out her “rates” are way over my head. She certainly has the right to charge and make money this way, it just takes me out of the communication loop. These pics are from the new app, which I will shortly delete from my phone.
She moved to Nashville to be near The Daily Wire. She and her husband have bought land, built a house, and have welcomed their second child into the world.
She will do well, and as long as I can afford to read or watch, I will.
Reposted as a safety reminder. My ‘stand-up’ cane fell over. I didn’t think much about it. But then I looked closer. Talk about a fall risk. I have replaced it….and know, now, that I need to check more frequently than 2 yrs.
Vibe cane tipBottoms are almost completely smooth. Also, posts are not supposed to pull apart.Compare old to new
Seattle Schools are closing its “Highly Capable Cohort” (Gifted & Talented) program because the claim is that too many of the participants are white or Asian…. “in an effort to make the program more equitable and to better serve all students, the district is phasing out highly capable cohort schools. In their place, SPS is offering a whole-classroom model where all students are in the same classroom and the teacher individualizes learning plans for each student.” Think about what that means for each classroom teacher.
Our local schools had a GT program called “Project Challenge”, involving our sons …. until the system abruptly ended the program, leaving stranded students who were taking classes 2+yrs ahead of grade level. We fought the repercussions until we found an advocate who enabled one son to commute daily from middle to high school for math, to skip multiple years of Spanish and to take advanced classes at the university. Those programs are more common now, but they were not at the time we were involved. I wrote about it here: https://www.virtualmusicoffice.com/the-system-worked-for…/
We wrestled with teachers who wanted to use our sons as tutors (noble and helpful, but does not address their “special needs”) or to do individual study in the back of the classroom (like what could happen in a discipline situation).
We are seeing some of the results of closing most mental institutions and “mainstreaming”. How many tragedies are blamed on “mental health” issues? If people need help, let’s help.
And here’s another problem I have with the “too many whites and Asians” racist argument….. Which pro sports teams, such as NFL, NBA, MLB “mainstream” players to ensure they have a balance of ethnicities and abilities? No! We want to win, right? Olympic teams are not balanced per quotas. We want to win, right?
I won’t argue that DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), which sounds wonderful is the new AA (Affirmative Action), but it all seems so similar, aka fad trend of the era.
Yes, let’s work to benefit those with “special needs”, but special needs at both ends. Let’s NOT label people ‘insane’, but also, let’s not ignore them. We NEED GT graduates coming into our society, even if they are white or Asian.
I was a music teacher in the system from 2005-2020 (retired). This happened during that time.
The hs building has over 40 outside doors. Custodians check those doors every evening because there have been cases of someone leaving a stone in a door to keep it from locking, sometimes for innocent reasons, others not so.
There is one particular door used primarily by the instrumental, choral, theater, and special ed departments. Special Ed is rarely there after school hours, but there is almost always something going on with at least one of the other departments for after school and/or evening rehearsals.
A security check revealed that our area door remained “pinned” (unlocked) one evening after everyone left. That is definitely a mistake.
Instead of talking to, reprimanding, or even disciplining the staff mostly responsible for that door, an edict went out to over a hundred faculty and staff members (“all call” style) announcing,
“Effective immediately, pinning a door unlocked requires administrator approval.”
After trying to think of a way the music department could work with that, the decision was that I would be the one to request clarification.
I sent an email so the admin could think it through vs an immediate response. It went something like this:
“As we discuss compliance with your directive about pinning a door, we have two general scenario possibilities for which we would appreciate further advice or clarification, please. Would you prefer that each of our departments provide you with an exhaustive list of days and times we request approval for enabling entry (music store dealer, parents/staff coming to assist with props, meetings, rehearsals….., students for after school lessons or evening rehearsals, etc., – or that we contact you for each such incident as it comes up?”
What do you think the response/reaction might have been? Hint: I wasn’t fired.
Student transferred from another school. One of my band missions was to check the mechanics of clarinets to ensure the best chance at getting the right notes. Note that some students come into hs playing the same horn they’ve had for 3-4yrs…. Sometimes they are fighting the horn.
Of course, most parentals would never drive a car four years without ever checking the tire pressure or changing the oil. But maintaining a clarinet? I actually had a parent ask me once, “Isn’t this the one you told us to buy?”
Anyway, this clarinet was especially intriguing. Why colored tape? The explanation was the director taught “color-coding”. Guess what I did.
I promised multiple stories. Here is Story #2. The first story is HERE.
I was a music teacher in the system from 2005-2020 (retired). This happened during that time…not sure the year.
$ $ $ $ $
Word came to the instrumental dept that one of our two contracted summer sessions would be cut from the budget and band parents could take over funding to keep both sessions functioning.
I was tasked with making our case before the board. The “conversation” went something like this…..
Me: Our FIRST summer session starts before the end of the Spring semester when we start integrating incoming students and preparing for the local June parade. Do you want the band to represent the school in the HD parade?
Board: Of course, the band MUST march in the parade.
Me: Our SECOND summer session starts a few weeks before the Fall semester and is when the band learns music, marching fundamentals, and the performance show for football games and band competitions. Do you want the band at the football games?
Board: Absolutely, the band MUST be at the football games.
Result: Funding continued for both summer sessions.
I was arriving for an after-school meeting in a rural elementary school. Buses were pulling in and I decided to wait 5 minutes in my car for the bell. After the busses pulled away I entered and went to the office. As soon as I introduced myself I could tell something was wrong. The principal was standing behind the secretary with a troubled look. Just then I heard the sound of leather that you only hear if you are really close to a police officer wanting to quietly get your attention. The principal informed the sheriff I was ok.
In 2021, I signed up for a subscription to 
Student transferred from another school. One of my band missions was to check the mechanics of clarinets to ensure the best chance at getting the right notes. Note that some students come into hs playing the same horn they’ve had for 3-4yrs…. Sometimes they are fighting the horn.
I was a music teacher in the system from 2005-2020 (retired). This happened during that time…not sure the year.