<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What began as an innocent swamping out of our linen closet turned into an adventure when I discovered the long missing high school annuals from my days at Marquette Senior High. \u00a0The summary from my freshman year was kind of fun and it was surprising how many little details popped into my head perusing the photos and inscriptions. \u00a0With that said, it is time to forge ahead and explore events from the dreaded sophomore year.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the first things I looked up were the bands that had played dances that year. \u00a0When I flipped to that section, I found it marked with my old American Federation of Musicians union card even though we didn\u2019t actually join the union until the summer after our junior year. \u00a0The \u2018AFof M Local 213\u2019 appears in all previous FTV columns that address these early gigging days, but this has been a faulty memory item. \u00a0Much to my chagrin, the card proclaims that we were actually members of Local 218 – oops. \u00a0Nevertheless, the bands that would be our brothers-in-arms when we did join up included the 1969 Detention Hour, The French Church, and the Zanzibar Exchange. \u00a0Kathy Fure and her guitar made an appearance at the annual talent show (she will later become better known as folksinger Tret Fure). The band booked for more formal events like the Christmas dance and the Prom were called 4 Degrees North, but this band was not comprised of MSHS students. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Twig wasn\u2019t on the radar yet, but the seed would be planted in the spring when Gene, Mike, and I were all involved in the drama club\u2019s production of <\/span>Bye Bye Birdie<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0Gene was doing set work, Mike played guitar on stage during some of Conrad Birdie\u2019s big numbers and I was ensconced in the pit orchestra. \u00a0Sadly, no pictures of musicians were included in the yearbook, but chorus teacher Bill Saari is shown directing the Birdie orchestra while band director Joe Patterson added his violin playing to the ensemble. \u00a0There were some informal jams taking place before rehearsals at the Kaufman Auditorium that led the bass player from the orchestra, Ron Caviani, Mike, and myself being drafted as the house band (supporting a rotating cast of singers) for the cast party when the show wrapped up. \u00a0We got Gene into the discussion and determined that if we were going to have a band, we had better start rehearsing. \u00a0Although we wouldn\u2019t be The Twig until the next summer, we dug in and started meeting weekly in my basement and set a goal of \u201cplaying real gigs for money\u201d during our senior year.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The high school band photo pages show our former freshman core of five drummers still together with the addition of junior Eric Storedahl and new freshmen Sara McKee and Jim Soderberg. \u00a0Director Patterson had anointed me section leader (showing that it paid to take summer drum lessons all during my Junior High years) but Jim and I became best buds and spent the next three years working as co-section leaders. \u00a0Jim had a background in Drum Corps so it was my sworn duty to teach him the intricacies of \u2018faking\u2019 drum parts. \u00a0I was never a very good rudimental drummer (certain strokes or rudiments are supposed to be played a certain way and not using the \u2018proper\u2019 sticking technique is referred to as \u2018faking\u2019) but I could pretty much sight read any piece of drum music as long as I could \u2018stick it\u2019 my way. \u00a0Jim\u2019s background was rooted in the more rudimentary \u2018drum corps\u2019 method, but over time, he also became very adept at playing drum parts that sounded right even if they might not have been rudimentarily correct. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The picture of Mr. Patterson directing the pep band is kind of bittersweet because he passed away in the spring not long after we had wrapped <\/span>Bye Bye Birdie<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0When the Bishop Baraga High School basketball team won the State Class D basketball title (in the last year the school was open), \u00a0we were asked to march from Fair Avenue south along Third Street and then back up Front Street for a welcome home rally that was planned for Graveraet School\u2019s gym (which apparently had more room than Baraga\u2019s own home gym). \u00a0A block into the parade, Mr. Patterson handed me his whistle and said, \u201cI can\u2019t walk that far so every block, blow the whistle, do the roll off and the band will play the next song. \u00a0Wait a block and do it again.\u201d \u00a0We happened to finish one march as we came to the top of the hill where Third Street drops down to Washington Street. \u00a0Jim rightly reminded me that I probably shouldn\u2019t blow the whistle until we made the turn on to the main street. \u00a0What we hadn\u2019t counted on was playing in the multi-story buildings in the 100 block of Washington Street was like playing in a canyon with the sound bouncing back to the band in waves and echoes. \u00a0The trumpet players were about to beat me up until I reminded them that I could also blow the whistle as we climbed the two blocks of Front Street heading for Graveraet. \u00a0I didn\u2019t give it much thought at the time, but whatever was ailing \u201cJoe P\u201d was already affecting him and a few weeks later he was gone. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the comments written on the band\u2019s yearbook page came from fellow sophomore Maggie who said, \u201cI don\u2019t know how you\u2019re going to manage next year without me, but I\u2019ll be watching and you better be good.\u201d \u00a0I hadn\u2019t realized Maggie wasn\u2019t going to continue in band Junior year and I hoped it had nothing to do with section tryouts. \u00a0Early in the year, Mr. Patterson had us sight read a drum piece and he announced that I would be the section leader which apparently didn\u2019t sit too well with Maggie. \u00a0Maggie was a much better rudimentary drummer that I was, but she would have to practice new pieces for some time to get the sticking right. \u00a0The sight reading was her undoing in the tryouts. \u00a0When Mr. P passed away, Bill Saari took over for the rest of the year (which turned into a permanent position for him by the next round of summer band). \u00a0Bill wanted to get a handle on his new charges so he had sectional tryouts to see what we could do. \u00a0I am not sure how much drum training he had, but once again, the sight reading we did for tryouts confirmed the established order (though we did clue him that Jim and I were sharing the duties as co-first chair section leaders). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Maggie expressed her frustration openly for the first time, but I was still surprised that she didn\u2019t return to band. \u00a0We had a good section and operated as a pretty well oiled machine. \u00a0I had put in the time and defended my first chair position, but I can also understand why this irked Maggie. \u00a0She couldn\u2019t wrap her head around the fact that she was the better drummer, yet she couldn\u2019t crash the party because the band director put so much emphasis on sight reading. \u00a0This is a lesson that took a while to sink in but empathy wasn\u2019t one of my strong points at 15 going on 16. \u00a0Losing Mr. Patterson (who I had taken drum lessons with since fifth grade) was a downer but the impact it made on me personally wasn\u2019t so obvious until the next year as we adjusted to a new director with his own ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The end of the year commentary contained many of the tried and true catch phrases: \u00a0\u201cTake it easy on the girls,\u201d \u201chave a good summer, see you next year,\u201d and so on. \u00a0Some were a tad more specific: \u00a0Art wrote, \u201cTo the kid like me who had to suffer through English class. \u00a0Take it easy you uncoordinated baseball bum.\u201d \u00a0Ed chimed in with, \u201cRaisininski, To (sic) bad you were in my Biology & Geometry class, that spoiled all my fun.\u201d \u00a0Wayne\u2019s entry was a little disturbing: \u201cMay the bird of paradise get its wings caught in the pages of this book,\u201d but so was Beth\u2019s advice to, \u201cStay our of jail this summer, especially the one at the college. \u00a0Good luck.\u201d \u00a0I must confess that this last one confuses me greatly because it doesn\u2019t ring any bells as to what it means.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jackie mentioned that we, \u201cfinally got out of Robert\u2019s class alive\u201d but the truth was, Geometry was one of the best math classes I have ever had so for me it was more like,\u201dRats, back to Algebra next year.\u201d \u00a0The bird of paradise reappeared when Rich blessed me with, \u201cMay the bird of paradise keep the strings of your snare drum tight.\u201d \u00a0Trumpeter Mike Parks may have hit it on the head commenting, \u201cOur little drummer boy seems to be doing alright this year. \u00a0Without all that faking, you never would have made it! \u00a0Well anyway, good luck.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Having made one furtive attempt at having a girlfriend did not go unnoticed as I received advice from several sources. \u00a0My eclectic, baritone playing band buddy Nick Gorski wrote, \u201cWait \u2018til summer hoo-hah. \u00a0Hang in there, don\u2019t blow your cool, there is someone out there, don\u2019t fret.\u201d \u00a0His girlfriend, Fran, chimed in with, \u201cYou are so dumb when it comes to girls that it\u2019s simply pathetic. \u00a0If you need any advice, just ask me or what\u2019s his name. \u00a0I hope you hurry up and find a girlfriend (you\u2019re not as bad as we all make you out to be).\u201d \u00a0Just to heap it on, Betty chimed in with her support of Fran\u2019s comments and my guitar buddy Gene added, \u201cKene (sic) – I agree with Fran and you also are a terrible drummer. \u00a0We might get a group going yet. \u00a0Best of luck and all usual junk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not all my friends dumped on me at the end of the year. \u00a0Drummer buddy Jim\u2019s take consisted of, \u201cAll these years I\u2019ve wondered about you but <\/span>now<\/span>! \u00a0Boy have you got talent, I won\u2019t say for what, but take my word for it. \u00a0Goodbye, or hello??\u201d \u00a0Jim\u2019s girlfriend Debbie explained the whole year in a nutshell: \u00a0\u201cI even forgive you for the little lovely you wrote in my Tatler (ed note: \u00a0I haven\u2019t a clue what it was) and why don\u2019t you behave yourself, just for kicks? \u00a0But you are a really great kid (when you\u2019re not being nasty) and I really am sorry about some things which have happened (whose mentioning any names?) so just shape up and find somebody to go with and with my luck, I will see you a lot. \u00a0P.S. – You\u2019re a great kid, even for a sophomore, but heaven help the juniors!\u201d \u00a0I should add that Debbie took a lot of ribbing because she kept an extra pair of shoes and some books in our drum equipment cabinet. \u00a0It was there that I first laid eyes on <\/span>The Hobbit<\/span><\/i> which she loaned me to be followed by the entire <\/span>Lord of the Rings <\/span><\/i>trilogy. \u00a0We took to calling her \u2018The Hobbit\u2019 even though she wasn\u2019t that short (well, maybe), but that is how she signed things from that point on. \u00a0I don\u2019t think I ever thanked her for getting me interested in Tolkien, but I should have!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Two other little surprises awaited me in the pages of 1969: \u00a0A postcard and a letter that Jim had sent me when his family was on the road out west on vacation. \u00a0The letter was posted from Albert Lea, Minnesota on July 15, 1969. \u00a0It must have arrived on July 20 as I had written, \u201cMoon landing 4:17:40* Armstrong & Aldrin – LEM \/ Collins – CM\u201d. \u00a0It is no small wonder that I teach a hefty dose of Astronomy and Space Science in my classes. \u00a0That envelope was a pretty good exclamation point to wrap up the 1968-69 school campaign as we chilled and waited for summer band to mark the official beginning of our junior year. \u00a0(Science teacher note: *Officially, the landing time was 3:17:40 EST – the discrepancy here being the adjustment for DST which some areas did not observe at that time).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Rammstein helps us celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing (sort of):