I think I have mentioned that I grew up in a very musical family. I started piano lessons at age 7 and even got a high school diploma in Piano at a competition my Senior Year. I had all intentions of majoring in Piano in college --but when I got to college, I didn't care for my piano teacher there, but loved the voice teacher. SO--I changed majors immediately and majored in Voice and Education with a minor in Math.
BUT--I also joined the band in the 8th grade and started playing the Clarinet. I became good enough to make All-State Band a couple of years and was First Chair Clarinet for two years. Some of my happiest memories growing up were those in our award-winning band. We had a FABULOUS band director (Mrs. MacChesney)--and for a small school, we won many, many awards and trophies in both marching and concert band.
SO--as you can imagine, I was totally excited to go to Knoxville this past Thursday night to see my oldest grandson playing in their high school band. Landon is in the 9th grade--but has already had about 2-3 yrs. of drum instruction. He is a musician through-and-through ---and hopes to get a music scholarship to college. I was so happy to see him on that field --and to see that great high school band.
I have two sets of pictures to share, today and tomorrow. The picture above is of my band ---in 1959, at one of our concerts at the old Big Stone Gap High School auditorium. You will need to enlarge the old photo --but I am on the left outside end, third row from the back. Below are more pictures.
That is my Cutie Pie Drummer Grandson--in the middle... They are marching onto the field.
Now you can see a better picture of the best-looking young man in the world. (Grammy's can say that!!!! ha) He's the only one carrying his drumsticks.
This is the band's halftime show... You can see all of the percussion along the front... They have everything from timpani to xylophones to cymbols and drums. That's quite different from the marching bands of 'my' time!!!! ha
Isn't Landon just adorable playing with fire???????? Silly Me.... that's NOT Landon!!!!! ha ha ... (This little gal was good though!!!)
Here's another picture of the band doing their routine during halftime.... This is a very good band. They play alot of JAZZ --which is different from bands of my era.... Of course, my era was many moons ago!!! ha
Here's another picture of my grandson doing his 'thing' during the halftime show.
That band definitely showed the LOVE during their halftime show. We enjoyed seeing this band so much---and we'll hopefully get to see them many more times over the next few years!!!!!! I will share more pictures tomorrow!!!!
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Hope you had a great weekend... I am really struggling with Blogger --getting "Service Unavailable" most of the weekend --off and on. Any thoughts or ideas as to what is going on?????? Wonder why Blogger can't fix this????
Hugs,
56 comments:
Good Morning Betsy, I love the pictures you have shared today. It's wonderful that you were able to watch your grandson perform. I enjoyed seeing your photo too. Have a great day.
Hello Betsy! Thanks for your visit! I enjoyed seeing your "musical" photos. I love music too and listen to my radio all day.Your grandson looks great and very professional. I can understand that you are proud of him: that's what we grandmothers are, when grandchildren are concerned. Hugs, Wil
What a handsome young man! You have every right to be proud of him.
Blessings,Ruth
LOVE, love, love High School bands!
Good morning Betsy,
Your grandson certainly is handsome! Glad that you guys had a great time. The pics are wonderful as always! Gee, is it time for Monday again????
Jane
I love the band photos Betsy...unless you are a part of a high school band you never know how much work goes on to put on these shows. My daughter was in HS band and it was a full time job for me.
Love the band uniforms your Grandson's band is wearing...
Nice pictures. I'll bet you've been "exercising" your voice ever since you majored in it. :) I'll have to ask George to see if he's losing his hearing in the right ear (assuming he drives most of the time) :)
very handsome grandson! I know you are very proud and I bet he got some of his talent from grandma. Enjoy your fires. We are having our first one tonight. Was so busy in the kitchen all weekend didn't have time to enjoy one. Loving this weather and so are the animals.
Awesome pics! Band is like a whole entity unto itself in a lot of schools, and it's great to see parents come together to support their kids. Band boosters are just as big or bigger than the athletic boosters sometimes. Love to hear the band play at halftime!
What wonderful memories! It's great to see a good band executing their moves with precision - and playing their different musical instruments together! From these pictures it certainly looks like this band knew their stuff.
It's so very nice that he has this to keep him busy!! So many young people don't do enough then they get into trouble!! Good for Landon and I love his hair!!
Our bird baths are frozen this morning. Time to get the heated birdbath out!
Great post! It conjures up some good memories for me too ~ being in the band and in the drum and bugle corp while in high school. I also played the clarinet, and the alto clarinet, did some flag carrying and gun twirling too. Now, I don't have enough wind in me to play the clarinet yet alone march across a football field while blowing on it. Cute grandlove you have there!
I can see the love and pride you have for your grandson in this post Betsy, he is also a handsome young man. Great picture of you in the top photo, and I enjoyed all the others as always. That header photo is breathtaking.
I have been getting a lot of 'service unavailable' over the last few days, one this morning. Hopefully it will be resolved by the powers-that-be before too long. Have a great week!
I know you are about to burst with pride. your photos came out great and i know that was not easy from so far away. I wanted to play drums in jr higha nd high school, we could not afford a drum. out of all the instruments I love drums the most and bestest. wich i could have heard him play.
blogger is drving me up the wall with the service thing
Glad you got to see your grandson play. I bet it was a good night for football too.
I'm having the same irritating problem with blogger too.
Luckily haven't had blogger probs on the weekend but did during the week. Pictures wouldn't load, You are a talented girl. Everyone except me plays an instrument in my family. I was always on the sports field when I was at school. However my girls were in school bands.
Love your handsome grandson, I can see why you are so proud.
Such a good looking young fellow but think it is great for you that the drummer boy lives in another house. At least he is way past the learning curve stage.
Hope he can find a way to make music a part of his life always.
I am so envious of those who do.
How grand to see your grandson's accomplishments. We get excited because Noah puts two blocks together.
Yes blogger troubles!!! Error 503 grrrrr.
Tell Landon that I grew up with Steve Gorman, drummer for the Black Crowes.
I'm sure he knows of him :) He will think you are cool (if he doesn't already LOL :)
What nice memories you have and are making! Landon is a very good looking young man, looks sharp in his uniform. I know how proud you must be.
I so enjoyed this post Betsy. I love the photo of you all in the band. Everyone is dressed so beautifully. As for your handsome grandson, what fun it must be to see him playing in the band! I think its wonderful that music is alive and well in the schools. What a delight to see that your grandson is carrying on the family tradition!
How wonderful to have a grandson who shares your love of music!
It's great that you grew up in a musical family. Music can provide a lifetime of entertainment. Your grandson is handsome and I think it's great that he likes music and the band. I have a grandson who was also in the band in High School
and was lucky enough to get a spot in the Mississippi State University band this fall. He's lovin it!
What fun to watch your grandson *do his thing*!!! I love marching bands ... gets my toe a tapping!
I went to all my junior and high school music performances--as a viewer rather than a "doer"! I'm sure you were filled with pride seeing (and hearing) that cute grandson follow in your footsteps!!
I'm knocking on wood because I haven't had a recent problem with "blogger". The one time I did, I realized I just had to sit back and let them do whatever they do to fix problems. That's hard for me because I am NOT a patient person.
Best,
Bonnie
What a great post about the musical talents of your family. I didn't know you played piano and clarinet. And I can't remember if I saw a piano in pictures of your house, I don't remember one. Rats, you and Phil could have played together, we have a piano!!!! You do, indeed have a handsome grandson. What fun that must have been, Betsy, and very good pictures!! Was this an actual football game that they played the halftime show, or was it a whole show on the field?
What a great post about the musical talents of your family. I didn't know you played piano and clarinet. And I can't remember if I saw a piano in pictures of your house, I don't remember one. Rats, you and Phil could have played together, we have a piano!!!! You do, indeed have a handsome grandson. What fun that must have been, Betsy, and very good pictures!! Was this an actual football game that they played the halftime show, or was it a whole show on the field?
It is so wonderful to be able to share in our children's and grandchildren's accomplishments! We're allowed to swell with pride and joy! Great photos Betsy and you've got a handsome grand there! Love that old photo of your band too! Wonderful memories aren't they! God bless and have a great week!
It's raining here today - after a week of fantastic weather. Busy week ahead!
I bet this was so much fun for you and George to see in person.
A drummer???? that is the coolest instrument to play...right??
I love our high school band...they play so much great music. (different from my HS days too!)
I really enjoyed your blog.
Music really is wonderful for the soul.
As for the girl with the batton. I spent many years doing that and can still twrill. I loved it.
Never did get to the fire.
Have a wonderful day
Nothing but joy in this post and I can see by the 30 (31) comments thus far!
I have been trying to convince Vol Fan that I can play a mean maraca. He is not impressed:)
I never knew you were so musically talented, Betsy! This was a wonderful photo of you to see!
It is so nice that you were able to make the trip to see your handsome grandson perform on this occasion! He looks very happy and serious about doing a good job.
I have not had Blogger service issues, but I am not thrilled with the new photo editor they have made me use. It seems to take longer to place photos in my post.
Hope all problems get resolved for you soon!
Are you proud of that boy or what? Fine looking young man too. Isn't it great he is following in your footsteps. Good luck to him.
Good looks must run in the family. I have a few talents but music isn't one of them. Linda and I are going to have to go back to Charlottesville. We just ran out of time.
Our high school was too small to have anything more than a choir for its music department, but I did enjoy singing.
You have a handsome grandson.
I know you are extremely proud of your handsome grandson. My nephew is a music major at one of our state universities, and their band does some outstanding performances.
Great photo of your '59 band. I don't think high school band kids dress that formally now, do they? Love those dresses from back then!
Oh Betsy, you have every right to be proud of your grandson. He is very handsome and talented to boot. I grew up in a very small town and our high school did not have a band. I still love music but I have no skills in that area.
I am having problems with comments being very slow to post. I have also heard from several other bloggers who are having assorted problems.
You bring back memories for me too.....Ah but the good old days. I just hope the younger generation gets as much out of it as I did.
He is a handsome young man, Betsy. School band are wonderful for the students to explore their talents.
My granddaughter plays flute and drums at her high school.
Thank for some great memories today. There are three girls in my family, and we each played in the high school band. I played the snare drums, one flute and other was a majorette. Those were the days.
Betsy- I can totally picture you in band back in the day! How wonderful to have musical talent and then to see it in your grandson! And yes - he is handsome! Say it loud, say it proud!! :-)
Hugs,
Shelley
I love highschool bands. They are so entertaining and just to see those kids put their best into it. I love your picture. Glad it was such a good experience for you and great memories.
Thanks for sharing your handsome grandson. I wish him all the best in his muscial endeavors.
♥ Joy
Ddon't you wish there was such a thing as tech support for blogger or some of these sites!
Nice to see your grandson and his band. Bet they sounded great. Diane
Here's wishing your young man all the success in the world. You better get his autograph now,haha !!
Have a blessed tomorrow
Marilyn
Betsy, what fun this must have been for you to see your grandson in the band. Nice that he's following in your footsteps with his love of music. Great pictures! :)
I bet you did have a great time...I would be bursting with pride.
I was not on blogger any to speak of till last night and I didn't have any problems...sure is frustrating though when it happens.
The band looks awesome - - - guess they played as great as they look! You do have a good-looking grandson. I am so glad you could share in his performance.
I played clarinet, too! Made it from third clarinet up to first by the end of high school but could never get the first chair because we had a kid in our class that was phenomenal. I remember challenging for chairs so I could keep moving up the line! That was LONG ago. I graduated High School in '69.
Hi Betsy, So glad you had a great event with your grandson's band performance! You and I have another thing in common - I played B-flat Clarinet, E-Flat Alto Clarinet and the Alto Sax in my high school marching and symphonic bands. Very small but good bands. I was no where near as accomplished as you but none the less, had a fun 6 years at it!
Have a wonderful evening tonight and great day tomorrow!
Thanks for the lovely post, Betsy. It's amazing how well we remember those teachers that touched our lives so many years ago. And you have an amazing grandson to be proud of today.
Hi Betsy,
That's what the name of talent descent...!!
Your grandson was so handsome. I love his hair style!!
I'm sure his musical talent was coming from your blood..
You must be proud of him.
Thanks for sharing those cool pics!
Wishing you the best,
nensa
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And yet another connection!! I started out as a voice major! Didn't like the college and switched to one w/o a music major -- so I am degreed in secondary English.
Loved our band years too!! Two of our kids played in marching band: percussion, both!!
great colorful photos. i wonder who was your grandson? just kiding. i think that band gives a person how to work together as a group. rose
Fun to see your old band photo. You have obviously passed on your musical talents to your grandson. He's a handsome boy!
I like bands that play jazz on the field to liven things up.
I haven't gotten the "service unavailable" notice much, but I have had more trouble posting photos lately.
Oh I love watching those kinds of presentations especially the parade... and the music.
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