Lehi Cattle Drive

It hasn't happened for 75 years, but it happened this week.  A cattle drive.  Down Lehi's Main Street.

There was quite a bit of concern about safety.  I mean, we have all seen the videos of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, but in the end no one was gored or trampled.  Phew.  I hear that there were some issues. . . some of the longhorns were not interested in the whole idea of a parade and they ended up staying at the rodeo grounds.  Others wanted nothing to do with the railroad tracks and tried to turn back.  And rumor has it that someone let some of the bulls out overnight which made for an interesting morning.


Now you can't celebrate a cattle drive without parade, so we had the Lehi High School Band and the Lehi Silver Band, the City Council, a County Commissioner, and various rodeo queens. It was short, but it was appreciated by the surprisingly ample crowd. A pretty cool event for our fair city.

 Council Member Kaye in her fringed shirt

Cattle turning off Main Street

 A rare sight

Lehi Silver Band

Band On The Run

As part of the massive fundraising effort that has been kicked off at Lehi High School to allow the band to get to Washington, DC for the 2012 National Independence Day Parade, today we had a race.  I have been imagining this event in my free time (from approximately 2:17am-2:54am) for almost three months.  I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to stage the event and how it would all flow.  But reality hit this week. 

Reality in event planning is when when you have to try to get people to do a specific job in a specific way so that the outcome looks like what is your head- only no one else has the whole picture, so it may or may not come together.  Reality is understanding that you cannot do it all. . . you must have help.  And reality is also standing back and letting it happen.

I am happy to say that reality was wonderful today.  Not exactly what I had in mind, but great in its own way. There were so many happy moments: like Home Depot actually being open at 6am, my first helper arriving at 7am, chairs on rolling carts so that I could put them where I wanted before I had to explain anything, a warm creamcheese and strawberry donut, more helpers than I had jobs, more runners than I was expecting, students who were on time, perfect weather, and parents who truly are willing to do anything I ask them to do.  I am actually feeling overwhelmed by how so many puzzle pieces where on the right place on the table today.

The most exciting moment for me was seeing a huge crowd of people leave the starting line and head down 1st North in the 5K.  It was one of those moments when you realize that all your thoughts actually came to life!  Not only had I never planned a race before, I have never BEEN to a race before, so I wasn't ready for the excitement of the starting line!  I am not sure how many people raced or how much money we actually cleared, but I know that everyone had fun (with the exception of the gentleman who got talked into walking the 10K. . .not happy), and that was half the battle.  

Next week we will get back to the administrative tasks, but for today, it was fun to be a party planner.

Deja Vu. . . All over again. . .

In the summer of 1997 I was hired to be the Band Director at Lehi High School.  It wasn't much of a job- since there were only 15 students on the first day of class.  Eight of those students were horrified to find out that they actually had to bring (and play) their instruments, so I sent them to drop the class.  One moved away in November, so for most of the year the band consisted of 6 students.  I had no real idea how to be successful
with that group, so I decided to make them successful as individuals.  Three of the six made All State that year. 

Since the JH was in much the same condition it took a while to grow. Pete Swiderski was a brand new teacher that year and as his program grew, we added students at the high school. I was a half time teacher and the seams were starting to stretch by 2003.  We added some classes, did some additional recruiting, and made the position full time beginning in the 2004 school year.  I was excited for the new challenge. . . until my mom broke both hips.  The stress level in my life had exceeded my ability to handle it, and I ended up quitting my job.

During the last six years, I have had very little to do with music.  The stress of dealing with my mom clouded my memory and made me think that I was done teaching forever.  I watched what was happening at the high school, but stayed away through three teachers in 5 years.  This became increasingly more difficult as Colby became more and more of a band geek!

Everything changed in December.  Our band director, who is also a member of the Army National Guard, was activated.  He announced the news to the students and sent out an e-mail to the parents.  I was blissfully shopping and ignoring my Blackberry's message features when I got a call from Ed asking if I was ready to teach.  After he read me the e-mail, I called Mr. Seamons and offered to substitute whenever he needed me.  Little did I know what that would mean!  I taught most of January, most of March and I will be back at the school on May 6 until the end of the year.

I was pretty nervous about subbing so much, but it has been a joy.  I re-discovered the love of music and I remembered why I became a teacher in the first place.  What a great group of teenagers!  After much talk and discussion, I decided to apply for the one year position to cover for Nate while he is in the Middle East.  There were 14 applicants for the one-year position! I got the news this afternoon that I was chosen to get the job.

So, deja vu.  Same classroom, same office, new students, more classes.  A little like 1997, but it's going to be a whole lot more work!  Watch out Lehi High- I'm coming back!

March On, Lehi!

Yesterday, Reed, Parker, and I drove to Logan to watch Colby and the Lehi High School Band compete at the Bridgerland Marching Band Competition. For those of you not familiar with Utah, it's almost a two-and-a-half hour drive. Although Colby said that he didn't mind if we didn't come, I remember how many concerts my parents drove to for me, and we loaded into the Suburban! (Ed was stuck at a Stockholder's Meeting at work. Boo hiss!)

We enjoyed the competition and cooling off with shaved ice. We watched about nine bands and we cheered for everyone, but we went crazy for the Lehi High School Band! Last year there were only 17 students in the marching band, and this year they are up to 101! When they announced that information the whole crowd gasped and then cheered even louder! It was SO exciting to see how far these band students have come since the first day they learned to march! There were a couple of bands in our division who were clearly better, but I was hoping that the kids would at least get third place. . .

We left early because Parker wasn't feeling well, but Colby sent me a text to let me know that they had won 3rd place! What an accomplishment for this band of newbies! Congratulations to Brek Mangelson and all his support staff! Thank you to all the band parents who donate their time to help! What a wonderful Saturday.