OWAV:...05/22/11...11am...52°...Cloudy

Not moving very fast this morning...Was so totally exhausted last night, I went to bed at 8pm and slept straight through until 6am...I have put things away this morning, have Brots and Sauerkraut in a 200° oven and will make mashed potatoes to go with that for dinner today...Very Easy.

One of the rejects

I was up at 5am yesterday, started making pies shortly thereafter...Ended up making three pies...I burned the top crust on one, one didn't set and the other one I took to the sale...we took the "rejects" to Becky's birthday party later in the day...Pie sale went okay...We had way more pies than needed, for the crowd...I think next year I'm going to donate twenty dollars and leave town...Of course I said that this year, but it didn't happen...Herb set up the canopy for us...I stayed at the "Dandelion Festival" helping set up and get it going and went back down at 4pm to take it all down...In the meantime I mixed and baked dinner rolls for Becky's party... Enjoyed visiting around the backyard campfire, at John and Becky's, eating potluck and Johns BBQ...he bought himself and Becky a joint present for her birthday...A Traeger Grill, so we can look forward to many more BBQ'S at their house...We left early and home to bed!

❝Band Trips❞ I was a member of the Donnelly-McCall band for five years, 1955-60... Playing the tenor saxophone...On our trips to Lewiston, we either rode the bus, or rode with parents (my mom took us one year) who volunteered to take cars loaded with kids...Cars did not come equip with seat belts in those days so you took as many kids as the car would hold...In the 57 Chevy we put four in the back seat and three in front, no problem...After the first year almost everyone stayed at the "Lewis and Clark Hotel" a Lewiston landmark, now used for office spaces... At that time it was the only hotel in Lewiston and by sharing rooms we could afford to stay there...It had an elevator, which because it was such a novelty, we rode for entertainment...from the first flour to the fifth floor and back again...stopping in between, checking out the other floors...What a bunch of hayseeds we were...In addition to music competitions, on Saturday a parade was held along Lewiston's Main Street and ended up in a park at the other end of town...The second year we went to Lewiston, Mr. Boyd had bought used band uniforms from "somewhere", which were altered to fit (sort of) and we were so proud of our matching uniforms and hats...now we were dressed like the other bands...He also had to teach us how to march and do a routine while playing a march, on our musical instruments...I think I was his biggest challenge, as he tried to teach me to march... repeating "left, right, left right, left right left" I was always out of step...As he singled me out and watched me, I was starting out with my right foot... After many tries and saying "Now Idella, which is your left foot?"...He finally got me to start with the left foot...Fifty years later I'm still "directionally challenged."  Just ask Herb and both kids!!

Band opened a whole new world for me in school, it was a place where I could belong and have the experience of traveling to other places...in addition to the band and marching band, we also had a pep band and about five of us made up an ensemble...The pep band played at all pep rallies and football games...went anywhere that the basketball team was playing, usually on the same bus...Many times we stayed overnight because we were traveling over 100 miles to towns in Idaho...We stayed in private homes on these trips... The ensemble played at home (McCall) for entertainment for meetings, such as rotary and women's organizations... Each year in November, the weekend after Thanksgiving, we made the trip to Boise for the Santa Claus Parade, the official start of the Christmas Season...I also remember marching at halftime of a college football game in Boise, and the pep band playing during a college basketball game at the University of Idaho...It didn't take Mr. Boyd long to increase participation in both band and chorus, making it an important part of the school curriculum...He was definitely one of those special teachers.