Near the end of the previous post I mentioned the photos that people sent to me that were posted on the blog. This is the proper time to mention our own Jay D. Mills, who is a professional photographer who has documented what CV looks like today. You can see his photos and his other blogs listed at the bottom of the page. Go there, if you haven’t already, to learn about a very interesting ex-CV guy.
Jay, who has many technical skills, has become my assistant administrator of the CV Memories blog. Jay is the one who keeps watch among the comments that come in to the blog and eliminates the spam from the serious comments. This became necessary sometime in 2009 when the spammers found CV Memories and began to sprinkle their junk over our blog. Every comment that is posted to the blog has been scanned and approved by Jay. (Thanks again, Jay.)
A major high point for me in 2008 was the trip back to CV and our forming a “Band” to serenade George Beggs, our school band director when we were in CV. George was designated as the parade grand marshall for the Fredonia Fall Festival/Parade on Saturday, October 4. George had retired as band director in Fredonia and the whole town was honoring him. Don Shaffer had alerted us on the blog about this event and I put a plan in motion that ended with a group of us on a flat-bed trailer on October 4, playing (or trying our best to play) “When the Saints Go Marching In”. How this all came about is due to the efforts of many people, primarily Don Shaffer, who served as our leader and furnished musical instruments and music for those of us who could still read music. I drove back to CV and stayed with Don Cox (thanks again, Don) and a group of us arrived in advance of the parade to find 84-year-old G. A. Beggs with his cornet jamming with us before the festivities began. We made a “joyful noise” in the parade and gathered in the basement of a local church for a dinner in Beggs’ honor. This was a memorable day for many of us, and we shared stories and got to know each other face to face after over fifty years. George had stories he remembered for each of us from our high school days. His favorite story for me was of my skipping the entire middle section of a Herbert L. Clark trumpet solo and not knowing that it had happened until I was off stage. Luckily, my accompanist was fast on her feet and covered for me completely. G. A. Beggs is a major hero of mine, and if I can be anything like as alert and active in ten years it will be a miracle.
A major change of location for me came at the end of 2008 when Elyn and I moved to Spain. Luckily, I had already enlisted the support of Jay to cover the blog for me, since I would be out of contact several times in the move and afterward. Jay has pretty much taken care of the CV Memories blog since that time. I have checked in from time to time to see what was going on, and Don Shaffer has become a regular blogger. He has kept the blog from dying entirely this past year and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Elyn and I have traveled over much of Europe in the past two years, published four books about our travels and have two more in planning stages.
Well, that pretty much brings you up to date on the CV Memories blog, at least as I have seen it grow and develop for two-plus years and begin to slide into obscurity more recently. I have a question for you all—what do you want to do about this blog? I can just leave it up even though no one is posting to it, or I can take it down. Jay has said give it at least six months to see what happens and I’m OK with that. Lets see what the next six months brings. Best wishes to you all for a happy and peaceful 2011.
1 comment:
You, our dear friend, Gary, was the straw that stirred the drink!
We would not have tasted the fine wine of Cedar Vale, nor basked in its valleys and its mountains (Lookout!). Let's give this blogging main street another travel. It was fun to start at the top and work our way down. Yet, the magic of it all, is working your way back up, to begin the "slide" of your life! Surely, there are stories, of those young and old, that we, who are young and old,..NEED TO BE TOLD! So, to you my dear friends, tilt your hat a little to the right...or left, and leave us with a memory that will leave us in the middle of JOY!
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