Carlsbad High School Chamber Singers

Comments from Ann Patterson

"Wow! Whatta Weekend!" to reiterate what Mr Shepard said in his e-mail after the reunion. And yes, I think we all still call him "Mr Shepard." It's a hard habit to break!

Walking in to Bellefleur and seeing so many familiar faces was a surreal experience. Unlike the 'run of the mill" reunion, this one was indeed special since it wasn't centered on just one year at Carlsbad High. This was a combination of many years and many students who literally grew up together with Jim as our "mentor." I think most of us spent more time with him and our Chamber Singer classmates than we did with our own families! The music department was our family during our time at Carlsbad High, at least that's how I felt.

I don't think there was one person I didn't recognize immediately. It was as if 27 years just didn't happen! Time, disappointments, celebrations, kids, husbands, wives and life--in general--has happened to us, but ultimately, we are all very much kids at heart who still look up to Jim and everything he meant to us growing up. He set a strong example of how we should behave as representatives of CHS and I believe most of us desired to live up to his expectations. I couldn't be more proud to have been a member of the CHS music department. Regardless of what everyone has or hasn't accomplished, I don't believe I have ever been in the company of so many talented-not to mention driven-people as I was in the four years I spent at CHS.

It was such a treat to hear Randy Johnson's hilarious satire about his years as a Chamber Singer (Randy, if you have a copy of that, I think it would be great to post it on the CS webpage!) It was equally entertaining to see Ron Bolton, Dave Reidmuller and Dean Ganz invite Jim to sing a quartet from 'The Music Man." Although they made Jim sight-read his part, they sounded fantastic! Vicki Packard did a wonderful job with the Carpenter's tune "Sometimes," even though she had to run to her table and retrieve her reading glasses first!! Boy, do I know how she feels! I got my first set of reading glasses just this year!! I loved playing my flute again with Mike Levy at the piano for "Rise Up My Love." Mike's rendition of "Fa Una Canzona" kept Jim in stitches. Thanks, Mike, for putting that together!

Kudos to Gary for orchestrating everything superbly. His slide-show presentation was very well done and even brought a tear to my eye. Credit should also be given to his wife, Linda, for the wonderful scrap book she compiled from the slide show photos and letters we were requested to write for Jim.

Toward the end of the evening, Gary asked Jim and Marilyn to dance and a few of us joined them. Jim said a few words of thanks and appreciation for the wonderful evening, although I believe he was very surprised by all the accolades! He was prepared to sit in the back of the room and enjoy the evening as a spectator, although we would have none of that!

The picnic the following day was just as fun. It also gave us more time to get re-acquainted and to visit with folks who weren't at the dinner. We had the opportunity to meet everyone's children, although some of us have 'adult" children and even grandchildren! Jim warned us not to wait another thirty years to get together as he'll probably be in a wheel chair and won't know anyone anyway! I second that by suggesting we get together again in a couple of years whether we need to or not!

For those of you who don't know, I will be moving to the Oceanside/Carlsbad area by Spring, 2007, so do keep in touch as I'd like to spend some more time with those of you who are still in the area!

Once again, thanks to Gary, Amy and Linda for a wonderful event; one that we will all remember for a long time!

Ann Patterson