For the three years of Junior High School at Bowie, our dire

For the three years of Junior High School at Bowie, our director was Phil Schwartz. He played cello in the Beaumont Symphony. He was a hard worker and made band fun.

Because we marched, I was exempt from PE and that delighted me.

Mr Schwartz told me that I would be a good Methodist as he worked with me on a solo piece. He said that I was very methodical in eliminating one error at a time as I worked through the piece.

All in all, I was a mediocre player.