Mr. Ramsey.....A man who changed the life of many

I’m a band nerd…yep, that’s me!  I walked into 6^th grade wanting to do something “extra”.  I went to the band room to see what it was all about.  Now, I just knew that I would be a flute player. That’s what all girls play…right??  Well, Mr. Ramsey had something different in mind for me.  He told me he wanted me to try clarinet.  I was not excited, but I thought I would give it a shot.  Turns out he was right!  I loved playing clarinet & got pretty good at it. Actually I played from 6^th grade through college.  During that time I was blessed to have one man instruct me not only with music but in life lessons.  Mr. Ramsey taught me from 6^th – 11^th grade.  When he left our school the summer before my senior year to say I was sad is an understatement.  More like devastated.  I felt like he was a second dad to me. I didn’t really have a chance to tell him how special he was to me before he moved.  That left a void.  Fast-forward 14 years:  thank goodness for Facebook!  I found him on Facebook and realized there were a lot of other band members that felt the same about him.  A former band member posted a fun pic from our time with Mr. Ramsey in high school.  That’s when discussion began about doing a reunion.   I felt like it was a must for me!  I needed to make sure that Mr. Ramsey knew how much he meant to me.  I volunteered to head up the reunion even thought I was over 1000 miles away.  Luckily Carey Norwood volunteered to help and she still lives in our hometown so we started the planning together.  We contacted Mr. Ramsey to see when/if he would be willing to attend a reunion and he was excited as we were!! He said he would be there whenever it happened! WAHOO! 

The picture that started it all!

All of planning started in January 2011.  After a lot of research and trying to track down people I found as many old band members as possible.  We then contacted everyone to see if it would be an event more than 2 people would be interested in.  It turned out there were several people that wanted to attend a reunion so then we set a date.  The date was set to June 11, 2011.  If you have been reading any of my blogs you know that I got back to Colorado Springs on June 7^th from a 10 day family vacation.  June 11^th was cutting it close for me, but that seemed to be what would work for others so I would make it work.  We decided we would do 2 events:  A picnic in a park with spouses and kids then a second event with a catered dinner for adults-only. 

June 7^th 10:30 pm we get home from our vacation to Alaska, time to un-pack & re-pack!  That’s right, the boys & I would be leaving on the morning of June 8^th to drive to Louisiana.  What a whirlwind!  We went from the cold/rainy weather of Alaska to the hot/humid summer of Louisiana.  My sister lives in Dallas, so the boys & I made it to Dallas on the 8^th and then finished our drive to Ruston on the morning of the 9^th.  Carey & I worked together over the next 2 days to get everything ready.  David flew to Dallas on the night of the 10^th.  Erin & Adolfo picked him up at the airport and then made the drive to Ruston. 

June 11^th was finally here!!!!  Carey, Erin & I made all the final preparations to make everything perfect.  The picnic started at 11 am at Cook Park.  Everyone was to bring their own lunch for their family and drinks and cake would be provided.  We got an amazing cake from KaCee’s Sugar & Spice.  We got to see everyone with their spouses and children and visit with Mr. Ramsey.  Lots of talking was going on!  It was great! Around 1pm the picnic was winding up.  I had talked to the current high school band director and he had agreed to give everyone a tour of the band room to see how it had been updated.  It was fun to see the place that we spent so much time in.  We finished looking around and then everyone left to get ready for the evening event. 

Jon Karnes, Pete (Daniel) Hancock, Jason Blondin

Jason Blondin, Carey Norwood, me

Mr. & Mrs. Ramsey

The gang that attended

Mr. Ramsey & Jonathan Ayres

Ricky & Diana Sanders, David & Joanthan

Pete (Daniel) Hancock & Steven Daulton

Scott David & Mrs. Susan Ramsey

Current band room

new music library

new percussion storage room

Steven Daulton, Jason Blondin, Carey Norwood, Pete (Daniel) Hancock, Michael Bearden

Award under Mr. Ramsey

Finally the evening had arrived.  We rented the Historic Fire station in downtown Ruston for the dinner and Dowling’s Smokehouse catered the dinner.  Everyone started arriving around 6pm where we mingled and then started eating.  Jeff Fink made an amazing video of old photos and videos.  After a little technical difficulty we watched the video!  Jeff used recordings of us playing with videos of us marching.  He did such a great job & I know it took a lot of hours to put it together.  Thanks again Jeff—you ROCK!  After we were done with the video we had a give-away for our old uniform we had. Carey had gone to great lengths to find & get an ol uniform.  We did a raffle for the give-away and Michael Bearden won! Next, I made the presentation of gifts. I had collected personal notes to Mr. Ramsey from former students and had compiled them in a memory book.  People wrote some amazing things.  He truly changed all of our lives for the better!  We also gave him a baton that was framed in a handmade memory box (courtesy of my dad!).  I knew Mr. Ramsey would appreciate the handmade box since he is now a woodworker himself.  It was a great special touch.  Next came the highlight of the night:  Mr. Ramsey started talking.  He talked to us, laughed with us and made some of us cry.   He just told us story after story of his remembrances for us.  What touched me the most was he had special memories of us?!  I mean, I knew that he remembered us but didn’t know that we held a special place in his heart like he did for us.  That was amazing to hear! We wrapped everything up around 11:30pm. 





Our old uniform!

Decorations included our old hats with plumes & music

Carey & Ashley

Watching the video

Jeff & Gerri Fink

Mr. Ramsey drawing for the uniform winner

Memory book

Baton in memory box

Michael with his uniform

Mr. Ramsey with Ashley & Carey

For me, the event was a huge success!  Not only did we pull off all the details of having an event, but most importantly I was able to tell Mr. Ramsey ‘Thanks’ for making a difference in my life.  Success!