While I did not have the honor or privilege to be in either the choir or girls glee club while in high school I did have many friends and family who were part of the music programs at THS. I can honestly say that while I was never a performer, my love and “back stage” associations from high school, college and in Community Theater can be traced back directly to John Sipe and the THS choir musicals. I was luck enough to be in good with David Railsback the speech and dram teacher at THS during the mid 70’s to be able to be one of the few non choir members to help with the musicals. I was able to be on the stage crew for The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof. These are memories I cherish dearly. But my connection to Mr. Sipe goes back farther then that and I wanted to share my story with you. Growing up in New Carlisle I was lucky enough to be friends the daughter of the FFA teacher at THS, Dave Abbott and because of this connection I saw my first live musical at THS. Debbie Driscoll Flook and Jim Leathley were the leads and I fell in love with musical theater. I saw Oklahoma, Oliver, My Fair Lady and many other musicals the choir put on over the years. This love affair with musical theater has continued and I can say proudly of course, that I have been able to share this love with my children. In fact my daughter was a musical theater major at Wright State and is a working actress in the Dayton area. Music Education is more then a direct contact with the class room or opportunities to perform. The influence of men and women like John Sipe, Debbie Driscoll Flook, Beth Holloway Oer, and so many other choir members has touched the lives of those of us who sat on the sidelines and listened and dreamed and fell in love. Even though I did not study music or go into it as a profession, I have always had a great love of music of all kinds. I was a band geek and was in Marching band as well as the Pep band. I know I owe huge debt Mr. Sipe and all of the people of the Tecumseh High School Choirs. I know that my life is indeed richer, deeper and more textured because of the musical education I received from these wonderful, talented exceptional people. Thank you Mr. Sipe and all of the choir members for reminding us all how important music education is to all of us.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 13:51:37 +0000
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