Category: Uncategorized

  • Working at Dollar Bargain

    Working at Dollar Bargain. Last week I talked about working at the Gimbels in the now defunct Eastland Mall. Things hadn’t gone well. It was a year later and I was, once again, looking for summer work. I returned to the Eastland Mall and found work at the Dollar Bargain store. Dollar Bargain was another…

  • Summer at Gimbels

    Summer at Gimbels in the Eastland Mall. I’ve been talking about my college experience and the academic challenges that I faced. Today’s post will tackle one of my first summer jobs. I was a stock boy at Gimbels Department store in North Versailles, Pennsylvania. Make money I didn’t work a job during high school. Mom…

  • Out of my league

    When my college classes started I realized that I was out of my league. I had the desire to be a great band director and I knew how to play trumpet and euphonium, but I knew absolutely nothing about the theory or history of music. This was going to be a big problem. What’s a…

  • My college experience

    I began my college experience in the fall of 1983. I had made it into James Madison University (JMU) by the skin of my teeth and now I was going to pursue my dream of becoming a band director. Leaving home Many kids have parents who send them off to camp for a week in…

  • Bruce Weissert

    My memories of Bruce “Bud” Weissert. I introduced Bruce Weissert in last week’s post. Bruce passed away in 2019 at the age of 59. This week I’ll expand on my experience as Bruce’s student. Meeting Bud I had taken private lessons on trumpet since fifth grade. My parents saw the value in getting me extra…