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The experince I had in my short time there, gave the strenght to take on the world. I was a lost soul when interduced to the family. But I was taken in and accepted. I just remember the dedication and the hard work. All of the wins during the summer tour and the "bus rides"!!!
- Dawn Renee (Rabish) Spear |
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Hanging and playing music with buds Teddy Chagoya, Mike Isaman, Gerardo Flores, and all the color guard girls!
- Rollie Arbolante |
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Loved the weekend camps!
- Annelise McCreery Martinez |
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Let's see, going swimming with "the staff" while the band slept. A bus break down at 12am, switching busses, getting in at 3am, waking up at 6am to paint the field with swarms of knee-high bugs, that was pretty intense. ('94)
Every band winning at their homeshow in 94 I believe. That was some good judging, hehe.
Watching Dave Watrous vault over a log in hand-made leather mokasins, jeans and a tie-dye T-shirt as he approached the other DMs to receive awards (91).
I think 1990 was the most amazing year for me (my rookie year). Mr. Hawkins (sorry old habits die hard) had come back, there was a wide range of diversity in every sense, and the sax line had that amazing riff in Frankenstein. I remember coming late to my the first band camp with a Taco-Bell cup. I remember our homeshow, which we won! I remember the phone call a month or so after finals when Brad asked me to try out for assistant DM. Changed my life.
- Tue Rust |
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Gummy bears on the windows of the bus! West Edmonton Mall....Tigers and sharks and rides Oh MY! "96!" oops that's right they gave us over 100...!!?
Good people, good friends, teamwork and hard work!
- "KC" Kathy Crawford a.k.a. Casey Crawford |
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Fun trip to Canada. Playing at the King Dome was great, unfortunately, the King Dome is now gone..
- Melinda (Reschke) Davis |
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I loved the 40s show and dancing with my favorite horn player, Jason. Every time I hear 20th Century Fox's opening music I think of band days. What fun. Tracy Tree Branch where are you? What are you doing? Jolly Ched.
- Joelle (Phillips) Baranowski |
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Such great music, such great friends, such great FUN!!
- Kathy (Jost) Benson |
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On a trip to Disneyland with Spirit, I became quite ill. I thought I had the flu, but Mr. Hawkins took me to the hospital as a precautionary measure. It turned out that I had appendicitis! I had surgery in the middle of the night in Fontana, CA, and missed YBI! The fondest memory of this whole ordeal was that many of the band members and staff made a tape recording with special messages and well wishes for me. Their thoughtfulness turned a pretty horrific experience into one of the nicest memories I have of Spirit.
- Kelly (Fueger) McAlister |
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Band camps at Peterson; being reprimanded for "fooling around"; the amazing trip to Seattle & Vancouver; Mr. Hawkins; being in the low brass--what a great group of guys!
- Susanna (Susy Wallace) Porter |
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Who could forget Animal? Who could forget switching out those ugly red and white uniforms?Who could ever forget the first ever Portland trip? Who invented liquid soap and why? Wheres that pizza that I ordered?
- Kevin HIll |
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I had fun and learned alot from the whole experience
- Ashley Donaldson |
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I will never forget the first practice that judy and shannon took me to... South Pacific. i knew the musical already and was amazed at how friendly everyone was; this was the beginning of my social life!! i marched two memorable seasons, and this was the basis for some of my deepest and most cherished friendships. not only that, spirit introduced me to drum corps and prepared me to march with santa clara vanguard (89-91). so many of you i have fallen out of touch with... i would love to hear from you again :) HAPPY CLUB!!
- Maria Romera |
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The Morselettes!
Anyone remember? = )
- Michelle Beyda-Scott |
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Just that
it started in spirit where I did not even know what a drum was
which led me to end up in the SCV and then Bluedevils snarelines.....looking
back it was fun...would have done a few things different but now
as time goes by......i wish i had taken the time to really enjoy
the experience.....hope the spirit comes back someday.
- David Walters |
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Hi folks.
I was in Spirit for just the year with the 40's show (1985 I think),
and although I never threw myself into it, I loved the music.
Since I was only slightly involved in Spirit, I don't have much
to say that will be relevant to ya'll--the reason I'm writing
is mostly just to express my gratitude for the experience of being
in Spirit. I still have tapes of some shows and listen to them
occasionally just as I'd listen to anything else. I'm sure my
friends think I'm weird when they stop by and I have marching
band music playing.
The first
time I heard Spirit, I think Brent Nelson had brought me to an
event to try enlisting me. On the way to the event I had no interest
whatsoever, but dag nabbit there isn't a human being alive who
could resist after the previous year's band played Jerusalem.
My story
to share: Partway through the year after joining Spirit, my grades
at Sunnyvale Junior High were waning. My mom contacted Brad Hawkins
to say she was considering pulling me out of Spirit and Mr. Hawkins
invited her to a practice where she could see the band and discuss
my options. After seeing the band practice that day, she came
home thinking about pulling me out of school for the year to avoid
impacting my performance in Spirit.
Finally,
the one thing I really want to say is thank you to Brad Hawkins.
I hope you realize what a wonderful and influential experience
you created, multiplied across hundreds of lives.
- Brent Miller |
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Waking up
during band camp on a saturday finding out how allergic to poison
oak I was :(
- Ben Nunes |
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A few memories
for you...
1986 - Expo 86...one really short parade and then two free days
there! Also...Mavericks going to Taco Bell instead of staying
at the standstill competition...beating all the drum corps (Cavaliers,
Suncoast Sound, Troopers) in High Brass
1986 & 1987 - Burns, Wyoming and the millions of roaches...everywhere
you stepped, you heard Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! One year was bad
enough there, but we went back for a second year...must have been
REALLY cheap housing! Also in 1987...the perennial last-place
Clarinet section winning the first Sectional Drill competition,
shocking the rest of the band!
1988 - Start
of the season...the show theme was to be Phantom of the Opera...shortly
after, Brad left, John Steinwinder became director, and the show
theme became Dvorak's 9th Symphony.
1989 - Rodeo
performance in Canada...only three people in the stands...I can
understand performing at these places for visibility, but there
were only three people there!
1990 - Start
of the season...membership dropped from 44 to 14 people...John
Steinwinder was back again as director after Jeff Pearson resigned,
and the show theme was Beethoven's 5th Symphony...we only had
a few rehearsals of the first movement in December and January,
then it looked like Spirit was going to fold...shortly after,
John left, Brad became director again...the rest of the season
can only be described as "The Second Coming" of Spirit...membership
grew from 14 to 70 members, and the show theme changed to the
10th Anniversary show with "March of the Second Coming" as the opener! Too appropriate given the circumstances! The vast
majority of members who joined that season stayed in Spirit and
membership increased to around 100 people for the 1991 and 1992
seasons.
1991 - Seattle
Seafair parade...one really long parade that went right through
the Kingdome...we marched across the whole field as many thousands
of people in the stands cheered!
1992 - Final
rehearsal and show...final rehearsal at Mt. Rainier...the vast
majority of the band did that final rehearsal in the underwear,
somewhat reminiscent of years before where everybody would put
on as many clothes as they could for the final rehearsal. Final
show...great final performance, then after the show, Spirit and
Sound Machine did a combined standstill performance. The two bands
were intermixed, with Spirit and Sound Machine members standing
side by side. They performed their show, then we performed our
show, then I think we did some combined playing. A great memory
for my final performance with Spirit.
- Mickey Helms |
|
I joined
Spirit of Sunnyvale in 1994 because Todd Oliver could talk of
nothing else so I had to see what the fuss was all about. Needless
to say, I was hooked. I was a member of Spirit until it folded
in mid-1998. It was a very big part of my life and because of
the time and effort that the staff spent teaching me how to march,
I probably wouldnt have survived high school marching band.
These are
just a couple of things that I remember about my experiences in
the organization. I got my first and worst of many bad sunburns
at the Memorial Day Camp in '94 (thank you to Betsy for all of
the Noxema cream and Aloe); going to Knotts Berry Farm and
bringing back a stuffed animal named Roscoe; Elmo hanging barney
up by a noose in the baggage compartment of the bus; Betsy saving
our necks in 95 by becoming our very last minute drum major;
the woodwind section never getting along; Shawns foot tapping
in unbelief as my hair was falling into a garbage can the night
before we left Colorado; and being the only band with no drum
major and no color guard for two years in a row and still kicking
butt!
As of now,
I am currently attending West Valley Community College in Saratoga
and studying to become a court reporter. My goal is to hopefully
have an AS Degree in court reporting in the next six years. I
have no job at the moment, like many other people, though not
for lack of trying to find one. I dont really see very many
Spirit people these days, except for Todd and some various other
people at local DCI shows. Thanks for all of the good times and
great memories.
- LizBeth Jenson |
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DUDE..DUDE...DEVIN.DUDE..............
- Greg "BUBBA" Thomas |
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Best tour
was 1989 to Expo in Canada and out to Wyoming. In think it was about
20 day and aprox. 4000 miles.
- Domenic Carrieri |
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Spirit brings
back fond memories of fun, travel and good friends. What a blast
it was. I remember the long bus rides practicing with our mouth
pieces only (I need to break that thing out and do some scales...)
what a fun time that was. and playing Jerusalem in the rain in Canada
was absolutely an incredible time! I STILL get goose bumps. ....
there .... right now...cool there is so many great memories of Spirit,
I can't even go through them all.. (So I won't...)
- Jeff Pokorny |
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Too many to
mention, and too much information would have to be changed for legal
reasons! I'll never forget Mike Klein and Bill Crain coming up with
the name "Squeegee". Some of you may remember, but looks
like no one remembers here on the Web page. I've been forgotten
by history! Maybe that's a good thing. I'm looking forward to hearing
from you soon.
- Mike Carrieri, 1984-1989 |
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Spirit of
Sunnyvale was my whole life from the time that I was a shy, quiet
7th grader until I graduated high school an outgoing, boisterous
17 year old! I learned, experienced and enjoyed my huge serrogate
family while I grew up with all of you! I miss my second mom & dad, Jim and June Wheeler, known to me as Bratman and Mrs. Peep.
June Wheeler has passed away and I beleive Jim moved to Northern
California somewhere. I have lost track of almost everybody except
of course my lifelong best friend Teddy Chagoya-who still lives
around the corner from my mom's. I want to hear from Jim Nordin,
Paul Wheeler, Frank Alvarez, Mr. Hawkins, Steve Sears, Brenda Algers,
Bill ??(tuba),Dave ??(mellophone), Susy Wallace and so many more
than I can name. I have seen Rick Weger, who is in Santa Clara and
was studying for a Sargent exam in the San Jose Police Dept. He
had just come back from the East Coast where he's been an FBI agent.
I am a preschool teacher in Santa Clara and get paid to play all
day and be the center of attention. My husband is rebuilding our
home in San Jose (We have been together since I left Spirit at 17
yrs.old)I have a very opinionated daughter that speaks almost more
than I do!
- Kathy (Valdez) Ennis |
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Listening
to Dave Watrous tell the infamous Medford story. Going nuts in Seattle
with Brian "Red Dog" Hopkins, Derek Hopkins, Claus Ulander,
Jason Hakes, etc...Tour bus taking off while Brian and I were in
the restroom and having to cruise with a parent for a while. Just
good times in general. I now live in San Francisco, work for the
SF Bay Guardian, and play drums for The Junior Panthers...we'll
be doing a tour of our own in the Spring please come by and say
hello www.juniorpanthers.com . Hope to hear from some old friends
soon...cheers.
- Raul Sanchez |
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The years
I spent in Spirt of Sunnyvale were some of the most memorable times
of my life. I will always remember the friendships that I made during
that time.
- Angela Daline |
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Funny Memory:
I remember almost getting suspended for spilling hot chocolate powder.
Before having a virtual nervous breakdown (not my fault) she let
loose on me for not cleaning it up fast enough, and told Brad. I'm
not sure what she said to him, but it wasn't good. Luckily it was
my birthday, and my mom brought cupcakes. I think the food calmed
down everyone. But a slideline...I still won't make hot chocolate.
:) Another memory...Being the only Clarinet player in 1993. 12 giddy
flutists and me, a 6'3" Bass Clarinet player. That was the hardest
year of my life.
- Todd Oliver |
|
Do you remember
in 84 when somebody kept writing these anonymous poems and putting
them on a bulletin board or something and Hawkins would read them
to us? I think it was somewhere in Canada that we stayed for a
couple of days that had a hockey rink.
- Thor John Strombom |
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Loved the
long trips on the school buses and band camps. My favorite event
was playing in the King Dome. The sound was incredible!
-Mariann Tonder-Laukaitis |
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Remember the
rain storm in Canada and playing Jeruselum during it. The color
guard was all hudled up in the equipment truck and I could hear
the music being played even with the pouring rain and the rumbling
of thunder. It seemed like the cymbal's crashed when the lightening
and thunder did. I remember Zoe's painting of the Pope and it was
soon stuck in the bus bathroom (for some reason unknown to me).
One of the schools we stayed at was infested with cockroaches.
- Ginger Ellis |
|
I HAVE ALOT.
I REMEMBER THE MEDFOIRD TRIP AND I MEAN TRIP LITERALLY. I REMEMBER
PICKING JON UP AT HIS HOME THE DAY HE WAS LATE TO A PARADE. I REMEMBER
TRINO AND CHRIS AND RICHARD ARMSTRONG. I REMEMBER LOTS OF PEOPLE.
WHERE IS LORI JACOBSON? f.t.j. and the famous canada trip. tell
me what really did happen in medford i will never forget that eerie
trip. ask me i know it all. hahaha. Angie mann all the gang i miss
you all.
-Michelle (Cayot) Reis |
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Sam Alger
throwing up after Forrest Knowlton asked her to be his "steady".
That was soemthing!
- Gina (Corso) Cross |
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Whipping Santa
Ana's butts in May, 1984!
- Kirsten Larson |
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The trip to
Canada was a blast and band camp at Sunyvale High School made for
some very memorable times. If I recall, there was a condom scandal
and a little hanky panky in a locker room on the trip. What ever
happend to Ron Pac, Trino Benetiz, or Doug (from the drum line).
- Stoney Meagher |
|
1982 Somewhere
in Washington, when the fine young gentlemen and ladies of the drumline
duct-tape me to the floor of the gym while asleep.
- Dean Golden |
|
Dean, I would
like to say I am sorry for duc tapping you to the floor. It was
really funny at the time. I do remember having to march in place
for a long along with my fellow drum line friends at some odd
hour of the night. Brad was really ticked off. I know the drum
line has pulled many more pranks than this one.
Anyone from the drum line like to share some of their pranks?
- Stoney Meagher |
|
The tuba players
in '86 were John Culbertson, Paul Bautista, George Hinman, and Me.
I don't know if you remeber but Brad called me Ringo and the section
was called the Beatles.
- Thor John Strombom |
|
A bunch,but
to long to tell about--It was the Dave Gary Era and we won Championships
that year with only 32 people!! We marched hard and played great!!Bartok
97'!!!
- Alan Hopkins |
|
My name is
Kevin Creighton, i was the tour bus driver, one of them for the
South Pacific Show in 87. I have a few rolls of film to dig out
from my archives here to share with you folks. Trips to Colorado,
San Diego, blowing up Brads Car etc...(big Mistake). Squashing 3
inch bugs in Burns Wyoming etc.. Teach Laura ( color guard instructor
how to drive a bus on back roads etc...)
Other drivers were Fred Gillespie and Ernie Medal. We also went
to oregon , washington later that year I believe... Names like Kenny,
Debbie, etc all have memories...Fun time... Had the best trips driving
with you folks when we did Drums Across the rockies...
- Kevin Creighton |
|
One of my
favorite memories in Spirit was the travelling. Seeing places I'd
never been to before. It was wonderful to see many new places and
meet people from far away who were in other bands. I think these
things will always stick in my mind. I wish I could rewind 10 years
back, because I'd be back in the summer of 91 and I would be getting
ready to join Spirit Of Sunnyvale. Ahhhh, those were the days.
- Tim Foley |
|
I wasn't in
Spirit very long due to other commitments, but I wished I had stayed
longer. I remember the Canada trip was a blast, and telling people
we played at the Seattle Super Dome is pretty neat! I remember the
Saturday morning practices, around and around and around the field
track!
- Melinda (Reschke) Davis |
|
In my only
season of Spirit, back in '92, the more memorable experiences was
when the bus broke down and being stuck in "BFE" for hours
at a time. During then was when we'd gossip and say how "It
totally sucked to be be stuck in 'BFE' right now!" What's worse
was that even on a few occasions, we had to freakin' push-start
those darn things!
- James Floro |
|
They were
the best of times, they were the worst of times...
Sometimes I wonder how Brad put up with us. I remember Stoney bangin´
away on those triple toms. I remember the guy being taped to the
floor. It was funny as hell(then). I´m sorry for the guy who
was taped up, I was then too. Thanks to Brad for all the help. You´ll
never know how much.
- John Eicholtz |
|
Lots and Lots
of Laughs and a Lifetime of Memories and Life long Friends.
-Kari (Fukumoto) El Amir |
|
Being in Spirit
was the best time I had in my teenage years. I have so many great
memories of the people, places and shows.
- Amy (Hammett) Gates |
|
Giving Mr.
Hawkins the band mascot.... The Duck. Actually it was my pet duck,
Afro. I could no longer keep him and someone gave me this crazy
idea to give him to Mr. Hawkins. I think it was Maria Horn......
=)
- Marian (Evangelista) Fojas |
|
I'm I the
only one who still laughs when "Frankinstein" is played
on the radio?
- Andrea Hasbrouck |
|
There are
so many memories!! Who could forget Hot Dog Surprise and the taco
salads before our fieldshows!?! I remember the flute section trying
to win the sectional drills and music reviews at bandcamps! Spending
a few Saturdays trying to pass Mr. Hawkins' Music Basic Exam, so
I could get back to our practice. Playing "Somewhere"
until we cried! The old super hot winter uniforms and the great
silk shirts for summer (with red plumes). Going on tour in an accordian
bus, and being afraid we would fall off of the cliffs. The "fun"
Klondike Days Parade and the people changing the route as we were
marching it. Bus surfing, drill downs, a Christmas dance with a
live band. FINALLY BEATING THE SANTA ANA WINDS!! Numerous trips
to Canada and other different places I had never seen before. Brenda
Ellis and I always being the shortest members. "Spirit" was such a great thing for me, I met so many people and went to
so many great places. I really miss it!
- Cheryl (Chapman) Pilkerton |
|
Too many to
name! Had a blast! Huge part of my life!
- Tracy (Battino) Rabasco |
|
I remember
when Lionel Richie conducted the band. Well, actually that never
happened. But, wouldn't it had been funny if it did?
- Lee Rudnicki |
|
Too too many,
had a great time marching and instructing...yeah, going from one
top section to the other top section of the band!!!! :)
- Teddy Chagoya |
|
I only remember
my solo at the beginning and end of the Abyss in 95. I think I can
still play it.
- Philip Katz |
|
Ghosts in
the Gym. Spooky!
- David Cantey |
|
Too Many!
Almost sent home: no one was sent home from canada. It was rob buckley
and I, always in trouble. We must have talked our way out of it.
What beautiful memories. the older I get the better I was. I'll
fill in the details later. I remember almost every name on these
lists clearly. Do you remember me?
- John Tervol |
|
1992-93
I would like to add some info about 1992. We started off the season
in 2nd place. At our 4th show in Stockton Ca, we went down to
third place and remained there all season long. My favorite performance
of the year was in Kelso/Longview Wa, when it poured and poured
during our performance. Everybody's senses were heightened as
they focused on not slipping on the astroturf field we were playing
on. I believe our final score for the year was around 87.
Here is the
staff as I remember it.
Director: Rich Alipaz
Percussion Staff: Dave Sankus, Jonathan Pantoja, Arlene Kayuga.
Music & Marching: Gary Butera, John Meng, Mario Blandini.
We had 86
members that year.
The band
pulled off one hell of a performance at finals, to the point where
the drumline was quietly cheering a "smoked" performance
during the march off. At finals, the entire drumline had "Blue
Devils" shirts on underneath our uniforms. Percussion director
Dave Sankus said "It must be the shirts" after the show,
remarking on how the drumline was solid and precise in it's performance
at finals. After the show, Soundmachine did a concert for us,
and we did a concert for them. At one camp in Oregon, we shared
the same facility with The Imperials. They were in the gym next
door to us. It was pretty strange having a competing bacnd right
in the same building, and the now top 12 contendor Seattle Cascades
were staying right across the street from us. On our return from
tour 1 the bus carrying half the band broke down on the California
side of the California / Oregon border. It took almost 4 hours
for another bus to get to us.
That's about
all I can call, er um, I mean Total Recall.
- Tim Foley |
|
The times
we had long road trips and everyone wanted to be on BUS #2. Colorguards
RULE!
- Claire (Ramos) Garcia |
|
I'll never
forget practicing in Rainier WA in 1992 and watching the video
that the staff made from the judges box. You could see us down
on the fiels and Mt Rainier in the background. It was HUGE. We
were very close to it. I also remember Mario Blandini saying that
he wanted to hear us play so loud that we would blow the top off
of the Mountain. That was also the site where we did our final
run through for the 1992 season.
- Tim Foley |