The One (wo)Man Band

            A students mom made beautiful hair pieces for us teachers at the auction
I am a little behind schedule in blogging current events, but last Saturday I was the one (wo)man band for my school's annual fund raiser auction. I serenaded at the door's entrance and greeted our guests. Then after the auction I played my steel pan while folks paid for the auction items they won during bidding. 

I was the evenings final auction item: Miss Jessica and her music classes at Waimea Country school. I had my Level 4 students play 4 little ditties on their fiddles. Then I got up and made the following speech:

"The experience and opportunity to learn to play and care for an instrument; playing amongst a group of your peers; and performing together in the community JUST like you saw this evening is absolutely priceless. It builds self esteem, discipline, confidence, talent, character and simply opens so many doors in the future. As a musician who has walked through these doors, I want to give to my students now what was given to me as a student: A positive life long experience with music. Please keep me, and music, alive and thriving at Waimea County School. Mahalo".

Bidding started at $1,000 and tapered down by hundred dollar increments. People raised their paddles while my principal wrote down their bidding numbers. I strolled around the room playing cheerful fiddle music. In the end, I raised $5,000 for the music program next year! So Waimea Country school can employ me for another wonderful school year and I can invest in more violins and stringed instruments for the students.