STICKY DOORKNOBS

Two centuries of music royalty onstage at Midland Lee

The Spring Concert at Midland Lee High School became the stuff of legend in 2009 when the musical event stretched over four hours. This year's event was notably shorter, but no less legendary as four members of West Texas High School Band royalty worked together to direct the Lee bands t hroughout the evening Tuesday. From left to right, former Monahans band director Dan Gibbs, former Odessa High band director Bill Dean, and J.R. McEntyre, who began his band career in 1949 and was later Randy Storie's high school band director joined Storie, director at Midland Lee for over 30 years, onstage Tuesday. The assembled have more than 210 years experience in directing school bands in West Texas.

Fund raising committees say the darnedest things

Several years ago when I worked with the great people at Midland's Centers for Children and Families, I lobbied and lobbied and lobbied for us to contract with Art Linkletter to come in and be our guest presenter for one of the first "An Evening With ..." fundraisers, in 2003 (the same year Henry Winkler proved such a wonderful speaker).

My insistence was met with repeated cries from the committee of "No, Art's too risky. He's 90. He might die."

Today, sadly, they all turned out to be right. Seven years late. But right.

America lost one of its cultural institutions today. A wonderful man who with his program "Kids Say The Darnedest Things" made you smile and see that laughter in -- and brought by -- children is one of the most precious things on earth.

God Bless Art Linkletter.