Scholarships, Awards, and Music

Life In Ludlow

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The crowd gathered in the auditorium at Chimacum High School last week for the annual tribute to the senior class known as awards night. As the seniors took their places on the stage, those of us presenting took direction from Barb Fogerson about when we would be speaking and where we should sit until then. Before the festivities began I spoke with high school principal Brian MacKenzie about his part in the program. He confessed that he was indeed going to be a part of the program and claimed “most would find it more riveting than my column.”

The first part of the evening was devoted to identifying the students who had earned scholarships from the large number of local organizations. It seemed as if they ranged from a little less than $1,000 to $10,000. Linda Kostenbader and TJ Plastow of the East Jefferson Rotary Club awarded a total of $21,000 to 10 deserving students. The scholarships moved from local clubs and charities to scholarships from the colleges and universities chosen by the students. The numbers of students and the amount of the scholarships escalated from there as well they should given the current level of the cost of a college education. The folks who earned all of those grants and scholarships are to be congratulated.

The presentations then moved to awards of various types. I recognized Cai Giskes, the Rotary foreign exchange student at Chimacum High School this year. She has been a great representative of her home in the Netherlands. We expect her to return home and be a great representative of Chimacum and the U.S. I had a bouquet of flowers for Cai. The flowers had a small baggie with water in it to keep the flowers moist. Unfortunately, I set them down on the floor and unknowingly let most of the water leak out forming a large puddle on the floor of the stage. Ms. Fogerson said she would take care of it for me. Bless her.

While I was at the high school BJ joined a group of women for a monthly “ladies night out” at the Old Alcohol Plant in Port Hadlock for wine and hors d’oeuvres. She had not been to one of these events before and had a great time. So, if you want a quiet dinner on the first Tuesday of every month the Old Alcohol Plant might not be the best destination.

Michael Haberpointner, physical therapist and owner of Active Life Physical Therapy here in Port Ludlow, was the speaker for the “First Wednesday” luncheon last week. He encouraged those who might be getting older to be more sensitive to potential balance problems. (Who isn’t getting older?) He suggested we take care to avoid leaving obstacles in our living spaces so that we avoid tripping on them. Unfortunately Michael and his employees are very well known to many of us in town. Not that they aren’t nice people because they are. Actually, the clinic is another Port Ludlow “social center” as I have never been in Active Life without seeing somebody I know, not from the staff but from the neighborhood! Otherwise we would all much rather avoid the place.

We saw a couple of movies last week at the Rose Theatre full of some great music. “Amazing Grace” starred Aretha Franklin in a recording session in a Los Angeles church in 1972. A full program of gospel music was never sung better. “Rocketman” was equally entertaining as a story of Elton John’s life, at least until he got clean and sober twenty-eight years ago. The movie is R-rated for good reasons. The summer’s first concert on the lawn at the Beach Club is tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. The Barry Barnett Band is not rated R and I doubt the concert will be made into a movie but it should be fun.

The Elton John movie brings to mind an observation attributed to author Tom Clancy. “The difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make sense.”

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!