Band Family Grows

MARK, JACQI, AND JULIA

As many of you know I have three sons, Jeremy, Jason, and William (Billy). Each one of my sons spent their time in the North Pulaski Band program in Jacksonville, AR. So as you can imagine my wife and I were very involved in the band program for many years, 12 years to be more precise. We loved working with the band and supporting our boys and the rest of the band. We took trips all over this state and extended our travels as far as Washington DC. One of the great things about being involved with the NPHS band program was that for those 12 years we had the same great band directors, Ms Kohler and Ms Dismuke. Ms K directed the middle school band and assisted in the high school and Ms D assisted in the middle school band and directed the high school. Another great thing about being a band parent was working with these kids and developing life long friendships.

One of those friendships that Shelley and I have developed is our friendship with the Haines family. Mark and I worked on the band trailer and any other maintenance that was needed for the band concession stand. Jacqi and Shelley managed the concession stand and kept the kids fed when we were at competitions and before major events for the band. Our friendship has developed to the point that our families spend Thanksgiving together each year. Mark and Jacqi's children refer to us as mommy Shelley and daddy Dale and we love those girls like our own. When Megan became pregnant Mark broke the news to me by telling me I was going to be a grandpa again. On Monday Megan gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Julia. We couldn't wait to see and hold Julia and we got our chance on Friday night. We love being a part of this family and having them be a part of ours. As our families grow so does the love between our two families. What started out as hard working band parents turned into a friendship that will last a lifetime!