WLCALUM Entry 309

         (Sub-titled:   "Return of a Friend")

Last Sunday at Greendale Concert Band rehearsal, I was pleasantly surprised when one of my closest band friends returned. She had taken some hard falls over the holiday season, and had to take some 5 months away (rib injury). After all she and her husband have been through over the last year or so, I can't believe how steady she remains. She always was soft spoken. (in the 10 years we've been in band she was only involved in one conflict with another player and handled it the right way). She's like a close aunt to me-- she gets around quite well for being in her '80s.

WLCALUM Entry 308

                      (Subtitled:  "Closure on Hoops Season-Other")

"My" Warrior women drew #5 ranked Calvin-on their home floor yet-- frustrating thing about that was even though Calvin was out-rebounded in the game, too many shots were missed. "My' squad was down only 3 (42-39) with 6 minutes left in the 2nd half, but then the Knights went on an 8-0 run to put the game away.

On the men's side, Edgewood drew #17 UW-River Falls, and-after nearly blowing a 24-pt 2nd half lead, pulled off an upset, 75-67.  Edgewood then lost in the 2nd round to Wheaton-IL 73-62.

Letter Carriers Band needed to replace its' drummer. The drummer we had was out shoveling thick snow after the accumulation we got the week before last--apparently what happened was, he was able to finish all right, but shortly after entering his house he had a heart attack and died. He was 58. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find another drummer.  

WLCALUM Entry 307

             (Sub-titled:  "The Thinning of the Ranks")

The above is a picture of the Greendale Village Concert Band, performing in August, 2009 at the Gazebo.

Greendale Band update: Found out at yesterday's rehearsal that our top 2 flute players won't be available until the end of may (health issues of their relatives.) Fortunately, we've got enough other long-time players around.

Attended a basketball game the other afternoon. "My" Warriors (top team in our conferences' North Division) was playing Dominican (top from the South)  --after being down 14-9 early, the Warriors went on an incredible 36-6 run to end the first half and coasted to the win. Having 2 tall freshman starters who can crash the boards and play solid defense has been a shot in the arm. The other good thing is the Warriors kept hitting from outside. Dominican going in was one of the top 3-pt shooting teams in the conference and also near the top in avg. points per game in conference.  "My" Warriors won, 79-56.  Next up, another home game, this one in the conference playoffs, against Benedictine-IL, the lowest seed. (Like they say, if you let a team hang around long enough. . . )

WLCALUM Entry 306

                  (Sub-Titled:  "Conference Playoff Teams Set")

NAthCon South:   Dominican-IL, MSOE, Concordia-Chicago, Benedictine

NAthCon North:  "My" Warriors, Lakeland, Concordia-WI, Marian

Battle for the last North spot was quite a dogfight. Edgewood and Maranatha were in contention until the last. Maranatha lost when a last second 3-pointer missed in OT, and then last night while Marian beat Alverno at home, Edgewood lost at home to a Lakeland team that has been on a hot roll of late. Marian hit 12 3's last night in the win. Thought Edgewood had better balance on the inside, but like they say, the race doesn't always go to the strongest.

           ("Sweet Georgia Brown" playing. . . . )

WLCALUM Entry 305

                 (Subtitled:   "Unusual Winter-Other")

Here it is almost Mid-February in my locality and there have only been 2 relatively light measurable snow falls to this point. The previous 3 winters we got wallopped more than usual, and the 20 before that were relatively mild with only one or 2 instances per winter of heavy snowstorms. (Although I still remember 1 year in the late 80s-early 90s we got walloped on around May 10th--)

Greendale Concert Band rehearsals start tomorrow. I talked to one of the other players in the section (who wasn't available for the Christmas performaces because of her husband's health issues). I told her, "You don't need to rush back just for the band."

"My" women's basketball team clinched another division title the other night--incredibly by scoring the last 15 points to win coming from behind in its' last game. There are still 2 regular season in-conference games yet (Edgewood on the road today, and Maranatha at home Thursday night) before the playoffs. With a 15-1 conference record going into today's action, I already know there'll be at least one playoff game at home.