Vol. 17, No. 35, February 28, 2005

IN THIS ISSUE:

This Reveille Home Page | The Friday Program: BBRC Blessed by the Visit of an Angel | Announcements | Don Deasy’s Looking Good! | Mercer Island Rotary Goes On the Run | Friday Potpourri | Why Are You Reading This? | Clark Kent Emerges as Superman of the Month | Student of the Month: Jason Ericson | BBRC Welcomes New Members Hendershott & Kippen | A Visit to Sagebrush Land | Web Fun

A Visit to Sagebrush Land
John Mix

Your old editor spent a couple of days in his homeland, attending the University of Idaho’s premiere Jazz Festival, the Lionel Hampton Festival in Moscow. There were 15,000 students of all sizes crowding every motel, hotel, fraternity, sorority, dormitory and private home in places as far away as Lewiston, 30 miles south.

Our family delegation was keeping an eye on granddaughter Kelsey, a member of the Crimson Singers Jazz Choir of Snohomish High School. We saw four competing schools perform in their category on Friday. Two of the four were from Washington State-- Snohomish and Bellevue High. Two were from British Columbia, Semiahmoo High School in Surrey and Aldergrove, about 90 miles east of Vancouver. None of the four school’s choirs placed in the competition, but they all distinguished themselves with good, solid performances.

Moscow was the bus capital of the world during the three-day festival. Idaho’s icon, the Kibbie Dome, was transformed into a concert hall with a huge stage, lighting, visual effects and perfect sound. Each evening, a group of professional musicians appeared to entertain. The student winners from the day’s competition got center stage to strut their stuff. We all learned about “scat,” that unintelligible form of communication where the human voice becomes an instrument. One of the headliners was vocalist Dee Daniels, a dynamic performer who gave an outstanding gig and received a standing ovation.

The path to the Moscow-Pullman area and the lush Palouse hills is achieved by following Highway 26 between Pullman and Vantage. There are four towns in 170 miles. This is the same area that some disgruntled GOP legislators want to claim as their own, populating this sparseness with only people of a single mindset. There’s certainly room, but I’d think the fall, winter and spring would get to be awfully tedious. As was pointed out in a recent column, the Evergreen State nickname only covers half the state, but sagebrush reigns supreme on the eastern vistas. Be careful what you wish for.

Several years ago, I posted a quote from a writer named Max McYoung on my bulletin board. It reads: “God started out here in Washington and worked south and east and he got tired as he went and you can see the difference.” Still, I love that part of the world, and wouldn’t want anyone shutting me out from frequent visits.

(Several people in our entourage wanted to know the connection between Lionel Hampton and the University of Idaho. A brief biography appears here on this website.

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