The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

I love music. My parents and many relatives had both musical talents, a great appreciation for music, and there was almost always music playing in our house. My father loved classical music and grew to love opera, influenced by my grandfather, who lived with us who loved both of those genres. My mother owned every Broadway musical album ever recorded and was a big fan of Frankie Lane.

We were the first on our block to have a HiFi which was constantly played. The first “big” gifts I received as a pre-teen were a phonograph (it played 33, 78, and 45 RPMs), a transistor radio to carry aro...