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Page 6 InCider Press March 2008 |
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I am originally from a rural farming community in Summum, Illinois which is located in central Illinois about 50 miles from nowhere. I attended a 2 room schoolhouse that housed the entire 1st through 4th grade and I admittedly learned more from those 4 years of “schoolin” than any other time in my life. From the entire class going out to cut down our Christmas tree, to the music teacher coming in once a week to teach us for an hour, it culminated in a wonderful lifetime of great memories. This is where I had my first solo singing experience. It was our Christmas show and I had the opportunity to get in front of the entire school (About 25 students) and all the parents and sing “What Child is This?” which remains my favorite Christmas Carol. From 5th grade through High School I got to go to the big city school. There were about 175 students from kindergarten through high school. I had a graduating class of a whole 12 students, played 8 man Football (Both offence and defense), and those of us lucky enough to be in the marching band also could not play at the football games because we didn’t have enough students to do both. I started out playing Bass drum and moved up to snare drum and eventually played the trap set in our Jazz Band. I was also in our Jr. and Sr. High chorus. I still sing a lot of those old songs. Once I graduated, I went into the Army and was stationed between here at Ft. Riley and Germany several times. I was in a Country band here in Manhattan from 1979-1982 named Lonestar. (Somehow, another group got a hold of that name and went to superstardom.) I was also in a couple of country bands in Germany (Shiloh and Texas Pride) where I played the trap set and sang solos and harmony on a lot of our sets . Once I retired from the Army, I settled down here in Manhattan and at first became a business owner with Dream Maker Construction as a general contractor, then went back to letting someone else do the books by working for the government and working for Home Depot as the Plumbing Pro. I currently am a Human Resources Specialist at Fort Riley for the Army Benefits Center for Civilians (ABC-C) where we service (Handle all their benefits) of all Department of the Army Civilians worldwide to include some congressional people and some of the people that work in some house up on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington DC. I am a member of the KQWA (Kansas Quality Woodworks Assoc.), BPOE in Junction City, a member of the VFW, Patriot Guard, sing in the Praise Team at College Heights Baptist Church along with Dr. Bob |
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Ridley, and am Lifetime Disc Jockey Award winner with Hooah Radio (www.hooahradio.com) where I am a volunteer DJ supporting our troops around the world. I have done a lot of work with Habitat for humanity and have worked with many local volunteer groups in support of numerous causes near and dear to my heart. I am married to my wonderful Blushing Bride Kathy (Mary) and we celebrate our 25th Wedding anniversary this year in June. We have 2 kids and 8 grandkids. Our son Thomas is currently a contractor in Iraq where he drives a Fuel truck and his wife and 2 grandkids reside in Indianapolis, Indiana, and he should be returning from Iraq for good in April, where he will be a full time over the road truck driver. Our Daughter Shauna and her family live in Ft. Lee Virginia. Her husband is in the Military, they will be moving to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri in August, so we will be able to see six of the grandkids a lot more. We have two 4-legged kids (our dogs) at the house (Riley and Skooter) who keep us busy with daily walks and companionship. My hobbies include Woodworking, Cooking and BBQing, smoking meat, sausage and jerky, cake decorating, hunting, fishing, camping (RVing), and taking trips on my motorcycle with my wife. My first experience with singing with Barbershop is right here with our chorus. I am so pleased to be a member of such a great bunch of guys. From day one I felt right at home. Although I do not read music, I do read time (One of the faults of banging on a drum all your life), the other members of the Bass section keep me going and with the likes of Leonard sitting behind you, how can you not help but Love being right there. I am looking forward to spending many years with the chorus and I hope someday to be able to be in one of the Quartets what else can I say, “I just Love it here!”♪ |
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Meet Member Steve Thompson |
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A Thank you From Chuck Marr |
