Wendy's Memories ~ 1982

 Another peek at Wendy's record keeping ... her journal/recap of 1982

1982 Photo Collage and Recap

• Derek Alan Westra was born on May 5, 1982. 
• Shane turned 6 years old on May 3, 1982 and graduated from Kindergarten and started 1^st Grade at Woodstock.  Teachers: Kindergarten, Mrs. Susan Platt, 1^st Grade, Mrs. Goodro.   Principal Clifford F. DeGraw. 
• Jeni finished 5^th grade (Mrs. Parkin, in the "Pod" double classroom) at Woodstock and started 6^th grade (Mrs. Diamond - who had also been her kindergarten teacher!) She turned 12 on Nov. 10, 1982.
• Wendy turned 14 on April 29, 1982 and completed 8^th grade at Bonneville Junior High School and started her 9^th grade year.   
• Chris turned 16 on Sept. 5, 1982 and completed his Sophomore year at Cottonwood High School and started his junior year.  He did wrestling and track at Cottonwood.
• Scott graduated from Cottonwood High School and started at BYU.  He turned 19 on Dec. 16, 1982. He made a big papier mache pumpkin for Halloween.
• Margie was doing High School graduation and birth announcements at the same time. 
• We went to our annual Family Reunion in Alpine, 25-26 June 1982. Chris rode his 10 speed bike there and back.     

LaMar turned 45 on May 28, 1982.

Margie turned 40 on Nov. 7, 1982

Scott turned 19 on Dec. 16, 1982

Chris turned 16 on Sept. 5, 1982. 

Wendy turned 14 on April 29, 1982. 

Jeni turned 12 on Nov. 10, 1982. 

Shane turned 6 years old on May 3, 1982. 

Derek Alan Westra was born on May 5, 1982. 

Dropbox 1982 folder has more pictures in it ...

Derek's future wife was also born this year (some of their family pictures in Dropbox as well)

Halloween: Spooky Settings!

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year trick-or-treating was held a day early. We often had cool contraptions set up for Halloween. This year Scott made a giant paper mache pumpkin. We made our bush into a ghost and had a strobe light with spooky music! Jenny and Shane went out trick-or-treating -- Shane as Darth Vador and Jenny as a clown. Our 9th grade class had been performing Halloween shows for the elementary schools and I was a skeleton in the play -- thus the skeleton costume. I believe Jeni is the "giant pumpkin" in this picture!

What was Popular in the 1980's? Here you go!!

(Wendy) Since I have a little more time on my hands during this quarantine, I have been working on some family history projects. I am starting to digitize some of my childhood journals (or at least highlights from the journals) and making a timeline of these events to put into our shared family Dropbox. I found this entry pretty interesting: 

October 18, 1982: My Grandma and Grandpa Norman were on a trip to Mexico. I was disappointed because I had to ask them some Genealogy questions for an English assignment. When my parents got home they helped me answer the questions, but my parents or grandparents couldn’t remember things like what foods they liked as a kid etc. So I am going to write down some things in case my kids need to use it…

The popular foods now are pizza, fries, coke… I love pizza and sprite (I hate coke and Pepperoni and hot spices and stuff) but I do love pizza – yum! Popular clothes are Levi Strauss – Izod shirts, those kind of church shoes with the bows on them, knickers, bermudas, and vuarnet sunglasses. Also Jan Brady (white tennis) shoes – I love those and wear them a lot. Popular hairstyles are hair curled (flipped) up or permed. My favorite T.V. shoes are Fame, Different Strokes, Facts of Life – but I don’t really have enough time for T.V. these days – hope this info will be helpful!!

So when I was 14 years old I was thinking about my future children and how I could help them with their Genealogy assignments in their English class! Aren't I considerate, ha ha!! (First picture is at my Great Grandma Bohne's 90th Birthday Party in February). I just cringe when I look back at these pictures with at my big, permed hair! Jeni looks so cute in her childhood pictures because she kept her hair long and straight!)

Memorial Day

Playing Piano

This will be backdated to 1982

The picture on the left was in 1982 I believe, the ones on the right were in the 1980 Dropbox folder. Both Wendy and I took piano lessons from Lorraine Peckham for years. We would ride our bikes up past the church to her home (having to go past a house that had Dobermans that would lunge at the fence and bark at us ... scared me to death!) I remember we'd be required to practice 30 minutes a day, and I think lessons were once a week. Recitals were held in the chapel at church.

As for the boys ... Scott didn't ever take lessons, but Chris did for about eight months. Some friends in the Delta Club Group had a son that played "The Entertainer" on a TV talent show. That inspired Chris, but then he lost interest and wanted to quit. Mrs. Peckham said it was too bad, because she felt he had a natural ability. I remember Chris thought that if he knew how to play two songs, he could still use that to show off to girls (I think his plan was "The Entertainer" for his first, and "Jessica's Theme from Man From Snowy River" for his second.

Derek seemed to have a natural talent as well, learning to play by ear, and taking lessons for a short time in high school. I really never remembered him playing and was pretty surprised when he ended up quite the musician (see Derek in Concert). He has quite a few piano spotlights on his Instagram account, as well as his cover albums.

Back to the 80s ... Recitals always stressed me out! I'd practice and practice, and get semi-memorized, enough that sometimes I'd zone out, and then not remember where I was in the piece. In my later years, I always said I was more of an accompanist than a pianist. I could follow a singer (or I was the singer) but was never very technical. I'd always ask my piano teacher to play through the music once before I attempted, as I really struggled with reading the timing.

There were some programs saved from recitals over the years ...

In the 1979 program, you can see the Westra girls at #12, #14 (duets), #23, #27 and #35. How long was this recital? I actually remember the name Palace Garden and Grandfather's Clock (while not really remembering the melodies). Wendy did some classical pieces and 5th Avenue Poodle. Glancing through the program, most of the names of the other students are familiar to the Westra siblings (friends, neighbors, other kids in the ward). Apologies for the quality (or lack thereof, this is actually the improved copy)...

... another program, this time from 1983. This recital doesn't look nearly as long as the one in 1982, AND it was broken up into two separate performances to trim it down even further (good move!) I don't remember "Solfeggio in C Minor" but "Moonlight Sonata" is a famous number.

It wasn't just recitals ... we would play in school, girl scouts, family reunion talent shows, in church, etc.

The program below was from Woodstock Elementary, 1979 (2nd grade for Jen).
I wonder what song I played?

This piece (Hungary) wasn't listed in these saved programs, 

but I remember this as a recital piece, and I still have the music.

 I've even attempted (unsuccessfully) to try and play it again. 

You can see it being played HERE (not by me, but you can imagine)

A few of the classic Westra music books ... interesting to note, you can see the price (middle/bottom half on the blue cover) ....$1.25. That was for the book, with six long pieces in it! The Burgmueller has a price of $2.50 printed on it. The theory book (ugg, theory!) was $3.95 - you can also see it was purchased at Day Murray Music down on State Street (it's still there, it's where we bought most of our music). Hungary (above - single sheet) had a price tag of $1.95 ... as of 2022, it's $5.99. Inflation, etc.

Here's a little sample of the Burgmueller music ...

This totally brought back music memories!

https://youtu.be/YmrAIf5WlaI

... and the Sonatinas (I went with #3, most memorable to me)

https://youtu.be/42qx4zVyjmw

Are any of the grandkids taking piano lessons now?  Wendy's were for a while (blog mention here). I did an email search (in the WriteOn blog) and found taking lessons mentioned ... Adria (2010), Adria&Rella (2014) and Ani (2021) ...

It would be interesting to compare the types of music (I assume classical is still a big part), prices, and how music is purchased (most sheet music can be found and downloaded online, printed off immediately at home). How much is technology used in teaching today? As all the YouTube links above indicate ... I would no longer need my piano teacher to play the piece for me so I could hear the timing. Progression of piano playing over the years. 

Anyone up for playing "Chopsticks" ... or perhaps a duet of "Heart and Soul"??

Mother's Day!!

Sunday May 9, 1982: (Wendy)

Happy Mother's Day! Mom came home from the hospital today with baby Derek! He is four days old! We gave her all the presents. I gave her a basket and a wooden "MOM," and magnets, and some coupons. Derek is sooo cute!! We went to Grandma's for dinner.