“Increasing your self-esteem is easy,” said author and speaker Roger Hinkins. “Simply do good things and remember that you did them.” Every day, music educators throughout Alabama are doing good things. But, our world moves so fast, little time is left to reflect on what we have done, and even less time to leave tracks for others to follow.


Doing Good Things…Still AMEA Hall of Fame


This past year has been a journey to gather information which has been all but forgotten and assemble it in one place. In part, it honors those who have paved the way for us. In part, it serves as a motivator to build a future which is even better.


AMEA Past Presidents


Each issue of Ala Breve lists the names of those who have served as AMEA President. But, a list of names was all we had. Now, we have much more. On the AMEA website (alabamamea.org), look for a link in the sidebar labeled “Past Presidents.” Clicking that link reveals pictures and biographical sketches of every single person who served in that role.


Gathering those photos and bios was not without


its lessons. For some past


presidents, finding the information was easy. For others, the task would have been impossible but for helpful librarians who scoured old yearbooks, programs, and other artifacts in the “special collections” sections. Each former president was held in high enough esteem by their peers to be chosen for the office. In less than three generations, we are hard-pressed to find as much as a decent


paragraph accomplishments.


Walter Mason is one such example. After an exhaustive


search, the


uncovered included a statement that the music building at Jacksonville State University was named for him. “Mason Hall,” I thought. You see, I graduated from Jacksonville State University. Every day, multiple times per day for four years, I walked in that building. Yet, I knew nothing about the man for whom it was named. Two or three generations from now, how much will others know about the legacy you or I leave?


ala breve information about their


A second link on the AMEA website will display photos and biographical information for each inductee to the AMEA Hall of Fame. The website has always had a link, but that link pointed to a page featuring photos only. Today, the addition of the biographical sketches honors those who made significant contributions and gives us a better understanding of how each of these people contributed to our profession.


And the Winner Is…


Each spring, Ala Breve features the recipients of the awards for “Outstanding Music


Educator,” “Outstanding


Administrator,” and the “Barbara Odom Distinguished Service Award.” Yet, nowhere was a comprehensive list of past recipients being kept. Today, look for a link on the AMEA website for “Past AMEA Award Honorees.” On that page, you will see names of all past recipients, many of whom you probably know, and even in a very personal way helped shape your career.


As you scan the page, notice the “holes,” those years when an award was not presented. As music educators, we often do not get the recognition from those outside our profession we deserve. We cannot afford to neglect opportunities to recognize the achievements of deserving people within our ranks. Just this year, the “Outstanding Music Educator”


and “Barbara Odom


Distinguished Service Award” had no recipients. With so much outstanding work happening across Alabama, let us never again get so busy with our own affairs that we neglect the chance to recognize the accomplishments of our own. When you see the nomination forms for these awards in the Ala Breve, let that be your trigger to stop and reflect on who you think the next recipients should be. Then, put pen to paper and do something about it.


State Band Competition Festival


Can you point to the day you made the decision to become a music educator? For me, it happened on a spring day in ninth grade. At that time, the festival was held all in one location, and only a few miles from my house. Our junior high band had just earned a “Superior” rating on Thursday. Today was Saturday, and I had my parents


Dr. Frank Buck - AMEA Historian


drop me off to spend the day listening to bands. It was in that environment that my decision to go into music education was born, April 6, 1974.


On that day, I noticed that all of the band directors in the audience were picking up programs and copying the rating posted in the hallway into those programs. “If I’m going to be a band director,” I thought, “I guess I’m supposed to be doing that too.” And so I did, that year, and the next, and the next. Years turned into decades, and I soon realized my collection was more comprehensive than anything ABA had.


Collecting programs and their ratings prior to 1974 now became a focus. With the help of people such as Bill Springer, Rush Gavin, Jerry Countryman, Orland Thomas, and Ron Sellers, each of whom had a few pieces of the puzzle stored somewhere in a box somewhere in a garage, we have been able to assemble an important part of our history.


On the ABA page of the AMEA website, you will see a link to the programs from the Alabama Bandmasters Association State Competition Festival. The event began in 1947. This collection begins with 1952, and with the exception of one missing year, includes each single year from then to present. For virtually every year, the original program is pictured. The names of the directors, what they played, and the ratings they earned are there. Those programs are filled with evidence that all over this state, in schools large and small, we are doing good things. Making the programs available helps us remember it.


Dr. Hinton’s Dissertation


In 1958, Dr. Wilbur Hinton published a fascinating dissertation chronicling the development of the band programs in Alabama. We have secured permission from Dr. Hinton and the University of Alabama to re-produce that dissertation electronically and make it available. The dissertation will be up in the near future. Watch for a link on the ABA page of the website.


As an organization, we do good things. Remembering we did them just got a little easier.


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