Late last Friday night, we made the trek to Austin to visit the folks. Rebecca stayed behind with friends so she could audition for the Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) “Camp Rock” production planned for this summer. We missed her greatly. After her singing and dancing auditions, she boogied down at the Heritage Dance (a prom for homeschoolers), raced shopping carts through a grocery store and spammed her friends on Facebook. She had a great time.
Family friends Dean and Sheila McIntire came out as well. Dean brought his guitar and a set of harmonicas. He and I played a few tunes on the back porch before dinner. It was all very fun. Next time though, I’m coming more prepared! Playing Dean’s guitar reminded Nanaw of Papaw. We shared a few fun facts of just how diverse and seasoned Papaw’s music career really was: he managed his own country-swing bands, performed on live radio and in local dance halls, played fiddle and guitar, and even sang a little. Some of the boys stood around hearing his achievements seemingly for the first time. They told me later, “I didn’t know all that about Papaw!” That’s what’s great about retelling family stories – it keeps the memories alive.
Below are photos of the birthday event.
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Justus Opens 2011 Gymnastics Season
Justus started the 2011 season by performing at the Valeri Liukin Invitational in Frisco, Texas on December 10th. This is Justus’ first season with his new gym, Houston Gymnastics Academy. This meet marked the culmination of long and tough training over last summer, changing gyms, making new friends, and meeting expectations of new coaching staff.
Justus is repeating Level 7 this year, which was one of the easier decisions. Repeating levels in gymnastics is one of the necessary elements of growing up in the sport. Competitive levels go from four to eleven (referred to as “Elite” for Olympic hopefuls). So, it’s easy to see that a boy starting as a seven year old cannot progress each year to a different level until he reaches Elite – he must repeat levels several times. In Justus’ case, he discovered that going from level six to level seven was a huge jump. And at the end of the season, there were many “bonus” skills that remained untouched. This year will give him an opportunity to compete with many of those bonus skills and continue to work on his fundamentals before leaving the last compulsory level.
The Valeri Liukin Invitational took place at Valeri’s gym, called World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA). This meet has always been a tough one – very competitive and always the first meet of the season. Justus performed well and seemed very relaxed. He came in fourth on rings and 10th in the all-around. Several of his scores were higher than his season highs last year.
Enjoy the video below.
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Merry Christmas!
This year was filled with both challenges and reflection. We overcame fears of change and prayed healing over many sicknesses and hospital visits for loved ones. Collectively, we are reminded of what is most important: the love of our Saviour, family and friends. May this Christmas season be filled with love, joy and blessing.
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The Challenge of Fundraising
Justus in a split on floor routine
As many of you know, Justus’ gymnastics journey took a new path this year. After almost five years of training with the same coach and same boys, we felt God’s leading to a new season. The journey has not been without its challenges, but we’re happy to report that Justus has settled into the new gym. He’s making friends, enjoying his coaches, and learning new skills. He arrives home sweaty, covered in chalk…and smiling.
We have, however, discovered one major difference between the two gyms: fundraising. Where the old gym offered fundraisers each month for those families who desired to participate, the new gym offers none. The weight of funding out of town and out of state competitions falls solely on the parents. For example, we’ve estimated the upcoming meet in Portland, Oregon will cost $1200.
We realize this is a terrible time of year to solicit funds, but in lieu of formal options, we must seek outside support. We ask simply that if you desire to support Justus in gymnastics that you read further. If not, or you simply cannot support him at this time, we completely understand. We also welcome any creative “sponsorship” ideas, corporate and otherwise, that will help offset the expense of Justus gymnastics as he continues to advance in the coming years.
We are thankful for Justus’ love of the sport. Please continue to pray that Justus will remain injury-free, grow in his mental strength, and continue to honor God and country.
Sincerely, Lisa and David
Yes, I want to support Justus! Now what?
Realize that no amount is too small. Every little bit helps.
OPTION 1 – Secure on-line giving (utilizing PayPal)*
- From any page on www.hydetribe.org, locate the yellow DONATE button at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.
- Click the DONATE button to be redirected to PayPal.
- Follow the instructions.
* Requires a PayPal account to use
OPTION 2 – Check or cash
- Make checks payable to David or Lisa Hyde.
- Because the tuition and team fees go to two separate organizations, it’s just simplest for you if we hand deliver your donation to the gym.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
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Since the show was performed at a small venue, we could see all the facial expressions of all the actors. Equally as enjoyable was the cast – perhaps the most talented group of young actors we’ve seen to date. Believe it or not, the whole show, including three-part harmony singing, was mastered in only 40 hours of rehearsal. Below are some videos taken with my Android phone and photos are courtesy of Clayton Mills, one of the other dads. Pictures and video below. Enjoy!
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About a year ago, Lisa and I came to the sobering conclusion that we can no longer exclude our children from the tedious task of planning our monthly calendar and expenses.
Rebecca and Justus’ activities like gymnastics, theatre, dance, singing lessons, carpool schedules, sleep-overs and birthday parties make our Google calendar festively busy. So, last Sunday we had our monthly family “pow-wow.” Pow-wows are like business meetings to keep our family on-the-rails. Lisa and I put together an agenda of sorts to discuss upcoming calendar of events, financial obligations (i.e., buying tickets, books, birthday gifts) and timely topics of discussion. Our kids get exposed to making tough decisions between “good” and “good,” prioritizing, thinking and working constructively in a group, and observing financial ramifications.
This month, the topics of discussion included chores, attitude, responsibilities and commitments, and… wait for it… school. Every eye was half-mass and aglaze until we said the word “school.” Suddenly, it was like everyone was electrocuted.< This year marks the beginning of Rebecca's high school studies. Homeschooling gets a lot more serious at the high school level. Highschool-aged homeschoolers have a marked increase of responsibility to track hours, academic requirements, formal gradebooks and transcripts, all to document adherence to college admission standards. Rebecca is taking English 1 (grammer/writing/literature), Spanish 1, Biology, Pre-algebra, and World History (Bridge Rhetoric: Post-Rome to US Constitution). Justus is entering the 6th grade taking English (grammer/writing/literature), Spanish 1, Science, Pre-algebra, World History (Dialectic: Post-Rome to US Constitution). Lisa and I are excited for what this school year will bring for our kids, and I'm sure Lisa and I will learn a thing or two along the way as well. PS - We forgot to mention to them an earlier reveille of 6:30am - earlier than last year, but certainly later than most public schoolers... One must keep it all in perspective.
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Rebecca at Dance Recital 2010
Back in May, Rebecca performed in her second dance recital with Adamson Ballet School. The recital took place at the Cullen Performance Hall on the University of Houston downtown campus. Hundreds of dancers ranging from three-year-olds to high school students offered their ballet, jazz and contemporary performances to a packed auditorium of families and friends. Mimi and Pepa joined us for the show that lasted almost two hours. Whew! The wild thing was finding out our evening together was one of two recitals hosted by Adamson Ballet School – that’s a lot of dancers!
– D
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Back in April, Rebecca performed in a Wildfish Theatre Company production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. She played one of the four narrators who told their story through song and dance. Rebecca looked and sounded great! Below are pictures taken by one of the other theatre moms. Enjoy.
-D
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Well, I fell behind on video editing, so I’ve combined Justus’ last two competitions into one blog entry.
A couple of weeks ago, Justus competed at the Texas State championships at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. I think Justus had the largest fan club at the event of all the athletes since most of his extended family live there (about twenty of us in all). Justus had a great meet, tieing for 2nd on Rings (rock on!), placing 7th on Parallel Bars, and placing 12th on High Bar. Justus qualified for Regionals, scoring 82.6 in the all-around (70.0 to qualify). Below is the State meet video:
Once the competition was over, we spent the night at Mom and Dad’s. After breakfast the next day, Lisa had to return to Houston for a home school coop meeting evaluating reading books for next school year, but the rest of us enjoyed spending the afternoon with the Hines celebrating our niece Emily’s birthday. After a nice visit and bar-b-que lunch, we left Rebecca there to spend the night and the rest of us returned to Mom and Dad’s to eat again. (It seems I always gain about five pounds when visiting Austin between the food, desserts and beer.) The next day, Rebecca went to see Phantom of the Opera with Aunt Amy, Emily and Sarah. They said, “It was amaaaziing!”
Last weekend the four of us drove to New Orleans for Justus’ U.S. Regional meet (which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana). The drive up was fine. We made good time and checked into the hotel. But from there, as they say, was downhill. Prior to the gymnastics meet, we agreed to meet one of the other Champions mom’s for dinner at a pizza joint (Naked Pizza, who boasts serving the most healthy pizza) down by the Tulane University campus. Due to 5 o’clock traffic and us getting lost, we were late getting there. When we arrived, we discovered that the pizza joint was delivery-only, with no places to sit. So, we scrambled and phone-ordered our pizza from a friendly coffee shop around the corner. (We were running short on time to get Justus fed before the meet, and this so-called “plan” was not fitting into my sense of order at all!) We scarfed yummy pizza and some good coffee. And with five minutes to spare, we headed toward the Tulane Student Recreation Center. The directions were simple enough: “Straight down this street, cross that major intersection and it’s past the recreation fields.” We managed to get lost again and Trixie (my Acura navigation system) was lost too. Half of the streets had no street signs either – ugh, I hate that. Justus was ten minutes late for warm-up. He was stressed – not a good place to be right before competition. I was fuming – too much had been left up to right-brained people and six year old Trixie!
Justus managed to get his wits about him and had an amazing performance at the U.S. Regionals meet. Four of his six scores were his season highs, and he placed third in high bar. He missed placing in the all-around by only one tenth of a point. What more is there to say? Below is the Regional meet video:
After the meet, we decided to be adventurous and find a place to celebrate with a treat. We browsed the possibilities using Trixie’s restaurant locator (we still hadn’t learned), and finally set our heading for some French pastries. The roads around Tulane were torturous on my little Acura who protesting with each buckle and riddled pothole. When we arrived at the so called “French bakery” we discovered it was now something Justus called, “a scary bar.” Trixie’s dated information struck again. We finally found a burger patio restaurant that was quite excellent and we headed back to the hotel in Kenner. Early the next morning we headed back west. Rebecca had a dance to attend, and Justus and I had plans for a Houston Dynamo game.
Other than Justus performance, Louisiana had not been very kind us, and as we were waving goodbye it was sure to leave us with a final parting gift: a Louisiana state trooper issuing me a speeding ticket for going 78 in a 60. Ouch.
Finally we made it home. And as we were being picked up for the Dynamo game by another Champions family, we discovered the dad had been issued a speeding ticket by the same trooper. Oh, Louisiana… you are something else.
-D
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Back (yard) to the future
This morning is cool and calm, and I’m busy charging my cordless drills and collecting my socket wrenches.
When the kids were much smaller, about seven years ago, I decided to buy a playscape for the backyard. I had looked at all those kits you can buy at Walmart, made of untreated red-stained pine and cheap hardware, and quickly decided that there was NO WAY my kids were going to play on one of those flimsy things. So instead, I bought blueprints to make one from scratch – a large swingset/fort. I bought all the lumber and hardware, and set out to make the sturdiest combo swingset/fort money could buy. About four weeks later, with the help of a friend who had a drill-press, I completed the project.
Today, in about an hour the playscape will be coming down.
The backyard is in shambles: the lack of grass is causing soil erosion, the overgrown trees and playscape are preventing the grass to grow (leaving us with mud and weeds), and there is no place for our dog Harvey to lounge in grass to cool off. It’s an ugly mess, and while we all like the idea of our kids continuing to play in the fort and swing, it rarely happens anymore.
The kids, especially Rebecca, are a little sad. Lisa and I are a little sad, too. I like to think of myself as a pretty good self-diagnosing psychologist of sorts, and it seems to me we are mostly sad about loosing our memories, not the playscape. But really, our memories will always be with us as long as we like.
The upside to this melancholy event is that we are giving this playscape to a family of six young kids who truly really need it. The dad is coming over to help label joints and carefully disassemble the structure. We’ll place all the pieces in his rented trailer and he’ll haul it back to his family and reassemble it as a love offering to his kids.
Today is going to be a good day.
-D
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My musical heritage
This evening I was sitting at my desk at home. I was just relaxing after an afternoon run and shower. Letting my mind wander, I looked up and took in an old photograph that hung in front of me. I’ve enjoyed staring at it many times: a picture of my Papaw playing guitar back in the late 40’s or early 50’s. Often, it replays in my mind the scratchy 45 recordings of The Gene Hyde Orchestra I used to hear when I was a kid. A few things make the photo special to me: the big smile on Papaw’s face as he is playing with his band, the beer bottles scattered on the tables, and my Nanaw’s handwriting along the photo’s border documenting the names of the band members and the name of the dancehall the photo was taken: Al Boyce – Steel Guitar, Steve Lightsey – Bass, Gene – Guitar, Wiley Bryant – Piano, Victor Roby – Fiddle.
The dancehall: Dessau Hall in Pflugerville, Texas. Papaw headed several bands over his lifetime, mostly covering country-swing from the likes of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, and eventually adding a horn section to cover big band tunes. He also performed on live radio in Austin back in the day, where they broadcast using one microphone set in the middle of the room for the entire band.
Being a musician myself, I’ve always wanted to visit places where my Papaw played to get a sense of my musical heritage. I remember asking long ago if Dessau Hall still existed, and the answer came back, “No, I don’t think so. It’s been too long ago.” The old 45’s are now missing which saddens me, too. But, I’m blessed to have the very guitar (restored) my Papaw played (shown in the photo).
This evening I went to searching and found the article below (thank you Google), a local press release announcing the reopening of Dessau Hall. It looks like I’ll get a chance to visit after all. Happy trails.
Below is the photo and a few others.
By Pam Stephenson
Friday, 07 August 2009
PFLUGERVILLE — Dessau Hall reopened June 13 to a capacity crowd. A line wrapped around the building as many waited for patrons to leave so they could enter, per fire code regulations.
History
For decades Dessau Hall has provided a venue for dancing and music, and with the historic venue reopening under its original name, the tradition continues. Scores of musicians have performed there since German immigrants established it in 1876. The early days featured German music and traditional polka dances.
In the 1930s and 1940s, dancing to the sound of big bands was popular. Some of the well-known bands that played Dessau Hall during this era include Harry James, Glen Miller, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey and Woody Herman.
“I remember when we returned from the war [World War II] in 1945, everyone headed to Dessau Hall to dance and listen to the big bands,” said Joe W. Neal, a 92-year-old retired professor of intercultural communication at The University of Texas. “It was one of the most popular entertainment spots at that time.”
As country western music became popular, numerous artists performed at Dessau Hall. Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Jimmie Heap, George Strait, Hank Williams, Ruben Ramos, Merle Haggard and Bob Wills are just a few performers who played before becoming the famous musicians they are today.
Elvis Presley even played the hall twice. The first time, he played to a nearly empty hall in 1956. However, his second appearance the next year was sold out.
The building
The first Dessau Hall was a two-story building built in 1876. It burned in the early 1940s, and a new hall was erected at the same location. The single-story building was known for the huge tree that grew in the center of the dance floor. It was the site of many German May Fete celebrations and other family events. But in 1967, it also burned. The existing building was built in 1969 and features the largest floating wood dance floor in Texas at 3,000 sq. ft.
New owner’s vision
Robin Bagley of East Texas purchased the building in May with plans to rekindle the tradition of the old Dessau Hall.
Bands that played regularly at the hall years ago, The Debonnaires and People’s Choice, are booked again.
“There’s a lot of history here,” Bagley said. “We wanted to go back to pure country and western the way it was in the ’60s and ’70s. The best thing we could do was bring it back to where it was. Word is getting around. The crowds are getting bigger, and people are happy to see it back.”
The hall has been refurbished to a similar look and feel as its glory days. The walls were painted red to mirror the original red velvet walls, and many of the old light fixtures were found in storage and have been polished and rewired for use again. Red velvet curtains hang on the stage, and old newspaper clippings found at the hall have been framed and hang on the walls. An old chandelier found hanging from the rafters above the dropped ceiling is being refurbished and will soon hang over the refinished dance floor.
The iron cage that was used to detain those who broke the law in the small community of Dessau in the late 1800s was found behind the hall. It is now displayed to the right of the hall’s main entrance.
via Dessau Hall reopens.
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One in a million
[I found this article online. It reminds me of Justus’ pursuit of gymnastics. While he strives for the goal of being his best in each event, there are so many life skills that he is learning along the way, like perseverance, time management, managing disappointments, goal setting, never giving up, etc.]
The chances of a high school student eventually becoming first violin for the Boston Philharmonic: one in a million.
The chances of a high school student eventually playing basketball in the NBA? About the same.
In fact, the chances of someone growing up and getting a job precisely like yours, whatever it is, are similarly slim. (Head of development at an ad agency, director of admissions for a great college… you get the idea). Every good gig is a long shot, but in the end, a lot of talented people get good gigs. The odds of being happy and productive and well compensated aren’t one in a million at all, because there are many good gigs down the road. The odds are only slim if you pick precisely one job.
Here’s the lesson: the ardent or insane pursuit of a particular goal is a good idea if the steps you take along the way also prep you for other outcomes, each almost as good (or better). If pushing through the Dip and bending the market to your will and shipping on time and doing important and scary work are all things you need to develop along the way, then it doesn’t really matter so much if you don’t make the goal you set out to reach.
On the other hand, if you live a life of privation and spend serious time and money on a dead end path with only one outcome, you’ve described a path likely to leave you broken and bitter. Does spending your teenage years (and your twenties) in a room practicing the violin teach you anything about being a violin teacher or a concert promoter or some other job associated with music? If your happiness depends on your draft pick or a single audition, that’s giving way too much power to someone else.
via Seth’s Blog: One in a million.