Other unexpected appointments came when I was asked to serve as corporate secretary of TTM (Texas Transportation Museum Inc.) of which I was already serving as President of two of its divisions. On top of all of this came an appointment by the DFTM (Dreams Fulfilled Through Music Inc.) to serve on their board and later as treasurer.  “Dreams” is dedicated to the mainstreaming and rehabilitation of autistic spectrum disorder in children through adaptive musical therapy and to the training of teachers from a wide area.  At the Fort Worth TX state convention of TMTA (TX Music Teachers Assn.) in 2007 we signed up over fifty teachers who were interested in our organization.  In 2008 the state convention will be in Houston and we have been invited to give two presentations on the topic of teaching special needs students. We also have a complete syllabus for teaching piano to blind students.  One of our students is age fourteen, blind and comes from Austin for her classes for which we have a Braille syllabus. At last Decembers annual recital for challenged students, we had over thirty participants and one blind girl, all of whom played their assigned pieces very well in spite of  a wide range of impairments.

  Dreams has a senior recital accordion group featuring both students and parents who perform at many public functions during the year. Last year among others they performed on the steps of the nation’s capitol in Washington DC and in the state capitol in Austin. Congratulatory Proclamations were awarded by Mayer Hardberger of San Antonio and the Texas state senate. Development of a teacher training program with UTSA, SAMTA and others is now under development as the incidence of autism and related disorders is up 150% in just the last few years…and no one knows why. Everything from vaccinations to drug use has been blamed. 

  My travel plans for the 2007 vacation were greatly changed this year to permit attendance at the TMTA convention in Fort Worth as mentioned in paragraph one above. TMTA has 66 local associations in Texas (such as our SAMTA here in San Antonio) totaling 2,081 members (teachers) and 16,269 student affiliate members. 

  I paraphrase one of my submissions to the August 2007 “Ritornello” the newsletter of SAMTA. To wit:  For the second year in a row, DFW Hyatt Regency was the locale for our 93^rd annual TMTA state convention.  Some 462 teachers attended amid a mind boggling 5,790 student participatory events. Student rehearsals and ensemble presentations on sixteen grand pianos in the thousand seat auditorium took over two days.  And at the same time there were dozens of other events taking place such as student recitals, seminars on a wide variety of topics and a huge vendor display area.  Our program booklet was 83 pages long and if  you would like to attend, I recommend that  you download the convention program off the internet ahead of time so that  you can pre select areas of interest as it is physically impossible to attend but a fraction of the ongoing events.  At any one time their might be six or eight programs going on in many different areas of the hotel and you might even have to skip a few meals to be someplace. 

  In addition to the hundreds of events on the program were over forty exhibitors covering a wide variety of musically related items with dozens of students trying out the many pianos and keyboards creating an almost cacophonous, yet pleasant audio aroma.

     On another note, whenever Ebony (my dog) hears the garage door opening, she runs to the driveway barking at the top of her lungs to let all the neighbors know that I am leaving- not good behavior for a watch dog. And she has other behavioral problems.  Just found out that she is afraid of fireworks.  She insists on coming inside after the first salvo or two from the neighborhood.  She used to like sleeping in front of the frig in front of the warm air that comes out of the floor vent. Tonight she sniffed the cheese in the mousetrap next to the frig and got her nose zapped. Now she won’t go any where near that end of the kitchen. 

   And on yet another note (Sorry if I sound like a musician or piano teacher); one of the organizations I helped to start has topped the nine thousand member mark namely the RROC (Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club). I Received a nice Christmas card from Dr. John Tappia of Faucett MO, purchaser of my elegant Silver Wraith summer before last. He says he has enjoyed the car and drives it often.  (Picture available upon request). 

   Breaking news just in:  Our TTM general manager reports our most successful annual Christmas fund raiser ever.  Five US Marines in full uniform driving a huge military vehicle graced our opening night which is called “Toys for Tots” a city of San Antonio event.  The general public is admitted free with a wrapped gift and any donations are split between the children and the museum.  We were overwhelmed with admissions and hard pressed to find room to park the hundreds of cars that came.  Again The San Antonio Rag Time Society played on a Shavney Music donated piano all eight nights and were a big hit.  In addition the San Antonio Pipes and Drums (a bagpipe group) came two nights in their colorful kilts providing a unique musical experience for all.

   And the final note:  With gift card in hand from a student (I thought), I enjoyed a nice meal at Red Lobster only to find that I had left it on one of the pianos. Not all that bad however, as I now have an excuse to go back for yet another of my favorite meals. 

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Last update 1/18/2008

© 2007 John Stabe