LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A Christmas Story

Hello out there to my fellow Hernando Today readers. I have one of those warm and fuzzy Christmas stories to share. Just when you thought I had nothing good to say. (Hey, that was about property taxes!)

At any rate, my fantastic granddaughter made me aware last Thursday night that the Hernando High band was having a concert at 7 p.m. Friday. Having been told by me (repeatedly) that I played the trumpet in high school and college, she was also aware that I participated in a band contest where I was one of three guys who played "Bugler's Holiday." This was in 1962!

Thus, it was a must that I attend since, you guessed it: They were going to play "Bugler's Holiday." (A cool song and tough to play.) It became for me an obsession to record this event.

Good grief! I had to be at work in Tampa at 6 a.m. Friday, not getting off until 4:30 p.m., returning to Brooksville at best by 5:30 p.m. Getting a decent seat meant get there by 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. concert.

Bear with me.

My camcorder was very dead! I called Circuit City in Spring Hill and found out from a lady named "China," and the store actually had the camcorder that I wanted. I explained my predicament and my obsession. China said that the camcorder would be waiting for me at customer service.

Now for the icing on the cake!

China saw to it that the camera had a disc in it, the batteries were installed and charged (one hour required) and it even had the date programmed in it. All that I had to do was turn it on and push the "record" button.

This was service "over and above," as they say. Without China, my attempt to do this would have been a dismal failure. She appreciated that I was in a real bind and that this was very special to me. Now I can play it every time the grandkids are here and say "did I ever tell you that your grandpa played that?"

Merry Christmas to China and all the rest of Santa's helpers out there.

Dave Miesch

Brooksville