Paul Strandberg's musical career
Recent posts on this blog about the historic achievements of Vince DiNino and other musical notables have caused Paul Strandberg, president of the Class of 1965, to review his brush with Cardinal greatness.
Paul had a brief but undistinguished career under the baton of Lyle Frank in the underground bandroom at Central Junior High circa 1961. Great musicians were spawned in this hallowed hole, Strandberg was not among them.
Paul played a cornet, an odd instrument not unlike an actual trumpet, in the junior high band.
Today he writes to tell us about it:

Paul says: As the last of four Strandberg siblings using the same cornet, I felt that surely I must somehow be the one destined for stardom. Unfortunately, Betty Larson and John Herdan practiced more than I did -- and perhaps they even had a smidge more talent. Whatever the case, fate dealt its cruel hand one sad day and dashed any hope I had for greatness.
The gallons of spit that had been propelled through our family horn over so many years, finally took its toll. As I adjusted a valve on the heirloom one morning in Lyle Frank's bandroom, it literally collapsed in my hands, having rusted through. There was no chance of repairing this totally exhausted instrument. It had simply had enough Strandberg spit. My hopes for cornet stardom were shattered along with it.

That remarkable incident gave rise to my vocal career. Again, I was sure in my mind, that I was destined for stardom in the choir. That is, until I heard my voice played back on Floyd Bolin's big old reel-to-reel tape recorder.
From then on, I did most of my singing on the tractor.

Strandberg broke all the rules, casually belting out old favorites with the trailboss and Betty Larson at the last class reunion. To be fair to Paul, peer pressure and alcohol may have been involved.

(Photo courtesy the Texas Rose, Lorlee Bartos.)