Mike Haskins

Yes

I was born in Illinois, grew up in the Bay Area, and attended Bernal Jr High and graduated from Oak Grove High School (1982-1986).

Band was pretty much my life and social circle. I played trumpet when I came into the band, but moved almost immediately over to low brass and then to tuba to fill a void left by two graduating seniors. My pride and commitment to band was shaped by a couple of guys who had more influence on my life than any of us would have guessed... Marc Hunter and Darrell Duane/Steburg (currently an officer in the present-day OGHS Band Boosters).

I enlisted in the Army Reserve right after high school and did my Basic Training at Ft. Leonardwood, MO. Ask me about my missed opportunity to go Airborne and the time they called me out in front of the whole company because they thought I couldn't march. After Basic, I remained on base to intern with the Army Band there. It was mostly parades and graduations, but we prepared for one concert... the annual Christmas shebang. The rehearsal we had for that was more intense than any performance we in high school... no joke.

I had a couple of lame duck semesters at "Waste Valley" Community College. But it was here that, with the help of the amazing Joan Stubbe, I switched over to confidently pursue lifelong musicianship on the piano.

I went to "real" college in Orange County, married Amy (Norman) Haskins, and began my career as a professional youth worker and pastor in an inner city community in San Diego where I had my first experience with a Hammond B-3 organ.

We later moved to Oregon where my wife completed a master's degree in Social Work and I served (alternately) as a pastor, bell captain, and special ed assistant. We parented 28 foster children during our time in Troutdale, OR.

Five years ago we headed to Central Oregon to work at another church. Since my time there ended almost a year ago, I have partnered with Leadership Link, Inc. to become a business/organizational consultant.

We are currently in the process of selling our home in Redmond, OR (just got an offer!) and looking for our next adventure. I have to part with my five guitars, a Hammond organ & leslie (I already sold the other 3), a piano, and a keyboard. But keeping the digital piano (since it is my bro's) that I use regularly to play for our church.

I am a musician, teach my own method of piano, play disc golf, guide rafts on the Deschutes River, and obsess over any number of hobbies that cross my path. I enjoy (sometimes too much) to study, read, and use computers.

We have a son named Josiah... a miracle child for whose arrival we waited almost 15 years. Almost a leap year baby, he is an amazing child... energetic, strong, and an encourager. We did a lot of traveling the year after he was born and he logged over 10,000 air miles before he was even a year old. He loves to read, climb, play dough, and watching Diego (over and over and over and over...).

I just got invited to join a R&B band that gigs locally. I'll let you know on that one.

I still believe that the 82-86 class had the best ride... the band we joined as freshmen was still doing "march-then-play" and using those obnoxious music holders. Band competitions were fun and band programs like Independence High School were awe inspiring. By our senior year, however, we were competing for the top of our class and challenging the top dogs in intense open class competition... even outscoring Independence (to be fair... we came uphill, but their program was going downhill. I don't know that we could have touched them in their prime).

We started doing parades again... the rumor was that Mike Wells swore them off after a drum major took the band off a parade route into the red light district in SF. This resulted in several really cool trips to march in Hollywood, Disneyland, and the crown jewel of parades... Macy's. It also meant a moratorium on family Thanksgivings in exchange for the worst possible Thanksgiving meals imaginable.

Friends and even family have asked me how I remember so much of high school... I guess it was because my high school experience was defined by something that gave me a sense of purpose and identity that I still, in part, carry with me. For me, the band was my family... it was something that gave me purpose and a reason to stay engaged with school. We had a connectedness borne out the music we worked together to create, many long hours of rehearsal and travel together, and forged by our shared experiences. Band was also my ticket to see the world beyond our suburbia and travel to places I never would have seen in my youth. Most of all... band was where most of my closest friends were.

Memorable experiences in band would have to be...

Snapping my horn up to the press box for our "company front" the last time we performed in competition at Music Bowl... it was pouring down rain and the brightness of the stadium lights let you see it fall from so much higher. It was kind of surreal and definitely a "you have to be there" kind of experience.

Mike Wells' suicide (I hate it that this one makes the list... but he'd become a father-figure for me, I already had some abandonment issues, so it was intensely painful... hence memorable). I remember stumbling out Ms. Espinoza's class into the commons and a couple of people coming around me (not even sure who) to steer me to the band room.

The tape I put down in my hallway at home so that I could practice walking "8 to 5" every time I left my room or went to the bathroom.

The Macy's trip definitely makes the list, with the experience of NY with friends higher on the enjoyment scale than the parade itself. That day ranked for quite awhile as one of the most physically miserable days of my life.

Sitting next to Mark Hunter at Music Bowl listening to Bob & Wayne-era Independence HS perform. WOW!!

Competitions in Coalinga... who can forget going to Coalinga? I can't smell cow manure without thinking of that invitational. I just met a "Horned Toad" grad the other day too.

Can't wait to see you all and catch up!