"Student of the Month"
Student of the month for May – Bruce Gage
Bruce Gage fearlessly explores new opportunities and, as the saying goes, when he comes to a fork in the road, he takes it.
I have a vivid memory of Bruce from 11th grade during the JEF production of the musical “Annie Get Your Gun.” In one scene, the boys were supposed to be dancing around, but we basically were just sullenly standing in one place shifting from one foot to another. The director just let it go, but Bruce saw the chance to do something cool, and he got us all fired up, organized some very energetic choreography, and created a whirlwind of action on the stage.
I was totally blown away by Bruce’s initiative, creativity, and leadership. The rest of us just stood there waiting to be told what to do, while Bruce saw a problem and solved it, something exceedingly rare for an 11th grader.
Bruce’s biography after high school reflects those characteristics. He worked on campaigns for two Republican congressional candidates opposing Tom Foley. He became a trained massage therapist. He took a 6-month hiatus in Hawaii. At the age of 24, he became half owner of a health food store. He and his brother owned Welenco, where Bruce did sales and installation of fireplace heat exchangers..
In 1992, Bruce started his own business, WOW Pollution Control Systems, recycling antifreeze, oils, and wastewater from businesses like car washes. His big move was in 1999, when he started his solar energy and “green” building materials business, now known as EcoDepot. He bought property on East Sprague, where the business still resides.
In those days, solar panels fed into batteries. Bruce attended “Solar 101” training, and in 2000, installed the first 208 volt inverter to feed solar generated electricity into the Avista grid. Nobody in Spokane had ever done this before, and Bruce himself had never done it before. Imagine climbing up on the roof of the Community Building on Main Avenue and having the courage (and may I say, audacity?) to tackle such a highly technical project for the first time in your career, with nobody there to coach you. Very impressive. Since then, Bruce’s company has installed solar systems all over the region.
Bruce rents out part of his business space on Sprague to the New Moon Art Gallery, and he has created a cool event space for art shows and First Friday events. Definitely stop by and check it out!
Bruce’s memories from high school: getting caught taking an apple from the back of Mr. Hogue’s pickup (Hogue stocked the apple vending machine) and getting sent to the office where Mr. Lindsay brought Bruce’s mom in from her job as head cook in the cafeteria to reprimand Bruce. Dancing to “Funk 49” with Mary Moyer on his shoulders. Wearing pants and a shirt his girlfriend sewed to a formal dance.
Thank you, Bruce, for sharing your story. These are just a few highlights, but Megan says I have to stop at 500 words.
Student of the month March – Tamara Schupman (aka Tammy Sexton)
Everyone in Spokane who is active in the music or theater communities knows Tamara Schupman. Tamara taught grade school music for 14 years in Spokane Public Schools, was the conductor of the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus for 10 years, conducted the Oak Park Choir in Chicago for 7 years, appeared in the TV series “Going Home” (filmed in Spokane), has performed with the Coeur d’Alene Summer theater for 25 years, was in three productions at Spokane Civic Theater this year, not to mention professional stints in Big Fork, Montana, Cincinnati, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. As Tamara describes it, being in the performing arts is a “gig life.” She is a teacher, an actor a singer, and a conductor.
Tamara will be appearing in the Coeur d’Alene Summer theater production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof” this summer, opening on June 28, just a week after our 50-year reunion.
Tamara studied voice at the University of Oregon, concentrating on singing opera. After a ruptured appendix sidelined her at the end of her senior year, she came back to Spokane and got a job as a manager at Clinkerdagger’s, where none of us ran into her because we couldn’t afford to eat in restaurants at all, much less Clinkerdagger’s. By chance she landed a gig in Big Fork, Montana, which lead her to explore the world of musical theater, where she thrived and continues to thrive.
Tamara’s most interesting role (to me anyway, I’m a science nerd) is as a “Standard Patient” at the WSU Medical School in Spokane. She is given a script, list of symptoms, and social history for a “pretend” patient. She is instructed on the goals that the medical student is trying to reach, and then she undergoes an examination by the medical students, who must diagnose her illness and develop a treatment plan.
Tamara has fond memories of the music department at Ferris, especially Mr. Ron Wildey, head of the music department. When the school levy failed, Mr. Wildey created a class for the “serious” music students and taught them music theory and conducting as well as performing. He even took the choir to perform for President Nixon at Expo ’74!
She described Mr. Wildey as the “wisest, kindest man.” She told the story of when the Canterbury Belles performed at the Lakeland Village hospital, and one of the patients was a scary, snaggle-toothed guy who got up and danced awkwardly to their music. Tamara asked Mr Wildey why that patient was committed to the hospital, and Mr. Wildey looked her right in the eye and exclaimed “He’s an axe murderer!” Mr. Wildey actually ended up hiring Tamara as a teacher for Spokane Public Schools, and Tamara said that he was a compassionate mentor who helped her a lot in her early years of teaching.
We tried to remember the big school musicals from our years at JEF*, and came up with “Oklahoma” for 9th grade, “Oliver!” for 10th, and “Annie Get Your Gun” for 11th, but we came up blank for the big musical play of our senior year. Maybe there wasn’t one due to the levy failure?
Tamara has three fascinating children who live in Los Angeles, London and Bellevue. I would encourage you to ask Tamara, about her kids, they have interesting stories. You should also ask her what it was like to live across the street from Mr. Hedemark! (Hint: it turns out he was a really nice man.)
*They don’t use “JEF” as the abbreviation for Ferris anymore, they use “FHS” (Ferris High School.)
Saxon Chronicles Student of the Month for February is Scott Miller
In 1978, when most of us were floundering around trying to land a decent job or finish up a college degree, Scott Miller started his own landscape company. I can’t imagine having the audacity to start my own company at age 22, but as we well know, Scott practically invented “thinking outside of the box.” The business, Star Pruners, started out mostly providing weeding and mowing services to apartments and commercial properties. For the first 42 years, Star Pruners never used a power tool! Scott runs the business and still does hands-on work regularly. He has 5 employees that specialize in pruning hedges, bushes and trees under 25 feet tall. They are currently working on a big project for the Spokane Ronald McDonald house as way of giving back to the community.
Scott remembers loving his art and horticulture classes at JEF, and befriending some of the pretty girls who joined our class in 10th grade after they graduated from Libby Junior High. Scott is too much of a gentleman to name those girls, but Debby Cozza, Pam Rizzuto, and Kathy Hoagland are some random names I remember.
A less fond memory Scott has is of his Senior Project that he did for Mr. Rogalski’s class. Scott recorded segments of Frank Zappa music and prepared a survey that asked the students in the class to listen to the music selection and answer questions about their impressions and reactions to the music. (As an ex-teacher, I must say this sounds like an awesome Senior project!) Unfortunately, an administration member vetoed the project due to concerns about the music (really???), even though Scott had the project approved by Rogalski and Principal H. Lindsay. (As an ex-teacher I must say that this nameless administrator always struck me as someone who did not like teenagers, which begs the question of why he took a job in a building with 2000 teenagers.)
When the day came for Scott to give his report to the class, he explained that the admin had vetoed his project. In explaining the situation, Scott let his passion out, and told the class what he really thought about the situation, using language that was totally appropriate for a p-ed off 18-year-old boy. Mr. Rogalski just turned off the intercom and let Scott make his argument. (At this point in the conversation Scott and I both recalled being chided by our dads for not having “Respect for Authority.” We agreed that “questioning authority” was at least as important as “respecting authority.”)
Scott is enjoying an eventful and adventurous life. He has 8 kids, including stepchildren. Scott and his wife and kids studied ballet for 11 years. When that ran its course, Scott transitioned to yoga, and he still takes private classes twice a week. We had a good discussion about “mindfulness.” Scott prefers the term “quieting your mind”, and in addition to yoga, Scott spends time in his sauna and does 15 minutes of focused breathing exercises every day. For the rest of the day, Scott tries to stay in the “here and now” and to “be present.” Wonderful advice for all of us.
Scott and his family spend the month of April every year in Acapulco with Rob Reed and Greg Throop. One of Scott’s biggest adventures was a hitchhiking trip he took shortly after high school graduation to rescue Mike Breach from a boring job in Toledo, Ohio and drive with Mike to Miami. It’s a great story, ask him about it!
Scott admitted to coming to school one day wearing some “huge bellbottoms” that he bought in Seattle and a pair of buckskin platform shoes. Sadly, we didn’t have cell phones back then, because I would pay good money to see a photo of that!
Thank you Scott, for the thoroughly enjoyable conversation we had over coffee so I could write this profile!
Scott Miller now with Pete
The Saxon Chronicles Student of the Month is Doug Beckman
By Peter O'Brien
In February of 2023, legendary Saxon track coach Herm Caviness passed away at the age of 88. The Spokesman-Review newspaper published a very nice biography of Coach Caviness, accompanied by a photo of Herm (we always referred to him as “Herm”, but never to his face of course) with our very own Doug Beckman. The photo looks like it was taken at the old Martin Stadium track at WSU, probably right after Doug won the state championship in the 880. I remember that day because I was in the bleachers watching Doug run. I had purchased a ticket to the State Meet, definitely the only way I was ever going to get there!
This photo triggered a long-lost memory of our first track meet of senior year. The meet took place on a cold March day on the gravel track at the old University High School. Doug as usual won three or four races. I finished both hurdle races without falling down. After the meet, a very cute U-High cheerleader in full cheerleader regalia approached me and complimented me on what a great runner I was!
For about 10 seconds, I thought she was trying to flirt with me because of my Irish good looks, groovy comb-over hair style and wire frame glasses. Then it dawned on me that she thought I was Doug Beckman, the future Division 1 athlete! With a certain tall blonde in the back of my mind, I graciously thanked her for her compliment and excused myself. I immediately found Doug, told him what had happened, and encouraged him to introduce himself to the pretty cheerleader. Alas, about that time Herm came over and chastised me for fraternizing with the enemy. So, it was back on the school bus for the ride back to JEF where I probably hitched a ride home from Steve Moser.
Doug went on to have a successful college track career at the University of Idaho, where he is listed in their all time top 10 for the 1500 meter run. After college, Doug had a legendary career as an elementary school teacher in the Mead District. He taught elementary students from 1979 to 2021!!!! Over the years, whenever I met a student or parent from Brentwood Elementary School, I would ask them if they knew Mr. Beckman. Their responses were always enthusiastically positive: “Mr. Beckman was the best teacher I ever had! My kids loved Mr, Beckman, he is an amazing teacher!” As Herm would have said, as a runner and a teacher, Doug Beckman was “just outstanding.”
Next Month: The Saxon who keeps Spokane green and beautiful!
Coach Caviness and Doug Beckman