For the past four years, my wife and I have had a son in the Mount Si band. We have gone to all the concerts and events in which the band participated. We have enjoyed every minute of every concert and were often amazed at the display of talent shown by the young men and women who have been a part of an extraordinary music program.

These young men and women have been a part of a program developed and designed by the Snoqualmie ValleyOs one-and-only Jerry Grady. For those of you who know Jerry, you will understand without saying that we have been fortunate to have such an outstanding teacher in our high school. For those of you who have not had a child in high-school band, I hope you took the time to go to a concert or two.

Mr. Grady retires this year. He would have retired last year, which was his plan, but there were some of us who begged him to stay one more year. (I suspect some of the students did, also.) He stayed, and for that we thank you, Mr. Grady.

We hope and trust you will have a full and wonderful retirement. We thank you for the investment you made in the lives of our children. We thank you for the concerts and the many cold, Friday nights during football season when you were there with the pep band, cheering on the team and the fans.

Thank you, Mr. Grady, for sharing with us your love of music and for your countless hours of dedication to the young musicians at Mount Si High. With our greatest respect and with the entire honor this family can give, we salute you.

Neal and Cheryl Bachelder

North Bend