The Punahou School Marching Band to perform at the Inaugural Parade

I heard today that the Punahou School Marching Band will be marching in the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC on January 20. I attended Puanhou School and was a member of the marching band, serving as drum major my junior and senior years (1979-1981). President Obama attended Puanhou School and graduated in 1979. I recall being in the basketball band and seeing the future president play. The 1979 team was the first team of three consecutive state champions. If my memory serves me, the 1979 championship game against Moanalua went into triple overtime as Puanhou won in the last minute. It was a great time to be a band geek and Puanhou fan!

As people find out that I went to school with President Obama, they ask if we knew each other. That would be a negative. He was a jock and I was a band geek. Punahou was a big school and I wasn't the most socially mobile student in school. I knew who Barry was. He was the only African-American student (I think) at a school full of haoles (whites), orientals, and polynesians. He is candid about his struggles fitting in at Puanhou; however, he credits his Punahou education as world-class. I would concur. I am sure that the President and I would agree on the value of a Puanhou eduation has been on our lives. Although I disagree with most of the President's politics, I share the pride felt, along with the entire Puanhou community, as a "local boy makes good." I wish the Puanhou Marching Band luck, and warmth, as they perform at the inagural parade.

ST