Sarah Dunsmore, Trumpeter, sounds “Taps,” Veterans Day, 2015

The program for the Veterans Day Ceremony announced that as Post Bugler for VFW Post 1040, I would play “Assembly” to open the 30-minute ceremony at Veterans Park in Lynnwood on 11 November. Then at the conclusion of the event, my trumpet student and I would perform “Echo Taps.” But at the last moment, I could not play.

So the young lady, a senior at Juanita High School in Kirkland who has taken trumpet lessons from me for the past six years, had to solo. And that she did. Today, as I post this article, is Thanksgiving Day. I am thankful to Sarah Dunsmore—she “saved my bacon.”

Meanwhile, others on the program performed as planned. That included the following:

• Northwest Jr. Pipe Band
• Legion of Honor, Nile Shrine Center
• Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1040 Honor Guard
• Martin Spani, VFW Post 1040 Past Commander
• Nicola Smith, Mayor, Lynnwood
• Manuel Ventosa, US Army WWII Veteran
• Jim Smith, Former Lynnwood City Councilmember
• John Beam, Pat McGrady, Bob Jeske, Ray Colby, Max Bettman, Veterans
• Myra Rintakmaki, Gold Star Mothers
• VFW Post 1040 Honor Guard
• Boy Scouts of America, Lynnwood Troup 49
• Cub Scouts of America, Pack 331

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