Special Thanks

A project like this does not come to fruition by the hands of one person. My story would not be what it was without the fine leadership of J.W. Koester, Myron Rosander, Jim Casella, Murray Gussack, and Rob Chavira. I would like to send a special thanks to my father Fred Van Wert who was most gracious in helping me with publishing costs. My wife stood by me in every way in these several years while compiling this account of my membership in the Santa Clara Vanguard. I would also like to thank each and every member of the Santa Clara Vanguard percussion section from 1996-1998. I grew in those years thanks to my brothers and sisters. I would like to offer a special thank you to current Santa Clara Vanguard Director Jeff Pearson for his graciousness and assistance with this project. Finally, I would like to thank Nick Shilling for inspiring me to go forth with this project and Chris Turner for helping me organize my thoughts.