By Jeremy Couso
SusanvilleStuff Publisher and Editor
Wait a minute! Scandal rocks the high school music world! We’ve been hoodwinked!
Remember that Lassen High School song “Loyal and True?“
“We’re loyal and true, we pledge allegiance to you…” you know, that one.
For nearly a century, at least, Lassen students have been singing the song. But, come to find out, we are not alone. A quick Google search will show that nearly 30 schools across the country use the exact same lyrics in their school songs.
Whether you were a Wildcat in Libertyville, Illinois, went to Sacred Heart School in Ville Platte, Louisiana or cheered on the Blackcats of Prestonburg, Kentucky you are familiar with Loyal and True.
“…this is our motto, we’re all for one and all for alma mater
here’s to our school long and high may she rule
forevermore you will find us always loyal and true!”
It’s one of the few things I still remember from high school. I’m sure it pushed some useful information out of my brain when it wedged itself in there real well.
But where did it come from? I want to know! I can go back through old ‘Rays from the Purple’ annuals at the museum I suppose, try and find the earliest reference. Maybe the U.S. Copyright Office?
I will check with LHS Music Instructor Ben Wade to see what he knows about it. I will ask Mrs. Bennett because she usually knows the answer to any Lassen High questions I ever have.
I am wildly curious about the identity of the composer and just how many schools across the country share our song. And another possibility – it could be that also there are a lot of other school songs that share the same melody, but with different words.
Think about that, it’s like suddenly finding out that you have thousands of relatives all over the country who all share the same school song but didn’t know it.
I am going to find out more. I also might have oversold it in the lede up there, but it is kind of weird to suddenly find out, at my advanced age, that our school song isn’t at all unique.
Mitch Lively
As I write this it is the opening day of Major League Baseball. A somewhat holy day, to be celebrated each year, whether or not there is snow on the ground here in Susanville.
I’m one of those guys who likes the Chicago Cubs, so I got to sit here at my desk this morning and listen to the Cubs beat the Brewers. And that friends, is a good start.
But that isn’t why I brought up baseball. I mention it because young Mitch Lively, Susanville’s bona fide professional baseball star is doing something cool – if you have baseball playing kids in your family looking for spring break activities Lively is offering personal lessons.
Lively is a great guy and the real deal, playing professional ball for the Rockies and the Giants here in the states and then shining as a pro in the Mexican and Chinese professional baseball leagues for the last ten years.
He will be giving private lessons from April 3rd through the 7th, from 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m., for kids on spring break, and even if the weather is bad I’m sure there are contingency plans if you want to book your lessons.
There are half and hour or full hour lessons available and you can also have Lively teach a small group lessons on pitching, hitting and physical training. Call Lively at 1.530.249.5521.
Egg Stuffing
Oh goodness! One of the very best things that we get to do each year here at SusanvilleStuff is coordinate the annual Susanville Community Easter Egg hunt. This will be the 7th year since Mrs. Couso and I took the reins and started being responsible for the event, which attracts around 2,500 local kids each year.
This is great fun for us, along with being really stressful. I always worry something is going to go wrong! Last year the winds were so bad that we had to do the egg hunt inside. Which was hilarious. This year we are more worried about snow. It has been a heck of a winter already and we are only a week away.
On Wednesday we had our big annual egg stuffing party at the Lassen County Fairgrounds. 40 volunteers showed up at Jensen Hall to assembly-line tasty treats into the 11,000 plastic eggs.
There were some folks who come and lend us a hand every single year. I think Gracie Claypool has come help stuff eggs every single year for the last seven years. We are so grateful for each and every volunteer who comes and helps.
The process is simple – we put a can of empty eggs at one end of a long table, which is covered with candy and another empty can at the far end. Each table has 4 to 7 volunteers around it, stuffing eggs and putting them in the cans to be strewn around the fairgrounds the day of the hunt.
It takes the crew about an hour to stuff the eggs and get them ready for Susanville’s kids.
I want to say a special thank you to the really nice folks at the Lassen County Fairgrounds who make this whole thing possible each year. Kaitlyn Midgely and her crew do a lot of work to make sure the event goes off as planned. The Junior Fair Board always puts in a great deal of effort both at the egg stuffing and the morning of the event.
Spring can’t be far away and I am just hoping it gets here before the Easter Egg Hunt on the 8th.
Have an absolutely wonderful weekend boys and girls! See you next week!
