The holiday season and 2010 are nearing to a close as Jan. 1 is about to usher us all into a new year of living with shared challenges of supporting our families, maintaining our health and hopefully giving our children examples of how to conduct themselves as real contributors to society.

For those of us involved in the arts, we find the time to integrate our creative interests into our year’s planning. Some people are part time artists and some plan their lives and even their vacation plans around the next recital, play, concert or gallery showing.

For those highly involved in the arts, participation becomes more than a hobby, more than an extracurricular activity and more than an expression of themselves. It becomes a passion that motivates and becomes the driving force that can inspire hundreds or even thousands. Some of these artists are committed enough to become teachers who pass their passion of their chosen art onto students.

I was witness to this on Dec. 8 when Erin Lampe and Karin Moses, White River Glacier Middle School’s team of band directors, presented their holiday concert at the Annex auditorium in Buckley. I suppose I am in a small category of people who have no children in school but enjoy student concerts of all types. It gives me hope that we are still reaching for the artistic spark in our children that many of us have inherited as a natural desire of creative expression.

I was beyond impressed when I began listening to the journey that this team of dedicated teachers and their 57 students had been on for the last 13 weeks. I was amazed at the discipline these students showed and honored their teachers with. Most of these students had never touched a musical instrument until they joined this class.

We were treated to hearing what the band’s very first untrained note sounded like. That was so fun! We were also shown a series of demonstrations presenting accomplishments of breath control, reading musical symbols and how the band collectively mastered reading notes and rhythm. The students sat with straight backs in attention with their instruments ready to play during the informative and appreciated narration delivered so graciously by their teachers.

Great things are ahead for the area. Besides wonderful band concerts, look out for school and community plays. Local high schools are rich with talent. The students and teachers greatly appreciate your support when they see you attend their programs. So much time and hard work goes into these presentations.

Next spring Stage Door Productions will present “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” written by the team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Get ready for a spectacular family show filled with talent that it will knock your socks off.

The coming year will be a time to celebrate the arts by attending concerts, gallery openings, ballet recitals and plays. Take a trek up into the mountains and take some great photographs! You can volunteer to support concerts or plays by selling tickets, passing out programs or being back stage assistance. You need a willing heart, a commitment of a little time and a desire to help out a creative cause.

My admiration and thanks goes out to all the volunteers as well as the artists that have provided their time and talents to this community during the last year. You are amazing people and you know who you are. You cannot be thanked enough.