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Thief steals band director's heart from classroom

By Clay Lambert--Editor's Note
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007 - 02:06:49 pm PDT

Sometimes a theft hurts far beyond the monetary value of the things stolen. Case in point: the recent theft of trinkets from a classroom wall that were intrinsically all but worthless.

As John Evans wrote to me, "Someone broke into the Half Moon Bay High School band room and stole, not instruments, but memories."

Evans has been the school's band director for 11 years and, by his inexact count, has instilled a greater love of music in "thousands" of Coastside teenagers. So, when a thief entered his classroom sometime in late July, he or she stole a piece of Evans' heart.

Clay Lambert

When he arrived back from vacation on Aug. 1 he found he was missing a student's baby photo, given to him by a parent on the occasion of his student's 18th birthday. Gone, too, were posters made by the kids and a picture of jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson as well as silly sayings left by former students. In short, all the things that made the room, not merely a small part of a public institution, but a spirited classroom.

Evans was and remains devastated. He says he wishes the thief had made away with valuable instruments or perhaps the television in the room and left his memories intact.

He thinks it was an inside job of sorts, perpetrated by someone who didn't approve of the d�cor. A police report was filed on Aug. 6 and the school district is taking the theft seriously.

"What we have here," Evans told me, "is a kind of censorship."

He's hoping a little publicity will help flush out the culprit.

We'll see.

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