A Must-See, Hopatcong High School Drama Club's All Shook Up

On March 30- April 2 The Hopatcong High School Drama Club is presenting All Shook Up.

All Shook Up is a musical based on the music of Elvis Presley featuring the songs “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “That’s All Right”, “Teddybear and Hound Dog”, “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, and many more. The musical was picked by our director Mr. Joseph Ross, who is assisted by Choreographer  Mrs. Pat, Technical Director Mr. Michael Batche, and Singing Teacher Mrs. Fersch.

A scene from the Hopatcong High School Drama Club's
Production of
All Shook Up

In the Drama Club there are several crews. Acting Crew, which I am a member of for the first time this show, includes all of the actors and extras who perform on stage. The Sound/Lights(Tech) Crew, which I am also a member for two shows now, creates the sound effects, visual effects, and all of the behind-the-scenes magic that makes the production come together., Construction and Paint which sets the scene literally for our show’s setting and mood..

Matt Smith on far right
His stage debut!

Our Crews have been working very hard to create, produce, and publicize All Shook Up. The Pit Orchestra will be playing the songs as the ensemble sings the lyrics. The conductor of the Pit Orchestra is the Band Director Mr. Kurt Zimmermann, and he is the best Band Director Hopatcong has ever had as I have written previously in the blog titled “Person of Inspiration: Mr. Zimmermann” at my site What I’ve Learned By: ML 187.

All Shook Up is a wonderful musical about an unnamed town with a mean mayor named Matilda. Matilda was very strict and made laws against “making out” (kissing)  in public. The town was very boring, then a roustabout named Chad, who is like the Elvis character, came to the town and started making trouble.

Chad begins to make friends with people and falls in love with a woman who loves a different man who loves a different woman who loves a different man who loves a different woman that loves Chad. The entire cast is stuck in a circle of love which was all started by the roustabout Chad.  The show is a sad show about love that is not returned and forbidden love and rule breakers that take the town by storm and make trouble for the mayor.

In the second act, everyone starts loving other people and by the end of the show… well, you just have to come see the Hopatcong High School Drama Club’s production of All Shook Up to see how this thrilling tale ends!

As a member of this production of All Shook Up, I believe this is a wonderful show and it is definitely worth coming out with your family and friends for a fantastic evening (or Sunday afternoon). All Shook Up is performed in two acts with a 15 minute intermission. During intermission a scrumptious food arrangement is available for purchase including baked goods made by the parents of some of the club members. We are in final rehearsals of the musical and are very excited to present the show to you!

This show is filled with terrific music, an unparalleled love(s) story, a surprise ending, and is definitely the hotest ticket of the year!

I invite you all to come watch the Hopatcong High School Drama Club March 30-31, April 1-2 in our production of the musical All Shook Up.

Marching Chiefs Hit the Field 2015-2016 Season

The 2015 football season I joined the Marching Chiefs band. It was my first year on the Chiefs; I am an eighth grader in my last year of middle school. My band director Mr. Zimmermann believes in allowing dedicated musicians become members of the varsity marching band and this year I did just that. This season my marching band included six eighth graders (including me) and three seventh graders. We were an integral part of the band. 

Band camp happened in the middle of August for five long, hot days and nights. We rehearsed, learned music, moves, marching, and the bulk of the halftime show during 13 hour plus days at our high school football and softball fields as well as our band and chorus rooms. By Friday of Band Camp week the parents were invited to see the show which was not complete but definitely better than when we'd started during our first ever practice in May.

Practices continued after Band Camp Week and once school started in September. Each practice we added more to the show, changed things, and continued to make the show better. In fact, every game saw cool changes to our performance so fans would want to stay and watch every time we took the field. We played a great half-time show every game thanks to our amazing Band Director Mr. Zimmermann and his friends who put the show together. 

We played the music of Styx and Fall Out Boy. The songs we played were "Renegade", "Centuries", "Come Sail Away" and finally "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark", in that order. 

The show had a mixture of singing and playing which was really cool and a crowd-pleaser. In addition to the music there was choreography including flag work by the color guard and select trumpet, flute, and clarinet players. That part was designed by Fred Moreno who also taught us how to march.

I was at Marching band so much it started to become my life! No complaints!

Mr. Zimmermann is an amazing teacher. He makes me come back every week for marching band because he constantly inspires me and my band. Check out my piece about Mr. Zimmermann here:  https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=513269286751420039#editor/target=post;postID=6118998447446740342;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=4;src=postname

The season was tremendous and included one marching competition, a marching festival and a trip to West Point Army college.  

It was the first time our band competed more than once in a season in recent years. Our first competition we did okay. By the time we competed at the festival we had improved our scores and earned silver ratings!

Performing at West Point was a great experience for everyone involved in the marching band. We left our school at 4a with everyone really tired, but excited. Despite our early departure we still arrived late due to a miss-turn by the bus driver. West Point officials greeted us in a rush and sent us on the field for our practice rehearsal. Afterwards we were allowed to witness the cadet band marching and performing. It was precise and excellent! Later we performed during halftime of the game with a dozen other school bands from all around plus the West Point bands. We rocked the stadium playing "Shake It Off", "Sweet Caroline", and "New York, New York". I'll always remember this experience!

The marching band season was awesome! Now my band is in Pep band season.  We will play more of the same music with old and new faces. Soon the Marching Chiefs will be going to play at a New Jersey Devils game. This will be huge to get our band more known in many places.

Marching Band has helped me in a lot of ways. It has forced me to do better on my school work. It has also helped me to memorize things that I learn so if I forget to study or my music drops in the middle of a concert then I won't be in a lot of trouble.

As the school year comes to a close I get sad for two reasons. First, my band mates and I all like the music and will miss performing it together,  but most of all we are losing all of the seniors and it is hard to watch them leave. Most of them are going to colleges in different states which is upsetting to me personally because they are great friends. But others are going to college nearby and are going to go to band camp in the summer.I'm glad about that!

The first year of marching band was awesome. Next year's show is going to be even better and is going to include every one using a percussion instrument at the end. This will be a challenge for me, but one I'm ready to meet and excel at for my band.

Marching Band is the absolute best and I suggest all high school, college, and in some cases middle schoolers join. It was the best thing I ever did!

Jeff Gordon Retirement!!

I've watched NASCAR for as long as I can remember. I picked Jeff Gordon as my favorite driver because I liked the car colors. 

One Valentines day my mom was buying a Dale Earnhardt jacket for my dad so I wanted her to get a Jeff Gordon one as well. She did! 

The next month we met several of our racing friends at Martinsville Speedway to see my brother and my first live NASCAR Sprint Cup Race (March 2009). Mom wore the Jeff Gordon jacket because it was too big on me!



I watched my first Daytona 500 when I was six months old. By the time I was 18 months old I was eating nachos with my dad. I can only remember rooting for Jeff Gordon throughout my life. He is a part of my earliest memories.

I was upset to find out about Jeff Gordon's decision to stop racing full time in the Sprint Cup series  at the end of 2015. He was and still is my favorite driver and I'm upset that I'll have to root for someone else starting in 2016. 

Gordon has several sponsors such as Panasonic, Drive to end Hunger, DuPont, Niccorette, 3M, Imron Elite, Zyntac, Farm Ville, Pepsi, AARP, National Guard, and Looney Tunes. At one time he was sponsored by a Star Wars movie through Pepsi which I had a shirt of that I wore out! Star Wars and Jeff Gordon - two of my favorite things!


Gordon drives the No. 24 Chevy Impala. Before he came to NASCAR Gordon had a long history of racing everything from quarter midgets to sprint cars. He wanted to find a ride in IndyCar but that never worked out.

Gordon races for Rick Hendrick along with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, and Jimmie Johnson. Gordon started in the Busch series, which is now the Xfinity series, and worked his way up to Sprint Cup series.

Gordon earned his last of four Sprint Cup championships in 2001, the year before I was born. But even though he has never won a championship in my lifetime, he is still a winner and continues to add to his race winning totals nearly every year I have watched him. He is currently third on the all-time wins list of NASCAR drivers behind Richard Petty and David Pearson. He has 92 wins and could add to that total this year!

Gordon was in the Chevy Camaro Commercial were he is disguised and fooled a car dealer. This is hilarious and one of my favorite commercials ever. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5mHPo2yDG8

Gordon was also featured in one of my favorite Disney movies, Cars 2 where he plays Jeff Gorvette, a Chevy Corvette GT car. 

I always try to watch the last 10 laps in all Sprint Cup races and especially if Gordon leads! 

This year I will try to watch every race. I hope Gordon earns his fifth championship in his last year of full time driving in the Sprint Cup Series. 

After 2015 I will root for Chase Elliot who will be taking over in the No. 24 and Tony Stewart in the No. 14 because he was always my second favorite after Gordon. 

I hope Jeff Gordon races his heart out this year and we have many victories to celebrate. Either way, I'll remain his fan.

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow!!!!

Snow Snow Snow, what a wonderfully crystally, lustrous thing. It gets you out of annoying school and makes you happy. I can do lots of fun things on this long fun weekend. I have a strange theory that when our snow plow/blower are blocked as well as when a snow warning is issued for our area, we will get a lot of snow. The forecast here says 10-18" on top of the 1' from this past Saturday, the day my Boy Scout Troop participated in the district Klondike Derby. I'm not expecting school in the next two days so I'm going to build forts and have snow ball fights with my siblings. We had the plow and blower blocked last night so at 6:30 am I helped attach the plow to my dad's truck. 


Right now in all we have about  one and a half feet of combined snow from over the weekend and today and more on the way. By the looks of it we are going to have more than two feet. I can't wait to go sledding in the awesomely cold snow. It's so wonderful being in snow. I love it so much until it freezes into ice. Ice stinks because it makes everything too slippery.

On Saturday January 24th 2015 my troop did the Klondike Derby at Allamuchy state park. The Klondike Derby was originally a hunt for gold in Canada. Sled riders used dogs to pull sleds to win the most gold. The winners won a fortune in gold and others were left in the snowy dust. Today we Boy Scouts take part in a series of activities like setting up tents, signaling via hand signals and orienting maps or finding north on a map. Also we had sled inspections which made sure we had everything, made fires to cook our lunches, tied many knots and identified animal tracks and map signals. We had a fun time and got 5th place out of 12 teams in the junior sleds.

Snow days can really be a ton of fun. I wish we had them every day and school did not exist. Of course, then I'd miss band so I'll take the snow days we get and enjoy every minute.

Person of Inspiration: Mr. Zimmermann

There are approximately seven billion people in the world. A very small portion of those people inspire me. My parents are two and then the one person who inspires me a lot I’m not related to is Mr. Kurt Zimmermann. He is an amazing trumpet player, is a member of the Hanover Wind Symphony, and my band teacher.

Mr. Zimmermann is a great band teacher, and he works at my school. He is teacher of Pep, Marching, Pit, Holiday Ensemble, and many other bands. He uses great puns and jokes in class. In addition to being a terrific teacher, Mr. Zimmermann is also a husband and father. He has one young son.


Mr. Zimmermann helped me improve my playing. He taught me my scales. He helped me learn my notes and rhythms. He also taught me a lot of songs on my trombone. Mr. Z, as his students call him, helped me with my tone quality, and he taught me intervals. Mr. Z makes me want to play in pep (which I’m in) and marching band, which I plan to do next summer.

To get people to play well he threatens to lower grades by five points! But this does not change how much his students and I respect him. In return he treats me and my band mates with respect and like equals. He is always a fun and cool teacher. Mr. Z makes himself available and does a lot of band events, above and beyond other teachers.

Mr. Zimmermann is the person who inspires me.

Christmas!!!!!!!

Finally! Christmas is here. Making awesome food, having many wonderful guests, getting amazing presents, giving many gifts are all a part of my Christmas celebrations. It is all part of the spirit of the holiday cool season. In the house we are busy with two uncles, two sets of grandparents, our one present cousin, and my grand-aunt and grand-uncle who came to dinner the Sunday before Christmas.

Over the Christmas break, so far I have made several dinners including a great pasta dish (spaghetti and meat sauce) and I helped with the 20lb turkey. They were all delicious, and everybody liked them. I thought they were out of this world. I worked very hard on the wonderful meals.

We have had our, almost, entire huge family over. Uncles, our Cousin, Grand-Parents, Grand-Aunt's, and Grand-Uncles. And of course my brother, sister, Mom, and Dad. We are having a great time. Every day my family takes a hike in the woods behind our house. It is great exercise.

I had fun watching my family open their many presents. I gave my brother an invisible ink pen, my mom a #1 mom bracelet that my brother picked but I paid for, my sister a Barbie activity book, and my dad a cutting board. I also had fun opening my many presents. I got texting gloves, a ski cap, a basketball hoop for a door, a stress "man", a trombone liar (clip-on music stand) and trombone stand to hold the trombone at rest. I also got a Bermudian Flag and a chalk board string, Two Lego Star Wars books, a sunken treasure book, fake mustaches, Lego Star Wars General Grievous' Wheel Bike, lots of socks (sports socks, multi-colored socks and normal socks), card tricks, a magic set, a small wooden box with a magnetic lid, calculator watch, sports watch, three ties (Which were really cool), shirts (for ties, a polo and two T-shirts), a bowtie/pocket handkerchief, and bow tie pins/notepad.

Christmas has been fun this year. I hope you had a great one too.

Hersheypark ROCKS!

My family and I went to Hersheypark in Pennsylvania with our friends. In the car we watched Wreck-it-Ralph. I was excited to return to Hersheypark, a place I've been going to since I was three years old. In recent years we've been going to Hersheypark for their Christmas Candycane Lane event. I love going on all of the rides at Hersheypark!

When we arrived we went directly on the Hershey ride at Chocolate World. It's free and you go through a tour of how Hershey's chocolate is made. At the end of the tour we were given a free Hershey's chocolate sample. This time it was Kit-Kats, one of my favorites although I like Hersehy's Special Dark the very best.

Before we got in the park we measured my little brother and sister outside the gates. Greg was a Twizzler and Rosemilee was a Reese's. The measuring goes from smallest which is Miniatures to tallest which is Jolly Rancher. In between from smallest to largest is Kisses, Reese's, Hersheys, and Twizzlers. I have been Jolly Rancher since last Christmas. My cousin who is nearly six feet tall at 13 years old is also a Jolly Rancher.

Once in the park We went to the Tilt-A-Whirl then the Carousel. Then we sat through a Holiday show, which was a little boring, but my mom always insists we go as a family to watch. After that we went on the Pirate which was the best ride ever (considering that the roller coasters were shut down.)

We went to the Reindeer Stables. I knew that they weren't really Santa's Reindeer but I did not say anything to my sister. They had nine reindeer and each one was given the name of one of Santa's reindeer including Rudolph. One thing I learned about them was that the female reindeer have antlers, not just the males. So, all of the reindeer we saw were females. Later We went on the Monorail which was a lot of fun. We also went on the Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge! This rides is one of my favorites because Reese's is one of my favorite candies and the ride allows you to shoot with laser guns at targets. The whole family plus all of our friends went on this ride and laughed!I earned 8000 points! My brother who is four years younger than me doubled my score.

We took time to meet "Santa" (quotation marks because he was not the real Santa). He asked what we wanted and we all said something different. I told Santa I wanted the large Lego Agents set that I've been wanting since my August birthday. As we left Santa gave us a small Hershey bar instead of a candy cane.

The last ride we went on at Hersheypark was the Wave Swinger. It's really the swing ride that is tons of fun. That was the second best ride this vacation. Finally, we went on the Chocolate World ride two more times - once with Mom and Dad, and once with just Dad because Mom was shopping in the gift store. I wonder if she bought me anything?!

During the ride home we watched Rise of the Guardians. We got home around 10:30pm and I fell fast asleep at 10:45pm.

I've learned that Hersheypark is truly the sweetest place on Earth!

Cooking Is AWESOME!

I have always enjoyed watching my parents make meals. Whether it was spaghetti, egg sandwiches, or lamb chops with side dishes, I was interested in the process.

My dad taught me how to cook eggs and pilaf. The pilaf is a family recipe. It contains brown rice, whole wheat pasta, bulgur wheat, broth, and REAL butter. I was very good! I helped with a lot of dinners.

This year I became a Boy Scout. I am currently taking the cooking merit badge. Although I still have a lot left to do like plan and make meals for camping trips, I have made several meals at home. I started with spaghetti and meatballs and Caesar salad. My family thought it was great!!!

Next I made scrambled eggs and sausage with a side of banana for breakfast. Another morning I served waffles and sausage with juice. For lunch I served grilled cheese thin bagels with bacon bits and tomato with cut up apples.

I also made chocolate milk which was a treat that my brother and sister loved.

For dinner another night I whipped up Shake 'N Bake pork chops, skin-on mashed potatoes, Caesar salad (because it is my favorite), and fresh watermelon chunks.

I still have a lot to learn about cooking. I have learned that not only is cooking fun but it is easy and I am really good at it! Next up I can't wait to cook lobster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ML187 is an incoming middle schooler who will start sixth grade in September. In the past year he has earned his junior black belt (Shodan Ho) , become a Boy Scout, and played for a second year in Little League. He enjoys swimming, playing with his Legos, reading his well-loved Lego books, and playing Wii-U. ML187 is an aspiring cook, picker, and Lego collector. His mom makes him write these blogs but he enjoys the feedback from his readers!

Salmon is Delicious!

What I learned is that I love salmon. I started eating salmon at one year old. Salmon is my favorite fish now. I'll even eat salmon burgers that my family buys frozen at Costco. I put on my salmon burger ketchup,tomato, and mustard.

I liked salmon sushi at seven.

It wasn't my favorite. My favorite sushi is actually California Rolls.

As much as I like salmon, it tastes better to me as cooked fish than raw in a sushi roll. I don't eat salmon as sushi anymore.

My dad grills and bakes salmon. It taste good both ways. I like the way salmon has a strong taste. If I had never tried salmon I wouldn't know how much I liked it. Trying new foods is fun and easy!

I will always like salmon. That is how I learned to enjoy salmon.

Matthew turned 10 in August 2012. With school out of session for the summer, his mother told him to write every week day. She said it will prepare him for 5th grade.

These are Matthew’s musings of the things he has learned in his 10 years of life on this planet.

Please join him each week day as he explores the many things he has learned in his own “voice”.

Feel free to comment as it encourages the lad to keep writing!

I Want to Catch Another Fish

I said in the last post about fishing that I had caught two bass. Well, I caught a third.

I caught the third bass by just a pull of the rod. It just got me closer to my goal. My goal is four Bass. I want to catch four bass like my dad.

I'm going fishing in two local lakes near my home. I'm going to catch it (probably) in the one closest to our house. I'm going to catch it there because I caught two at the further one that is much larger and I only caught one at the other. I like fishing at either location.

I'm going to try to catch it before 2013. While fishing with my Uncle, casting under the boat at my grandfather's dock, I simply lifted the rod and the bass was there. This time I plan to cast all night if that is what it takes to catch the fourth bass.

I Love Fishing

What I learned is that fishing is fun. I stared catching sunnys no bigger than seven

inches when I was four.






Then my brother caught a Perch when he was four.

He caught sunnys too. My dad had the most luck. He catches bass after bass.

Last year I caught an eighteen inch bass. I was fishing under a boat and the strongest pull ever happened to me. It almost died but we saved it. Dad took the hook and put the fish in the water.


Then at Bear Pond I caught a seven inch Bass. Then I caught an eight inch sunny. Weeks ago I saw a huge splash in Bear Pond - there is something big in Bear Pond!! That is where I learned to like fishing.

Matthew is turning 10 in August 2012. With school out of session for the summer, his mother told him to write every week day. She said it will prepare him for 5th grade.

These are Matthew’s musings of the things he has learned in his (almost) 10 years of life on this planet.

Please join him each week day as he explores the many things he has learned in his own “voice”.

Feel free to comment as it encourages the lad to keep writing!

Going to the beach is fun!!

What I learned is that I like going to the beach. I liked it first on my first Christmas. I went to Charleston, South Carolina to visit my Grandma and Grandpa. I played in the sand and tidal pools.

At age five I got hit by a wave. I flipped over and got salt in my mouth and nose. I felt bad for some of the week. Even though that happened to me, I always liked going to the beach. Swimming in the ocean, looking for shells, and building sand castles with my Grandma and Dad are the things I like to do. I like going to the beach every year.

This might be my first year I don't go to the beach. I am sad. I'm going to make up for it. I'm going to tell my parents I want to go to the beach twice next year!

That is how I learned to like going to beaches.




Matthew is turning 10 in August 2012. With school out of session for the summer, his mother told him to write every week day. She said it will prepare him for 5th grade.

These are Matthew’s musings of the things he has learned in his (almost) 10 years of life on this planet.

Please join him each week day as he explores the many things he has learned in his own “voice”.

Feel free to comment as it encourages the lad to keep writing!

Cub Scout Camp is Fun!

What I learned is that I like to go to Cub Scout camp. I started as a Wolf and was scared because it was my first year. That was four years ago. But I had a lot of fun. I learned

to do archery and my Grandpa and Grandma bought me an archery set for my August birthday that year.

As a Bear I got "Butterflies" the night before camp started and the morning of the first day. Both years I had a good time, made friends, and learned new things.

Last year as a first year WEBELOS I still felt more "Butterflies" and had a nervous stomach. But like each year before I still had fun. I felt better after camp. I felt the same again the next day. I felt better by the end of the second day of camp.

This year I had the same thing happen but only for the first day. I hope tomorrow I don't feel bad. I'm going to be a brave camper. I'm going to make my last year of Cub Scout camp my best year.

That is how I'm going to break through my fears. Because deep down I know I really do like camp!

Matthew is turning 10 in August 2012. With school out of session for the summer, his mother told him to write every week day. She said it will prepare him for 5th grade.

These are Matthew’s musings of the things he has learned in his (almost) 10 years of life on this planet.

Please join him each week day as he explores the many things he has learned in his own “voice”.

Feel free to comment as it encourages the lad to keep writing!

Wii is Fun!

What I learned is to like playing Wii. I won the Wii at karate when I was five years old. It was a raffle prize and it came with Wii Sports. I was a Dragon Blue-striped belt. It was a first place prize. I was so happy and surprised to have won. My parents were, too.

Over the years I got Lego Indiana Jones I and II, Endless Ocean, Speed Racer, Lego Harry Potter 1-4 and 5-7, Game Party, Carnival, Lego Batman, Wii Fit, and Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga. I'm best at Lego games. I finish them with walk-throughs. I sometimes lose people I have "purchased" and levels I have completed. I go through the levels fast.

This summer my Wii isn't working. We have to check the button box. If that doesn't work we buy a new button box. If it does work we have to buy a new console.I hope it is just the button box because it is cheaper. I cannot wait until the Wii is fixed.

That is how I learned to like Wii!

Matthew is turning 10 in August 2012. With school out of session for the summer, his mother told him to write every week day. She said it will prepare him for 5th grade.

These are Matthew’s musings of the things he has learned in his (almost) 10 years of life on this planet.

Please join him each week day as he explores the many things he has learned in his own “voice”.

Feel free to comment as it encourages the lad to keep writing!