Holiday Park (1978-1983)
Champaign, Illinois

I’ve always loved to run. 

Every activity growing up was a chance to run as fast, or as far, as I could.

I would sprint up and down the soccer field nowhere near live play.

I was eager for basketball practice and the line drills dreaded by my exhausted teammates.

I would try beating out bunts to first base with every intention of bolting to second during the next batter.

Everything was a race to me even if no one was there to chase or challenge me. 

Take the end of my oldest brother Todd’s high school baseball games. As soon as the final out happened and the infield cleared, my 6-year-old legs would spring from the bleachers, sprint toward the field, weave through the dugout’s chain-linked fence, tap home plate, set sight for first, round second, toe third, and slide into home. 

As fast as I could. 

It happened enough times that my family started urging spectators to cheer me on as I sprinted around those base paths years before I stepped foot on an oval cinder track or rubber track. 

Then there were family vacations. If there was an endless shoreline, open field, or long dirt road in my path, it was an invitation to take off running.

My sister and second mom, Laura, saw these solo sprints as opportunities to pose one of my favorite lifelong questions to me:

“Wanna race?”

I finished second to my sister a lot. It’s safe to say Laura was one of my first unofficial competitors and coaches. 

She even motivated me to try out for a lead character in her 1983 high school musical, The Music Man.

I didn’t get the lead part. Instead, I was an extra in Harold Hill’s band singing tunes like “Seventy Six Trombones” and “Well Fargo Wagon” alongside my sister. 

Josh Chicoine earned the role instead. Decades later, Josh formed and led the killer rock group, The M’s. He also founded the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival. Here’s a video of Josh talking about his creative musical journey.

With a talent like Josh, I was just fine being Music Man’s second fiddle.

The Soundtracks Series (Part II) Playlists:

Playlist Highlights:

• The Music Man Original Broadway Cast Soundtrack

• Future Women - The M’s