Tampa Brass Band

Grantors

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Sponsors

Donors

Tributes

Performers

Tampa Brass Band

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Musicians

Dr. Aaron K. Campbell

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Featured Soloist

Setting

Songs & Scenes

When Thunder Calls

Paul LovaL-Cooper (b. 1976)

The Irish Blessing

Joyce Eilers Bacak (1941-2009) arr. Bradnum

My Grandfathers Clock

Traditional Dr. Aaron K. Campbell – Euphonium

I've Got You Under My Skin

Cole Porter (1891 – 1964) arr. Sandy Smith

Hymn of the Highlands

Philip Sparke (b. 1951) I. Ardross Castle II. Alladale III. Dundonnell

Belle of the Ball

Traditional (composed 1951) Arr. Anderson

Production Staff

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Venue Staff

School Administration Staff

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Musicians

Cornet | Soprano

Juan Tellado

Cornet | Solo

S. Jones Alvin Bernard Fred Green

Cornet | Repiano

Coral Christina

Cornet | Second

Larry Harvery Bruce Bailey

Cornet | Third

Dave Peto Jorge Luis Narvaez Manuel Suarez

Horns | Flugelhorn

Jay Dedon

Horns | Eb Horns

Allison Synnett Jason Rogers Stephanie Lyn

Horns | Baritones

Hannah Caraker Joe Bonasera

Trombones | Tenor

Cj Rivera Maerosa Whiteside Morgan Brandt

Trombones | Bass

Jordan Harris

Euphoniums

Aaron Campbell Rodney Jean

Basses | Eb Bass

Ingrith Tower Dan Burdick

Basses | Bb Bass

Philip BeaLy Brett Williams

Percussion

Daniel Melendez Gabriel Travieso

Board Members

Student Advisory Board

Credits

Lighting equipment from PRG Lighting, sound equipment from Sound Associates, rehearsed at The Public Theater’s Rehearsal Studios. Developed as part of Irons in the Fire at Fault Line Theatre in New York City.

Special Thanks

*Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

“Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers, Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an International organization of performing arts unions. www.actorsequity.org

United Scenic Artists ● Local USA 829 of the I.A.T.S.E represents the Designers & Scenic Artists for the American Theatre

ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers (IATSE Local 18032), represents the Press Agents, Company Managers, and Theatre Managers employed on this production.

Meet the Cast

Tampa Brass Band

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Established in 2019, the Tampa Brass Band is the premier British Brass ensemble in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. Consisting of a mix of skilled brass and percussion professionals, music educators, and music enthusiasts from all over the Gulf Coast of Florida. TBB performances consist of exciting music from the Brass Band repertoire, as well as arrangements of orchestral and popular classics. The Tampa Brass Band presents an eclectic range of styles and high-level performances in venues throughout the Tampa Bay area, and regularly performs educational outreach events for Tampa Bay music programs. Among the many works the Tampa Brass Band has performed, some works include those by Peter Graham, Philip Sparke, Joel Collier, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Andrea Hobson.

The Tampa Brass Band made its first competitive appearance at the North American Brass Band Championships in Huntsville Alabama in 2022 and is preparing to represent Tampa again in competition for the third time in the 2024 North American Championships. In 2022 and 2023, members and ensembles from the band won individual awards at the North American Brass Band Championships solo and ensemble competitions.

The Tampa Brass Band is an IRS 501 c (3) tax-exempt organization and a Florida non-profit corporation. The organization’s mission is to promote the traditional Bri-sh Brass Band style while simultaneously acting as an educational organization to enhance the lives and performance ability of brass and percussion students throughout Tampa Bay.

Dr. Aaron K. Campbell

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Featured Soloist

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Aaron Campbell is an active freelance Euphonium, Trombone, and Tuba performer in the Tampa Bay area, and is the instructor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Tampa. Aaron is the founder, president, and solo euphonium of the Tampa Brass Band and serves as principal euphonium and low-brass section leader for the Florida Wind Band. Aaron regularly performs with other groups throughout Florida such as the Florida Orchestra, the Florida Wind Symphony, and the Brass Band of Central Florida. Aaron also performs frequently as a solo, chamber, and musical theater musician.

As a soloist Aaron is regularly featured as a guest artist at many festivals and conferences worldwide. Aaron was a guest artist at the International Euphonium/Tuba Institute in Atlanta GA, various International Tuba and Euphonium Association Conferences, the International Women’s Brass Conferences, among others. As an adjudicator Aaron has acted as the judge for various Marching Band, Brass Band, and Solo and Ensemble festivals, including the inaugural Great Canadian Brass Band Festival in Toronto Canada. In competition, Aaron has won back-to-back first place solo trophies at the North American Brass Band Championships, winning the slow melody cap-on in 2022 and the technical cap-on in 2023.

Aaron is a Besson performing artist and performs exclusively on a Besson BE 2052 Euphonium. He is also a Denis Wick and Lefreque performing artist. Aaron is the first ever to receive a Doctor of Musical Arts in euphonium at the University of Florida, holds a Master of Music in Euphonium Performance from James Madison University, and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of South Florida. Primary teachers include Carlyl Webber (Army Field Band Euphonium, Re-red), Jay Hunsberger (Former Principal Tuba, Sarasota Orchestra), Kevin Stees (Tuba/Euphonium professor, James Madison University) and Dr. Danielle VanTuinen (Tuba/Euphonium professor, University of Florida).

Meet the Team

Dr. Tina DiMeglio

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Music Director

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Tina DiMeglio is the Associate Director of Bands at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. Dr. DiMeglio conducts the USF Symphonic Band and teaches courses in conducting and music education. She has served as the Music Director of the Tampa Brass Band since 2021.

Recently, Dr. DiMeglio won first prize at the Inaugural Frederick Fennell International Conducting Competition, held in Modica, Italy in November 2021. She was a Conducting Fellow in the 2019 Midwest Clinic Reynolds Conducting Institute, and was also a recipient of the 2019 CBDNA Mike Moss Diversity Conducting Fellowship Study Grant.

Tina DiMeglio earned a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree from the University of Miami, where she studied Instrumental Conducting with Dr. Robert Carnochan. She holds a Master of Music Degree in Wind Conducting from West Chester University, where she studied with Dr. Andrew Yozviak, and a bachelor’s degree in music education, clarinet concentration, from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music, where she studied clarinet with Paul Demers of the Philadelphia Orchestra. While at Temple University, Dr. DiMeglio served as the President of CMENC Chapter 51 and was awarded the PMEA Award for Excellence in Service. She was a clarine-st with the Temple University Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, and Orchestra, and served three years as the drum major of the Temple University Diamond Marching Band. Dr. DiMeglio graduated Magna Cum Laude, was a member of the academic honors program, and received both the Diamond Key Band Award and the Emily and Arthur Crosby Award upon graduation.

A native of the Philadelphia area, Dr. DiMeglio served as the Band Director of Ridley High School, her alma mater, from 2011-2018. She maintains a private lesson studio and performs professionally as a conductor, clinician, and clarinetist. When not teaching or performing, she enjoys spending time with her husband Jonathan and their many rescue animals.

Media

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2021 National Touring Cast

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Abby Wambaugh's THE FIRST 3 MINUTES OF 17 SHOWS Will Play Dixon Place This Fall

Emily Wyrwa

August 19, 2025

Abby Wambaugh will perform her debut solo comedy The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows for a limited four-week run at Dixon Place this fall. Wambaugh will perform beginning Oct. 1, following an award-winning run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2024 and 2025.

“When I moved to Copenhagen from Brooklyn seven years ago, I was a teacher who had never even considered trying stand up. To return to the place where so much of this story happened with an Off-Broadway show about beginnings, is nearly unbelievable to me” Wambaugh said in a statement. “I'm so excited to get to do this show in front of the friends and family who were there for the real thing, and — maybe most of all — in front of my high school drama teacher. I'm also thrilled to finally perform it in a country where I don't have to explain what a CVS is.”

The show will be directed by Lara Ricote. In it, Wambaugh discusses waking up in the hospital following a late miscarriage, where, still high on anesthesia, she decided to become a comedian. She spends the next hour sharing her 17 best ideas for a show, exploring her talent for a wide range of comedy styles. Some of her brilliant ideas include “old man learns parkour” and a long impression of the number nine, leading her to explore gender, pregnancy, loss, and creativity.

The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows presented by Emmy Award winner Hannah Gadsby, and produced by Jenney Shamash, Mike & Carlee Productions, and Dixon Place. It was originally produced by Mick Perrin Worldwide.

“I saw this show a year ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since…except for maybe a couple of days when I was being very self-involved,” Gadsby said in a statement. “Abby is a brilliant, rare talent, and this show is so many good things. It’s genius, it’s refreshing, it is so, so funny. And you have to be in the room to experience the real magic.”

The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 25 at Dixon Place on Chrystie Street in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.

Drew Droege's MESSY WHITE GAYS Will Open Off-Broadway This Fall

Emily Wyrwa

August 18, 2025

Drew Droege’s satirical play Messy White Gays is making its way Off-Broadway this fall. Droege himself will star alongside Tony Award nominee James Cusati-Moyer, Aaron Jackson, Zane Phillips, and Pete Zias. It will debut on Oct. 6, with opening night set for Nov. 2, at The Duke on 42nd Street.

The play shines a harsh overhead light on the pores of White Gaydom, revealing what happens when throuples crumble, neighbors bicker, and rich and pretty clash with hot and dumb. On a Hell’s Kitchen Sunday morning, Brecken and Caden have murdered their boyfriend and stuffed his body into a Jonathan Adler credenza. But, they’ve still got friends coming over for brunch.

Droege has appeared Off-Broadway in the hit show Titanique, as well as his solo shows Happy Birthday Doug and Bright Colors and Bold Patterns. He is perhaps best known for his Chloe Sevigny parody videos and performs regularly in Los Angeles with The Groundlings, The Golden Girlz Live, and Celebration Theatre. He has also written for Netflix’s AJ And the Queen and Big Mouth.

Messy White Gays previously received a workshop and developmental presentation as part of the 38th Powerhouse Theater Season at Vassar College.

The creative team for Messy White Gays will include set design by Alexander Dodge, costume design by James + AC, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Sinan Refik Zadar, props by Brendan McCann, puppetry by Sam Hill, and special effects by Jeremy Chernick. General management is provided by Sing Out, Louise! Productions, with production management by Libby J’Vera and Michal V. Mendelson as production stage manager. Casting is by Ryan Bernard Tymensky of RBT Casting.

Messy White Gays will begin performances at The Duke theatre on 42nd Street in New York City on Oct. 6, 2025. Official opening is on Nov. 2, 2025. For tickets and more information, visit here.

Jasmine Amy Rogers, Autumn Best, and Matt Manuel Join THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE At New World Stages

Emily Wyrwa

August 18, 2025

Spellers, get ready! Tony Award nominee Jasmine Amy Rogers will star as Olive Ostrovsky in the first New York revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, alongside Autumn Best as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre and Matt Manuel as Mitch Mahoney.

The trio of stars joins previously announced Kevin McHale as William Barfée, Tony Award Nominee Justin Cooley as Leaf Coneybear, Philippe Arroyo as Chip Tolentino, and Theaterly 31 alum Leana Rae Concepcion as Marcy Park.

The production will begin previews at New World Stages on Nov. 7 with opening night set for Nov. 17. It will play a strictly limited 14-week engagement through Feb. 15, 2026.

Rogers was last seen in the titular role in BOOP! She was nominated for the 2025 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance. She also played Anita in the Pasadena Playhouse production of Jelly’s Last Jam and Gretchen Wieners in the National Tour of Mean Girls. She was also a Jimmy Awards’ finalist. Best is known for her role in Netflix’s film Woman of the Hour, and has been seen in the CW series 4400. As an actress with a limb difference, she is a passionate advocate for creatives with disabilities. Manuel was last seen on Broadway in Ain’t Too Proud, and has toured in Girl from the North Country, Motown the Musical, and May We All. He’s been seen on screen in Only Murders in the Building.

Spelling Bee features a book by Rachel Sheinkin and a score by Tony Award winner William Finn. The new production is directed & choreographed by Danny Mefford. The beloved musical won two Tony Awards during its 2005 Broadway run, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a musical for Dan Fogler as William Barfée, and Best Book of a Musical for Sheinkin.

It tells the story of six unique and impassioned contestants as they vie for the crown at the Putnam County spelling bee. They spell their way through vexing vocabulary, personal stories, and a bit of audience participation. This production marks the show’s return to New York for its 20th anniversary.

The creative team will feature Scenic Design by Teresa L. Williams, Costume Design by Emily Rebholz, Lighting Design by David Weiner, and Sound Design by Haley Parcher. The Music Supervisor is Carmel Dean, and the Music Director is Elizabeth Doran. Casting is by Geoff Josselson Casting, General Management is by 321 Theatrical Management, and the Production Stage Manager is Rachel Zucker.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee begins performances at New World Stages on West 50th Street in New York City on Nov. 7. For tickets and more information, visit here.

Theatrely News

EXCLUSIVE: Watch A Clip From THEATER CAMP Starring Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and Molly Gordon

Theatrely News

READ: An Excerpt From Sean Hayes Debut YA Novel TIME OUT

Theatrely News

"Reframing the COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Stage Manager’s Eyes"

EXCLUSIVE: Watch A Clip From THEATER CAMP Starring Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and Molly Gordon

By: Maia Penzer

14 July 2023

Finally, summer has arrived, which can only mean one thing: it's time for camp! Theater Camp, that is. Theatrely has a sneak peak at the new film which hits select theaters today.

The new original comedy starring Tony Award winner Ben Platt and Molly Gordon we guarantee will have you laughing non-stop. The AdirondACTS, a run-down theater camp in upstate New York, is attended by theater-loving children who must work hard to keep their beloved theater camp afloat after the founder, Joan, falls into a coma.

The film stars Ben Platt and Molly Gordon as Amos Klobuchar and Rebecca-Diane, respectively, as well as Noah Galvin as Glenn Wintrop, Jimmy Tatro as Troy Rubinsky, Patti Harrison as Caroline Krauss, Nathan Lee Graham as Clive DeWitt, Ayo Edebiri as Janet Walch, Owen Thiele as Gigi Charbonier, Caroline Aaron as Rita Cohen, Amy Sedaris as Joan Rubinsky, and Alan Kim as Alan Park.

Theater Camp was directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman and written by Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman & Ben Platt. Music is by James McAlister and Mark Sonnenblick. On January 21, 2023, Theater Camp had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

You can purchase tickets to the new film from our friends at Hollywood.com here.

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READ: An Excerpt From Sean Hayes Debut YA Novel TIME OUT

By: Kobi Kassal

29 May 2023

Actor Sean Hayes is what we in the biz call booked and blessed. On top of his Tony-nominated performance as Oscar Levant in Good Night, Oscar, Hayes has partnered with Todd Milliner and Carlyn Greenwald for the release of their new YA novel Time Out.

Heralded by many as Heartstopper meets Friday Night Lights, Time Out follows hometown basketball hero Barclay Elliot who decides to use a pep rally to come out to his school. When the response is not what he had hoped and the hostility continually growing, he turns to his best friend Amy who brings him to her voting rights group at school. There he finds Christopher and… you will just have to grab a copy and find out what happens next. Luckily for you, Time Out hits shelves on May 30 and to hold you over until then we have a special except from the book just for Theatrely:

The good thing about not being on the team the past two weeks has been that I’ve had time to start picking up shifts again at Beau’s diner and save up a little for college now that my scholarship dreams are over.

The bad part is it’s the perfect place to see how my actions at the pep rally have rotted the townspeople’s brains too.

During Amy’s very intense musical theater phase in middle school, her parents took her to New York City. And of course she came back home buzzing about Broadway and how beautiful the piss smell was and everything artsy people say about New York. But she also vividly described some diner she waited three hours to get into where the waitstaff would all perform songs for the customers as a way to practice for auditions. The regulars would have favorite staff members and stan them the way Amy stans all her emo musicians.

Working at Beau’s used to feel kind of like that, like I was part of a performance team I didn’t know I signed up for. The job started off pretty basic over the summer—I wanted to save up for basketball supplies, and Amy worked there and said it was boring ever since her e-girl coworker friend graduated. But I couldn’t get through a single lunch rush table without someone calling me over and wanting the inside scoop on the Wildcats and how we were preparing for the home opener, wanting me to sign an article in the paper or take a photo. Every friendly face just made the resolve grow inside me. People love and support the Wildcats; they would do the same for me.

Yeah, right.

Now just like school, customers have been glaring at me, making comments about letting everyone down, about being selfish, about my actions being “unfortunate,” and the tips have been essentially nonexistent. The Wildcats have been obliterated in half their games since I quit, carrying a 2–3 record when last year we were 5–0, and the comments make my feet feel like lead weights I have to drag through every shift.

Today is no different. It’s Thursday, the usual dinner rush at Beau’s, and I try to stay focused on the stress of balancing seven milkshakes on one platter. A group of regulars, some construction workers, keep loudly wondering why I won’t come back to the team while I refuse proper eye contact.

One of the guys looks up at me as I drop the bill off. “So, what’s the deal? Does being queer keep ya from physically being able to play?”

They all snicker as they pull out crumpled bills. I stuff my hands into my pockets, holding my tongue.

When they leave, I hold my breath as I take their bill.

Sure enough, no tip.

“What the fuck?” I mutter under my breath.

“Language,” Amy says as she glides past me, imitating the way Richard says it to her every shift, and adds, “even though they are dicks.” At least Amy’s been ranting about it every free chance she gets. It was one thing when the student body was being shitty about me leaving the team, but the town being like this is even more infuriating. She doesn’t understand how these fully grown adults can really care that much about high school basketball and thinks they need a new fucking hobby. I finally agree with her.

[She’s wearing red lipstick to go with her raccoon-adjacent eyeliner as she rushes off to prepare milkshakes for a pack of middle schoolers. I catch her mid–death glare as all three of the kids rotate in their chairs, making the old things squeal. My anger fades a bit as I can’t help but chuckle; Amy’s pissed-off reaction to Richard telling her to smile more was said raccoon makeup, and her tolerance for buffoonery has been at a negative five to start and declining fast.

I rest my arms on the counter and try not to look as exhausted as I feel.

“Excuse me!” an old lady screeches, making me jump.

Amy covers up a laugh as I head to the old lady and her husband’s table. They’ve got finished plates, full waters. Not sure what the problem is. Or I do, which is worse.

“Yes?” I say trying to suppress my annoyance.

“Could you be bothered to serve us?”

Only five more hours on shift. I have a break in three minutes. I’ll be with Devin at Georgia Tech tomorrow. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” I say, so careful to keep my words even, but I can feel my hands balling into fists. “What would you—?”

And suddenly Amy swoops in, dropping two mugs of coffee down. “Sorry about that, you two,” she says, her voice extra high. “The machine was conking out on us, but it’s fine now.”

Once the coffee is down, she hooks onto a chunk of my shirt, steering us back to the bar.

“Thanks,” I mutter, embarrassed to have forgotten something so basic. Again.

“Just keep it together, man,” she says. “Maybe you’d be better off with that creepy night shift where all the truckers and serial killers come in.”

Honestly, at least the serial killers wouldn’t care about my jump shot.

It’s a few minutes before my break, but clearly I need it. “I’ll be in the back room.”

Right before I can head that way though, someone straight-up bursts into the diner and rushes over to me at the bar. It’s a middle-aged dad type, sunburned skin, beer belly, and stained T-shirt.

“Pickup order?” I ask.

“You should be ashamed,” he sneers at me. He has a really strong Southern accent, but it’s not Georgian. “Think you’re so high and mighty, that nothing’ll ever affect you? My kid’ll never go to college because of you and your lifestyle. Fuck you, Barclay Ell—”

And before this man can finish cursing my name, Pat of all people runs in, wide-eyed in humiliation. “Jesus, Dad, please don’t—”

I pin my gaze on him, remembering how he cowered on the bench as Ostrowski went off, how he didn’t even try to approach me. “Don’t even bother,” I snap.

I shove a to-go bag into his dad’s arms, relieved it’s prepaid, and storm off to the break room.]

Amy finds me head in my arms a minute or two later. I look up, rubbing my eyes. “Please spare me the pity.”

She snorts and hands me a milkshake. Mint chocolate chip. “Wouldn’t dare.” She takes a seat and rolls her shoulders and neck, cracks sounding through the tiny room. “Do you want a distraction or a shoulder to cry on?”

For more information, and to purchase your copy of Time Out, click here.

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Reframing the COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Stage Manager’s Eyes

By: Kaitlyn Riggio

5 July 2022

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency in the United States in March 2020, Broadway veteran stage manager Richard Hester watched the nation’s anxiety unfold on social media.

“No one knew what the virus was going to do,” Hester said. Some people were “losing their minds in abject terror, and then there were some people who were completely denying the whole thing.”

For Hester, the reaction at times felt like something out of a movie. “It was like the Black Plague,” he said. “Some people thought it was going to be like that Monty Python sketch: ‘bring out your dead, bring out your dead.’”

While Hester was also unsure about how the virus would unfold, he felt that his “job as a stage manager is to naturally defuse drama.” Hester brought this approach off the stage and onto social media in the wake of the pandemic.

“I just sort of synthesized everything that was happening into what I thought was a manageable bite, so people could get it,” Hester said. This became a daily exercise for a year. Over two years after the beginning of the pandemic, Hester’s accounts are compiled in the book, Hold Please: Stage Managing A Pandemic. Released earlier this year, the book documents the events of the past two years, filtering national events and day-to-day occurrences through a stage manager’s eyes and storytelling.

When Hester started this project, he had no intention of writing a book. He was originally writing every day because there was nothing else to do. “I am somebody who needs a job or needs a structure,” Hester said.

Surprised to find that people began expecting his daily posts, he began publishing his daily writing to his followers through a Substack newsletter. As his following grew, Hester had to get used to writing for an audience. “I started second guessing myself a lot of the time,” Hester said. “It just sort of put a weird pressure on it.”

Hester said he got especially nervous before publishing posts in which he wrote about more personal topics. For example, some of his posts focused on his experiences growing up in South Africa while others centered on potentially divisive topics, such as the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Despite some of this discomfort, Hester’s more personal posts were often the ones that got the most response. The experience offered him a writing lesson. “I stopped worrying about the audience and just wrote what I wanted to write about,” Hester said. “All of that pressure that I think as artists we put on ourselves, I got used to it.”

One of Hester’s favorite anecdotes featured in the book centers on a woman who dances in Washington Square Park on a canvas, rain or shine. He said he was “mesmerized by her,” which inspired him to write about her. “It was literally snowing and she was barefoot on her canvas dancing, and that seems to me just a spectacularly beautiful metaphor for everything that we all try and do, and she was living that to the fullest.”

During the creation of Hold Please, Hester got the unique opportunity to reflect in-depth on the first year of the pandemic by looking back at his accounts. He realized that post people would not remember the details of the lockdown; people would “remember it as a gap in their lives, but they weren’t going to remember it beat by beat.”

“Reliving each of those moments made me realize just how full a year it was, even though none of us were doing anything outside,” he adds. “We were all on our couches.” Readers will use the book as a way to relive moments of the pandemic’s first year “without having to wallow in the misery of it,” he hopes.

“I talk about the misery of it, but that’s not the focus of what I wrote... it was about hope and moving forward,” Hester said. “In these times when everything is so difficult, we will figure out a way to get through and we will move forward.”

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