Comments:
July 2009:
After graduation I attended Central Washington State College, then Centralia college, then ran out of money. Hitchhiked around the US for a short time, ending up in New York, where I worked as frozen food manager of a supermarket. Then came the draft! 1 year, 9 months and 11 days of playing clarinet in the army band and I was back in school.
I eventually received a BA in music from St. Martin's College, where I was also on the faculty for a short time (VERY SHORT!). Teaching music was not to be my career path, as I had hoped. I worked at various occupations, married once and reared two wonderful stepchildren, divorced, went back to school and took at degree in data processing. Since then, well the following list is self-explanatory:
1993 - Russian Far East (Vladivostok, Kharbarovsk, Irkutsk, Listvyanka, Lake Baikal) and China (Harbin, Bejing). Several Trips to Cabo San Lucas (more correctly San Lucas del Cabo)
2006 - New York and Egypt (Cairo, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Edfu, Esne, Luxor/Karnak)
April, 2006 - saw the arrival of first great-grand-daughter Tiffany Rose Ulrich.
I retired from the Department of Corrections July1, 2009.
I have been playing piano for the Johansen School of Ballet (now the Johansen Olympia Dance Center, as it is under new ownership) for 30 years, as of this year.
I still play, on occasion, with various jazz and rock bands, along with the occasional wedding, cocktail party, funeral, bar mitzvah...whatever the traffic will bear.
I have a domestic associate of 28 years who teaches belly dancing out of the dance studio in our home.
Her ladyship retired January 1, 2009 and I followed July 1, 2009. Now the fun begins in earnest!!!!!
I finally performed my first recital (entitled Senior (Citizen) Recital). It lasted 90 minutes. I was pleased to see Judy Nicholson and Blanche Neilsen (Ray-Paul's Mother) in attendance.
I have performed a piano recital every year since retirement. Watch this website for upcoming perfomances.
Dana and I performed in Ballet Northwest's production of the Nutcracker at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in December 2010. We had a great time.
November, 2011, found us in Morocco on a belly dance tour. The dancers took class in Marakesch every day for 5 days, then we went across the Atlas mountains to camp in the sahara for four days. It being a belly dance tour, I was the only male (aside from our guide) with 19 females. So, on the bus it was "Ladies and Jerry". We had a great time.
August, 2016, found us in New York, Boston, Salem (MA), and Portland (ME). In Portland we met up with Dana's 3rd cousin once removed (you genealogy people will understand this), who took us on a tour of cemeteries where her ancestors are buried. We found the house her great-great grandfather built and were able to tour it (it is on the historic register). He was a well-known and respected architect in Portland.
April, 2017 found us in Korea (Seoul, Muju, Jongju and Suwan) on a whirlwind Tae Kwan Do tour (Dana studies Tae Kwan Do). The student on the tour were treated to a three hour class at the Tae Kwan Do university in Muju. Fascinating country with loads of history.
