When I was born, my sisters wanted
to name me Davey Crockett. Fortunately for me, my mother did not agree.
I was named John after my father and Richard after one of his friends.
The trumpet has been a big part of
my life. I began in the third grade. Well, actually, I started on
the cornet. I remember that everyone had to line up and tell the director,
Charles I. Bradley, what instrument we wanted to play. My sisters
had told me that I ought to play the drums, but as I waited in line,
the boy in front of me said that he wanted to play the drums. The
director responded "There are already too many drummers. What
other instrument would you like to play?" What a dissappoinment.
When my turn came all I could say was "I don't care." He
looked at me and said, "OK, how about the cornet?" I went
home that afternoon, got out the encyclopedia and looked up cornet
so that I could see what instrument I was to play.
For quite a while, I had to endure
the neighbors requests to please keep our new elephant off of their
lawns. At least they were sure that it must have been an elephant
that they had heard coming from our house.
I began playing in The East Atlanta
Elementary Band. As I mentioned before, Charles I. Bradley was the
conductor. Several years ago, shortly before his death, I had the
opportunity of seeing Mr. Bradley again. He played in our orchestra
at First Baptist Atlanta in a special Christmas program.
In grammar school, my parents paid
for me to have private lessons from W. F. Walker. I still have my
Arban's book where he was paid $10.00 after the fourth lesson. Mr.
Walker was a fine elderly gentleman who's claim to fame was that when
he was in high school, John Phillip Sousa was a guest conductor at
one of their concerts.
I went to East Atlanta High School
in the eighth grade. I wanted to play football, but after one week
of practice and jamming my thumb, I decided that being in the band
was more fun. We moved during that year and I looked forward to going
to a new school, Southwest Dekalb. It was well known that the band
there was exceptional and that the jazz band would be going to Europe
during the following summer.
I did get to make that trip to Europe.
We toured 7 countries, visiting 21 cities in 22 days. Our visit to
Switzerland was the most memorable. We performed in Lucerne at a casino
on the patio overlooking the lake. It must have been some sort of
holiday because I can remember the fireworks and the reflection across
the lake. This was in 1970 and I can still remember my visit to the
Hamilton watch factory and meeting Mr. Harry Ruttiman (although not
sure of the spelling). Here I was in a foreign country and I had run
out of money. Mr. Ruttiman asked if I saw anything that he could help
me with, but I explained that I had run out of money and I was expecting
$50 from my parents via American Express. He first called the American
Express office to see if the money had arrived. It hadn't and he said
"I'll loan you the money." I replied, "I don't know
for sure that it will arrive before our group will be leaving for
another city." "That's ok" he said, "Just send
me the money when you get back to the States." Uncertain about
whether there was a catch or not, I said "But, I'm not sure if
I want to buy a watch here. I haven't really looked." Mr. Ruttiman
responded "You don't have to buy a watch from me. I'll still
loan you the money." In amazement of his kindness, I decided
to accept his offer, and I did buy a watch, spending $38 of the $50.
When I got home, I sent him the money, and he followed with a nice
card in return. I still have that watch today. The face of it shows
it's age, but it still runs.
One of my first paying jobs was working
for Sears for one month as Winnie The Pooh. A friend of mine got me
the job and we worked together. I wore the suit for 30 minutes and
we got a 30 minute break. Then he wore the suit for 30 minutes and
we got a 30 minute break. The one that was out of the costume carried
a tape player with the theme song of Winnie the Pooh and did all of
the talking. We also took Poloroid pictures of children with Winnie.
I still have a picture in my scrapbook. However, I'm now more of a
Tigger Fan. Here are some fun animations of Tigger.
| In
this photo, I am the red faced trumpet player. (upper left
in the photo) This was taken at First Redeemer Church in Cumming,
GA where I played in the orchestra for a couple of years. |
 |
I love to play golf, but I haven't
had much time to enjoy the game in the last several years. As my network
marketing business grows, I will have more time to play golf. Michael,
my son, received golf clubs for Christmas in 1997 and I had intended
on spending some quality time together with him during the summer.
I had also set a goal to sell my company, Southampton Filter Corporation
sometime during the first six months of the year. After being in the
air filtration business for over twenty years, I am finally out. Unfortunately,
it took all year to get there. We missed the summer of '98, but we
will try again for 1999.
In 1999, I went to work at Nortel
Networks, working under the direction of my best friend. After a year,
we decided to make the move to Cumming GA in order to be close to
work. A half year later, Nortel took a nose dive, and we were all
released. I must say that they were extremely generous, in that I
had worked there for only a short time but received an additional
four months pay.
In 2001, our group (that Nortel released)
got together and formed a new company, GeoResults, Inc. We grew steadily although the economy
was tough on the telecom industry.
Well, 2002 did not see any improvement
in the telecom business. So, in January 2003, I began a new career
selling Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Subaru with Troncalli
in Cumming. That lasted for 18 months. I enjoyed working at Troncalli,
but I was thrilled to say goodbye in the summer of 2004 and move to
the lake at Hartwell, GA. Living on the lake is wonderful. My parents
just moved down the street from us, and we love spending quality time
with them.
In 2005, I had an offer to work again
for GeoResults and took it. This time, however, I don't go to an office.
I just work at home and transfer each project online as they are completed.
I am also currently building a home-based
business with Isagenix as an Independent Associate. It all has to
do with cleansing your body... eliminating the toxins... and a lot
of good things can happen when you do. The products are unbelievable.
...more to come
Mike Hampton
