[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 46 (Thursday, April 23, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       RETIREMENT OF STEVE McNEAL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 1998

  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
commemorate a constituent of mine, Mr. Steve McNeal of Fort Collins, 
Colorado upon his retirement after 36 years teaching music in the 
Poudre School District. Hired in 1962, his last year marks the longest 
term of service to the district of all teachers presently employed. 
During his long career, he has gained the respect and admiration of 
generations of students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
  For his commitment to excellence, Steve was recently awarded the 
National School Orchestra Association Director of the Year. Even though 
the Fort Collins High School auditorium bears his name, Steve's legacy 
cannot be contained in a place or told in a word. As notable historian 
Henry Brooks Adam once said, ``A teacher affects eternity; he can never 
tell where his influence stops.'' Steve McNeal is one such teacher, a 
person who touched lives through teaching music.
  To teach a young person to love music is to give that person a 
lasting virtue. To teach a person to play music is to give that child 
the ability to make something beautiful and the confidence to carry 
through life even when the instrument is put away.
  Although I can convey gratitude to match that which sounded forth 
last Sunday during a musical commemoration for Steve McNeal, I would 
like to impart to Congress a note of my appreciation for this special 
Colorado teacher. His devotion to music and his students has brought 
nearly four decades of song.

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