To the editor:

On the morning of Saturday, Nov. 2, I was awakened shortly before 1 a.m. to the sound of a marching band at the corner of my street. This is not the first time it has happened either. It happened last year at about this time also.

After several emails with Supt. Randy Weseman, I found out that it was the LHS band. They have a “tradition” of a late-night surprise serenade to their teachers. Is it really OK to wake up a neighborhood at 1 a.m. just to “serenade” your teachers? The only people that were surprised were the people in the neighborhoods that were awakened.

Mr. Patterson, the principal of LHS, e-mailed me that the police were notified, yet the dispatcher did not tell me this bit of information when I called to complain. Mr. Patterson also said that they started at 11:30 p.m. and finished after 1:30 a.m. Isn’t that a little late in the evening to start a “school activity”? I think it is nice that the kids want to honor their teachers, but let’s do it at a more reasonable hour. Perhaps they can do it inside at the high school after the game and just make a party out of it. That way they can honor both their teachers and their community. I am all for school spirit and pride, but not at the expense of a neighborhood. Please show us some respect.

Ginny Hedges,

Lawrence