Music man

Stan Yantis is laying down his baton in June after teaching music to Hawkins Middle School students for 39 years.

That doesn't mean North Mason's music man will be packing his trumpet into its case. He'll continue to perform with local bands The Windjammers and Swing Fever, and then he'll start his part-time job as the instrument manager for the marching band at his alma mater, the University of Washington.

For a couple more months, Yantis will instruct fifth-grade students in the mornings before class, then teach three band classes and three orchestra classes.

"To have the kids of the parents I had in band is wonderful," said Yantis, 66. He added, "It's so rewarding to be part of the families."

Yantis was born in Longview, the middle child of five. When he was a year old, his family moved to Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. His father worked for the Seattle Fire Department.

Yantis started playing the trumpet at age 10. He was inspired by the pop music he heard on Seattle AM radio station KJR.

"I had the perseverance to get good, and practice," he said.

Yantis played trumpet in the jazz, concert and marching bands at Queen Anne High School, where he graduated in 1974. He also played with a community band that gathered at North Seattle Community College.

At the University of Washington, Yantis performed with the jazz, concert and marching bands. As a freshman, he set his sights on a career as a teacher and graduated in 1979 with bachelor's degrees in music and music education.

The city boy experienced cultural shock at his first teaching job at Wishkah Valley School in Aberdeen, with about 180 students in kindergarten through the 12th grade. That's where he met his future wife, April, who was teaching German and business.

The North Mason School District hired both of them in 1983.

The two also collaborate musically. April plays standup and electric bass, tuba and sousaphone. These days, she teaches seventh-grade literature at Oakland Bay Junior High School in Shelton.

Yantis said he first started considering retirement after the COVID pandemic struck and his music students were at home.

"Teaching music online is tough ... trying to tune a violin over the internet is hard," he said.

Along with his new part-time job, Yantis said he'll enjoy having extra time for sailing and his three grandchildren. He'll stay at his daughter's house in Seattle on workdays.

"I hope I'll see some of my former students in the band," he said.

Shelton attorney Eric Valley plays trombone alongside Yantis in Swing Fever.

"The entire community has been so fortunate to have Stan, April and his whole family blessing us with their presence and their musical and other contributions," he wrote to the Journal. "He leads by example, and we tend to live up to the expectations of others with respect. Stan has served the music, and he is serving the people of this county and this region in just a unique and remarkable way."

Yantis' last gig will be leading the North Mason bands June 4 at the Paul Bunyan Parade in downtown Shelton as part of Mason County Forest Festival.

Yantis said he's loved teaching students at Hawkins Middle School.

"I hope they enjoy music and it becomes part of their lives."