Teacher takes curtain call
More than 140 alums from the Butler Junior High orchestra, the Butler Strolling Strings and the Butler County String Symphonettes paid homage Thursday night to longtime Butler Junior High music teacher Mary Huegel.
From high school students to high school graduates as far back as 1978, Huegel is a teacher who has touched many people over her 36 years at the school, assisting violin, viola, cello and bass players.
“I’ve been blessed with a talent that I’ve been able to share with so many students over the years,” she said. “I love the kids. They’re my heart and soul.”
Her final show Thursday night combined the junior high’s annual spring concert and a few songs with alums.
“She was probably the greatest example I had for my ear,” said Dale Shuler, who graduated from Knoch High School in 1992 but had her as a teacher with the Symphonettes.
He is a professional musician in Nashville, Tenn. He played violin for country singer Shania Twain in the late 1990s and has played for a variety of contemporary Christian groups.
“She played alongside me,” he recalled. “She gave me a strong foundation.”
He’s now an multi instrumentalist, playing the violin, fiddle, mandolin and guitar.
Meanwhile, Desmond Foringer, a bass player as a student in school, hadn’t picked up his instrument in nearly 20 years.
“She’s such a role model,” Foringer said, a 1992 Butler High School graduate. “She has such a big heart, and she’s a good friend of mine.”
She taught her former students patience and persistence.
“She was just not a conventional teacher. She held you accountable for everything you did,” said Karissa Rodgers, a 2008 graduate who played violin. “Mary’s just an incredible person. She will be dearly missed.
“We didn’t come back to play. We came to play for Mary.”
Many have stayed with touch with her over the years. Huegel sent messages through Facebook and called old phone numbers to arrange the special show.
Participants wore green shirts — her favorite color — with the phrase “this is it.”
But said Caitlyn Wilbert, a sophomore violinist, said, “She’ll definitely continue for a long time. This isn’t going to be it.”
