Love story for the ages

With Valentine’s Day on the nigh, a good ole’ fashion love story seems in order, like strawberries and chocolate. First, a little background: Wyman Martin, of Danville, is sort of a well known person in Southeast Iowa. Many people say we look alike and get us mixed up. Wyman is younger, but we have the same birthdays. Wyman likes to joke around. People will come up to him and, thinking he’s me, ask him what he’s writing about this week. He’ll make up some fantastical story. The person scratches their head, Wyman chuckles and recants. It’s all for fun, something we need a lot more of.

Anywho, when Wyman was in the seventh grade, his family moved and switched from the New London School District to Danville School District. His first class at Danville was on Monday, November 30, 1970. It was band practice. Mr. Smith, the band teacher, put Wyman into the first section of trumpets, in fourth chair. Wyman looked down the row of four chairs. In the first trumpet chair was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Her name was Nancy. She was in the 8th grade, and Wyman was love struck.

This is a Valentine’s Day love story, so of course it has a happy ending, like the maraschino cherry on top of a banana split. Nancy and Wyman were married, and Wyman became the band teacher in that same Danville school, in that same room. He used to look down the row of four trumpet chairs and could still see Nancy in eighth grade smiling back at him. It took Nancy moving on to high school for Wyman to make first trumpet.

Nancy and Wyman have two boys, Joel, 36, and Micah, 38. Nancy is a retired elementary school teacher with Morning Sun and still substitute teaches at Morning Sun. She is President of the Danville Library Board and volunteers there about three times a week.

She is active at church with the missions committee, choir and children’s group. She loves family time, and is an energetic reader. In 2024, she read 104 books. (She reads Wyman like a book, too!)

Like songs of the sirens, Nancy’s and Wyman’s trumpets lured the two together in love, not destruction. Wyman played his cards right. He retired as Junior High Band Teacher in the spring of 2021, in the same room, teaching the same class, that he attended during his first hour, on his first day, 51 years earlier — with the same girl, now a woman and his wife. A love story for the ages.

BTW: I was getting my license plates at the court house the other day. The clerk looked at me and said, “I never thought my child would go for band, but you sure turned him around, Wyman.” I started to correct her, but couldn’t make myself do it.

People sometimes get the two confused and ask Martin what he’s writing about this week. He’ll make up something, like, “My pet pig. We made a mistake and it was made into bacon. Just kidding.”

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Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526 or email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com. Curt is available for public speaking.