The Superior Express -

A two-time instrumental music teacher in the Superior Schools, John Mills, plans a return visit to Superior and will play his trumpet in the Superior Auditorium, a venue where he once led the school system’s pep band during basketball games.

He will be featured with Kearney Jazz Society in a program called Summer Sounds scheduled for this Saturday evening. An advertisement elsewhere in this issue gives more details about the concert and how to buy tickets.

His first stint in Superior came in the mid-1960s. In the summer of 1964, Mills and Gene Bruening, a fellow teacher, had the job of assembling all of the lockers which once lined the halls of Superior High School.

The Bruening family and Mills were next door neighbors in a residential part of Superior.

Mills left Superior, and obtained both a master’s degree and a wife, before returning for another stint as the school system’s instrumental music instructor.

While teaching music here, he also played with the Bobby Lane Orchestra and had his own five-piece band that played weekend engagements.

Bruening remembers a dance held in the apartment above Carmen’s store that was being remodelled to house the family’s living quarters.

The work was about done but a back room remained unfinished and Mills suggested they hold a peanut dance there. Invitations were sent out for a 4 p.m. dance but when dance time arrived, the invited guests had not arrived. Telephone calls were made and the invited guests were surprised to learn there really was a dance scheduled.

The guests arrived a bit late, but the party was so successful, Mills and his band were late for their Saturday night engagement.

Mills currently operates a music instrument store in Greeley, Colorado. His wife serves as the head of a Colorado school’s music department and will not coming to to Superior this week.