Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Went to My School

You may re-call the old Panther Valley Middle School where I taught 33 years. Well - Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey went to school there. Their dad was the band director there in the 1930's - long before I was born. This week the town honors the Dorsey's with a plaque in front of their old home. This above picture was taken on my retirement day - February 6, 2003 - Panther Valley Middle School in background.

LANSFORD — It may not look like much today, but in some ways, the modest half-double at 227 E. Abbott St. in this Carbon County borough is as important to American musical heritage as the gates of Graceland or New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street.

Community leaders gathered Friday morning to unveil a historic marker at the former home of the Dorsey family who lived there through much of the boyhood of the two big band legends.

In 1916, Dorsey relocated his family, including 11-year-old Tommy and 10-year-old Jimmy, to Lansford.

From 1934 until 1939, he would also serve as musical director of Lansford High School, holding band practices in the auditorium of what is now the Panther Valley Middle School on Bertsch Street.

Nesley also recalls the occasional temper and temperamental personality later often associated with Tommy Dorsey Jr. in his musical career.

"He was a little hard of hearing except for a sour note and then he would throw his baton," Nesley recalls.

The historical marker was sponsored by the Lansford Alive revitalization group, and president Bennett Verda Jr. said between 20 and 22 more markers are planned for other historic sites in the community.