ABC MUSIC, owned by Stan (left) and Marianne Houston, has donated more than $100,000 over the past five years to BUSD’s various music programs.
Keri Luiz/Staff
By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor
Stan and Marianne Houston will be acknowledged Thursday by Benicia Unified School District trustees for their years of contributions to the district’s music programs.
The owners of ABC Music Store, 739 First St., have donated more than $100,000 to music education in Benicia over the past five years, Stan Houston said Tuesday, and lately they have averaged more than $20,000 per year in contributions.
“The first two or three years, it was probably 10 or 12 grand a year, and then two years ago Glenn Walp asked if we could donate on a regular basis 27 instruments to his exploratory program at the middle school,” he said. “That was brass and woodwind instruments.”
That jumped the donations up another $12,000 per year, Houston said.
The Houstons purchased ABC Music in 2007, and The Music Source in Livermore in 2009. They have been using profits from the Benicia store just to fund local school music programs, Stan said.
The Houstons’ commitment began five years ago when they supplied paid musicians to help Terry Valentine, the long-time elementary school band teacher who was fighting health problems.
Valentine died in 2009 after a long battle with cancer. “My wife, being a cancer nurse, recognized that he needed help, so we just jumped in,” Houston said.
They hired professional musicians, some of whom worked for Houston, on a contract basis, each twice a week for the first eight weeks “to take these new kids, 80 of them, usually, divide them into clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, and show them how the instruments work, how to put them together, how to read their first notes, and how to get their first ‘toot’ out of their horn,” Houston said.
They’ve been doing that consistently since they purchased the Benicia store.
Valentine started the fourth- and fifth-grade after-school music program when the state started cutting music because of budget cuts. “He said, ‘You know, we need an after-school program,’” Houston remembered, “so he started it, and we’ve been supplementing it ever since.
“We have five band programs in Livermore, two band programs in Vallejo, and we have this one.”
The Houstons make clear to parents of prospective musicians that assistance is available for those who face financial obstacles to participating in the music program.
“We’re well aware that not everybody can afford a program like this,” Stan said. “We have partial and full scholarships for the families that need it.”
About 350 kids participate in the eight programs the Houstons run in three cities, and “out of that we probably have about 35 families that are on full scholarship, and maybe another 10 on partial,” Stan said.
He said while they originally purchased their Benicia store with the intent of making money, helping Terry Valentine and the budding musicians of Benicia changed the couple’s perspective.
“My wife and I looked at each other and said, ‘We may not make any money at this,’” Stan said. “At that time we only owned the Benicia store. Two years later we bought the Livermore store, and the Livermore store does very well, and allows us the financial flexibility to be able to take all the profits from Benicia and just dump it into the school district. And, there’s now money going into the Vallejo school district.”
The bottom line, Houston said, is that he’s never taken home a paycheck or money out of the Benicia store for personal use. “That was a real challenge. Not so much as needing the money, but it was a couple years of reconciling that it was more important that the money go into the community and benefit children than me bringing home a paycheck,” he said.
“It was emotionally a little troubling because I didn’t feel like I was the breadwinner. Fortunately my wife was really good about it and would say, ‘No no no, you’re measuring your success the wrong way. We need to measure it as, how many kids’ lives have we affected?’
“There’s nothing you can take to the bank to say ‘This is how many lives I’ve changed or this is how many kids I’ve influenced.’ It’s hard to personally say, ‘Oh I’ve been really successful.’
“Today I feel really happy. I know that there’s a ton of kids out there that just enjoy music, and that’s my success.”
Houston knows some parents might not understand why a musical education is as important to children as learning math and English.
He said if a child spends a minimum of three years in music education, they will score an average 57 points higher in their SAT. “That research has been done by Harvard and other schools looking at the importance of music education,” he said.
“With few exceptions, every software engineer in Silicon Valley is a musician. What we’ve learned over the years is that music requires that the other side of the brain kick in. So you now, after three years or so, have two sides of your brain working on the same kind of problems. Everyday life problems, math problems.
“What happens is you find people that their cognitive and intuitive skills are greatly enhanced because they have been forced to expand that brain. …
“The more parents that understand the value of their children having some kind of music education, that is better for all of society.”
After the BUSD meeting, there will be a reception at ABC Music, 739 First St. “The Rellik has offered to pour the wine,” Houston said.
If You Go
The Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees will meet Thursday at 6 p.m. in closed session, and 7 p.m. in open session in the board room of the district office, 350 East K St.
Sharing is caring!
These are wonderful, wonderful people and an important asset to our community. It is such a shame that a private business owner has to designate all the profits from one of his busiinesses so that our children can have music education, which survey, after survey, after survey has shown makes a huge difference in all areas of achievement for our students. We, as a society, should be ashamed of ourselves – we seem to have no problem paying hundreds of dollars for a sports event, but baulk at tiny increments in our tax assessments to pay for our kids’ educations.
What a shame on Benicia is this blurb below about how not enough people voted for a miniscule $58 increase in their property tax in 2010, or any of the other previous measures. And here is ABC Music donating their profits to the schools to help the kids have a wonderful music program!
$58 — unbelievable that some people would not be willing to pay that for the good of the community. About that cost of one dinner for two. Shameful. Embarrasing. And foolish.
The school district has tried but failed to increase local taxes to better support the schools in recent years. A proposed $105.00 per year parcel tax to give financial support to the district failed by 175 votes in November 2004. Another parcel tax measure was on the ballot in June 2006, but was unsuccessful. A six year, $58.00 annual parcel tax measure was on the ballot in 2010, and received 62.8% of the vote. The measure failed, though because it required 2/3 approval to pass, according to the provisions of California’s Proposition 13.
Stan and Marianne Houston’s activism and support of Benicia’s students through music has left me humbled. It’s very apparent that they really see the BIG picture and are doing something selfless to help so many. I’m grateful for their support of our community and also of their philanthropic example to our fellow townspeople. Stan and Marianne, my heartfelt thanks to you!
Unfortunately, the ballot measure failed because many residents have no faith that BUSD can properly manage their money. I know a lot of people that want the District to demonstrate fiscal responsibility before giving them more money, even if it’s “a miniscule $58”. It’s just a sad consequence of poor, long-term management issues. I commend the Houstons for their work and will support their business.
Well stated VR.
Additionally, there is nothing preventing those who feel more should be paid in support of our schools to pony up and pay (or help to raise) more, as the Houston’s have commendably done.
What large organization ever manages its money as you think it should? That is just part of the cost of running a large, complex organization. Some of the money is wasted or foolishly spent. Most important is that the goals of providing quality education are met, even if someone is overpaid here and there or something else you do not like is done with the money. Just comes with the territory, once you reach the size needed for a public school district.
As far as DDL below, yes, we can donate all the money we want, but it is important for the community to support the schools and share the “sacrifice” of $58/year so that the community as a whole benefits from better educated children. There is a lot to be said for acting as a community to support that which benefits the community. It is a very parsimonious attitude to say “you donate if you want, but don’t ask me to do that” when that money goes to help the children of our town (even if some is “wasted” on organizational inefficiency).
Beach Bum:It is a very parsimonious attitude to say “you donate if you want, but don’t ask me to do that”
The comment makes an assumption which is not valid. With two sons having gone through BHS, one in band, the other in athletics, I have made a reasonable share of contributions to the school, both before they arrived at that level, and after they graduated.
I continue to make contributions annually and that is a private decision, one which should be made by all based on both willingness and ability. Forcing others to give more under the force of law is an entirely different matter.
I do support the school, but seek not to impose my will on others in that regard.
Sorry for the confusion. I did not mean that you have that attitude. I meant if a a person has that attitude.
Fair enough. Thanks.
VR, the District’s “poor, long-term management issues” are old history. They not only have the state mandated 3% reserve, but also something like an additional 9% for that “rainy day” when the state takes back even more money from the lowest funded school district in the entire state of California. It’s incredibly difficult to budget increasing costs of everything when you never know from one month to the next what the State is going to send along. Has the district made mistakes in the past? Sure has, but they have worked very hard to right the ship even in the face of constant cuts. “Mismanagement was a convenient excuse for people to hide behind and vote “no.” We all benefit from good schools with increased property values and the City touts our great schools for new businesses and residents. Just expecting parents to pay and support the schools is pretty short sighted.
Beach Bum – I get what you’re saying. It’s not about how I think their money should be managed. It wasn’t more than a few years ago that the district found an additional $1M deficit. That’s a lot of money to “go missing”. In addition, the City is supporting the district by helping maintain their fields. The City doesn’t have the money or staff resources to do this, but it’s done for the good of the community. Meanwhile, the schools have money for pay increases, while City employees have taken multiple pay cuts, increase in benefits costs, increase in workload due to layoffs, etc… They won’t be seeing any pay increases for years. I guarantee if pay increases for City employees were proposed, the community would have a field day! Don’t misunderstand me, I am all for teachers getting paid well. They do an incredible job and are typically undervalued. This is a sensitive issue to many in this community! I appreciate everyone’s comments on this.
The Houstons are true examples of what “giving back” is all about. As a parent of 2 former band students, thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for the music programs in Benicia. We are blessed to have such exemplary programs at all levels but those programs cost money. A lot of it. For instruments, sheet music, competition fees, coaches, transportation, etc. The parents pay for just about all of it beyond the teachers so having such incredibly generous support from people like the Houstons is invaluable.
Karen – I agree with you that the district has turned a lot around in recent years, but many people are leary that there were issues for a long time. It takes time, and more than a few years, to regain trust. I’m sure the timing of the economic downturn has made many folks extra protective of financial decisions. Hopefully, our property values will recover. In the meantime, I contribute where I can.