Patricia is a clarinet player who became a highly successful band director during a time when there were few women in the job. She was the band director for Asheville Junior High for 30 years, and eventually became an Honorary Life Member of the NC Music Educators Association. She was president of Women Band Directors International from 1990 to 1992, and this year was awarded the WBDI Silver Rose. She was also awarded the prestigious John Philip Sousa Laureate award in 1991. She has recently been elected to the NC Bandmasters Hall of Fame, but most important to those of us here today is that she founded the Asheville Community Band in 1979 and conducted it for 17 years. When she retired from the ACB in 1996, we started the Patricia L. Garren Instrumental Music Scholarship.