CHIMACUM — Andy Mackie was up early on Monday, loading his van and driving to the main Chimacum Schools campus.
By 7:45 a.m., he was rolling into the choir room, where 27 students were waiting for him.
The bell rang; the teacher, Evan Harrison, stepped forward.
Making history
“You are all history in the making,” Harrison told the students.
“You are in a very exciting time and place in Chimacum history.”
The occasion: The first day of the inaugural class, sponsored by the Andy Mackie Music Foundation, to make strum sticks, backpack guitars and other simple stringed instruments to give to students at other schools.
The class is so popular, it has a waiting list, Harrison said.
“It sounded like fun to make things, and it’s doing something for the community,” said Chad Neet, 13.
The class is one way that Mackie is continuing to reach out despite continuing health problems.
Recent health troubles
A month ago, he suffered several heart attacks and spent four days in Bremerton’s Harrison Medical Center, where doctors put him back on heart medicine.
Mackie planned to return to Bremerton on Monday afternoon to undergo a procedure to determine if surgeons will be able to place stents in several blockages today.
If all goes well, Mackie said he may be able to help the students put together pre-cut instrument kits on Wednesday.
“I’ll definitely be here Thursday,” he said.
He also plans to be in Tacoma at 6 p.m. Thursday for a concert at Franklin Pierce High School that a student, Briana Foster, is putting on for her senior project as a benefit for Mackie’s music foundation.
“That’s where the first batch of instruments is going,” Mackie said.
A friend of Mackie’s, Steve Karns, is going to help the students put together instruments when Mackie can’t be there.
The class meets for an hour every weekday, so the students should be able to finish a set of instruments in the next two weeks before winter break, Karns said.
“This is a nice day for Andy Mackie,” said Mike Blair, Chimacum School District superintendent, as he watched the musician talking to the students about the instruments they would build and what they would mean.
Free music classes
Also at the inaugural class was Dallas Jasper, who helps Mackie publicize his free music classes and benefits.
Jasper is currently organizing an effort to buy a portrait of Mackie so that it can be exhibited at Chimacum Schools.
“We are collecting donations so that we can buy this portrait and hang it where Andy has been such a huge benefit to kids,” Jasper said.
Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 967, Chimacum, WA 98325. Checks should be marked “Andy Mackie Portrait Fund” and made payable to JCEF.
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County reporter-columnist Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
