This year we got a new board president, but he’s not brand new. You might say he is renewed.

Rick Carl, a former Webb School music director-turned-lawyer, joined our board in 2002 and ascended to the presidency in 2006. But the next year, Rick’s wife, Lynn, an attorney and Knoxville Symphony Orchestra violinist, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Rick stepped off our board to tend to her. Sadly, she died in 2009, leaving Rick alone to raise their son, Rick Jr., then 12. We all grieved with our friend as his son played a piano composition entitled “He’s My Son” at her memorial.

But the world carries on, and Rick’s life took another turn when he married Joanna, a friend from 35 years earlier at Maryville College, where he was a music major. She is a sparkling presence in his life, and an extraordinary classically trained pianist as well. Rick Jr., a gifted musician, now attends the University of Rochester, and Rick has returned to the Joy of Music School. Once back on the board, he was unanimously elected president. We welcome back our not-so-brand-new president, and dear old friend, with open arms.