Windy Shaffer:  

Life Windy Elizabeth Johnson started her life in Boulder, Colorado on the 24th of January 1975. She was born during a windstorm and thereby was given her name because of the weather. As a baby, her family was voluntarily homeless (job hunting) until they located near Flagstaff, Arizona when she was 10 months old. In July of 1976 her family moved into her childhood home on the corner of Kendrick and Dale streets in downtown Flagstaff (324 North Kendrick Street). She attended Marshall Elementary School for K-6th grades. She then attended Flagstaff Junior High School for 7th and 8th grades. During her first semester of 9th grade (1989) she lived with family friends, Dick and Jean Hoffman, in the house at 714 Locust Street, Windsor, Colorado as a “domestic exchange student.” During Christmas vacation she returned home and was in the first freshman class to be located at Flagstaff High School since Flagstaff Junior High School had been turned into Flagstaff Middle School. Windy was very involved in high school and was in band, orchestra, choir, soccer, and national honor society her senior year. Windy started playing the tuba her senior year in high school and fell in love with the low brass sound. She has only played in community groups and is definitively a hobby musician, but thoroughly enjoys playing when she has the chance. 1993 saw Windy graduate near the top of her high school class. Windy does not think of herself as particularly bright and she credits her diligence more than her intelligence for her successes. After volunteering to clean the spit out of trumpets Windy ended up as an apprentice in woodwind repair with Lowell Taylor of Taylor’s Tubas starting at age 17 (1992). After being accepted to Red Wing’s band instrument repair program and on their three-year long waiting list, she attended the local university (Northern Arizona University) for 2 years. During her sophomore year at NAU her mentor decided to move and Windy had a choice bet...Expand for more