![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
From WLHS band member to company creator, David Immer, Class of 1964, rose from West Linn and chased the American dream, eventually leading his own company: Digifon.
Immer started in the percussion section of the WLHS band. His music interest started while his parents were musicians and music fans. His mom enrolled him in private piano lessons since he was in second grade and continued his lessons into high school.
He was first exposed to music when he was introduced to Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey, who were jazz artists that were part of the Big Band and Swing eras. With all this, he was inspired both by his parents and through his own feeling for music.
“I seemed to just have the music in my bones,” Immer said. “I would bang on boxes, tables, anything that would make noise.” By the time he was a freshman there was another source of inspiration: Girls.
“It was apparent that music was a good way to get girls’ attention,” Immer said.
The WLHS band was the first large ensemble that Immer joined. The power of a well-rehearsed and performed piece was inspiring for Immer to hear and thrilling to be a part of. Through high school, he played multiple instruments from percussion to keyboard. He was already playing the organ and piano professionally by the time he graduated from WLHS in.
To enhance his skill and the ability to generate even better music, Immer began to dive into the world of musical engineering, which occurred after more than a decade of performing and song writing.
In the early 90’s during pre-DSL and his new technological experience gained from his time in musical engineering he teamed up with others in his field and started his own company.
In the early days of music and performing, the person that was showing their work had to physically go to the place that the company or deciding persons were to present their ideas. With Digifon, they could remotely send their ideas for songs, jingles or voice work to the employer. Immer created this through his experience and growth in the music business. WLHS was a step in his ability to create something that everyone could use and can gain from.