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Jenetta Elizabeth (Jenny or Jen) Rowe (now Plankenhorn) was born at home in Memphis, TN, in 1981 a few hours after her father had finished a performance of "The King and I" at Theatre Memphis where he was playing in the pit orchestra. Jen attended Memphis Public Schools through 4th grade. She then attended Memphis Junior Academy for a year, then was homeschooled through the remainder of high school, although she did take some classes at South Medford High School in Medford, OR, for a couple of years. While in Memphis, Jen began getting very interested in music, taking piano lessons and playing the trumpet followed by bassoon, then drum set. She spent a short time playing trumpet with the River City Community Band (now River City Concert Band). While in Oregon her primary interest changed to singing. With the family, she had done a lot of singing around the country which was a major spark in kindling that interest. In April 2007 she won a District contest of the International Karaoke Superstar competition and was one of two winners from the state of Oregon. In May she competed at the regional competition in Seattle, WA, against entrants from several states and Canada. Unfortunately, someone else was selected to go to the finals in Las Vegas. She played percussion with the Ashland City Band the first three concerts (plus the Independence Day Parade) in 1999, then went on tour with the Seattle Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps as a member of the color guard. She returned as a substitute player in the percussion section of the Ashland City Band for the 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005 seasons. In 2006 she became a regular member of the ACB.
Jen lives in Phoenix, OR, with her second husband, Chris. She had two children by her first marriage - Ethan and Emerald, but they died tragically when their home burned down in 2007. In 2000, she started working in the Customer Service department as a seasonal employee at Bear Creek Corporation - the largest employer in southern Oregon. Instead of being laid off at the end of the season, she was retained and in 2001 she became the youngest supervisor in their history. After a few more years at BCC she moved over to U. S. Cellular and remained there until they closed the Medford Service Center. She has moved on to other endeavors now.
Feel free to email Jen. She loves getting email!