Happy Holidays

            The holidays were my favorite time of year as a band director.  Marching season (and the stress that came with it) was over and All West, Concert Festival and Spring Trip worries were far enough away to procrastinate the concern.  I have a whole host of favorite band related holiday memories.  Some are very specific and some are just overall impressions.  Here are a few of the most memorable.

            At my very first Holiday Concert, (December of 1991?), we played a tune called “Christmas Favorites”.  The song called for a solo trumpet player to hold a high b-flat until I brought the rest of the band in on the next section.  I was really feeling it that night and held the note out for an extremely long time.  Granted, it is easier to hold my hand up than it is to play the note but, like I said, I was feelin’ it.  Steve Stires was the solo trumpet player and, just after bringing the rest of the band back in, I heard a noise from the trumpet section.  I looked back and there was no Steve Stires but there was a Michelle Ticer waving frantically and pointing to the floor next to her.  It seems Steve had passed out.  Before I could wrap my mind around what was happening, he popped back up and we finished the song.  Steve was a heavyweight wrestler and sort of a beast.  He and I each broke a finger once battling it out in a game of mercy (if you don’t know, don’t ask – not sure about statute of limitations on broken kids).  On the other hand, I have never passed out in a concert so I got him on that one.

            During the “Year of the Tornado”, we spent the end of first semester practicing at the GPAC.  We had school in the afternoons at Germantown High School but practiced in the mornings.  When it came time to have our holiday concert, the GPAC was booked solid and, of course, we had no school.  My principal was John Clayton and, as I am sure you would expect, he was overwhelmed with “rebuilding the school” details.  He told me to “just find a place”.  I got on the phone and called every school that had an auditorium within 30 miles.  Finally Briarcrest told us to come on and we could use their facility which was down near the 240 / Poplar interchange (this was before the new campus).  Briarcrest was run by Joe Clayton, the brother of my principal.  What I did not know was that the 2 of them had not gotten along together (like not spoken) for several years.  On the morning of the concert, MY Mr. Clayton called me in and told me to find another place to have the concert.  We loudly discussed the issue for about 10 minutes at which time it was agreed that I was an idiot (at least Mr. Clayton agreed to that) and that the concert would have to be at Briarcrest.  Whether or not I would have a job after Christmas was an open question.

            In the fall of 2012, we did a marching show entitled “The Giving Tree” based on the book of the same name by Shel Silverstein.  The centerpiece of the show was an enormous tree.  The tree was very lifelike and even had leaves that would move in and out of the branches.  It was designed and built by a Hollywood company that also designed the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.  Not only did it look great, it cost $9,000.  I told myself at the time that we would find other uses for the tree or sell it to recoup some of the cost.  The market for a used $9,000 fake tree is smaller that you might imagine.  That having been said, I was left with finding other uses.  For the next few years, we would get the tree out of the storage building at Thanksgiving and decorate it for Christmas.  Not sure it was the best-looking tree in Germantown, but it had to be the most expensive…. and in Germantown that is saying something.

            At the holiday concert when Faith was 2 ½ years old, the band had decided to give us an extra special Christmas Present.  I do not often get surprised but was certainly surprised that night.  Just before the final song, some of the kids called Faith up on stage and gave her a giant, stuffed Mickey Mouse.  They then told us they were sending us to Disney World for Spring Break.  Faith was absolutely thrilled.  Mom and Dad were just a little less thrilled.  You see, Amy was pregnant with Mary Ann at the time but we had not told anyone yet.  We went to Disney and had a wonderful time though Amy was 6 ½ months along and Faith was in the phase where she wanted mom to carry her every where we went.  Feel the Magic!

            I remember caroling through the neighborhoods near the school a few times.  I also remember the year the parade was canceled because of rain but we marched through the neighborhoods after we returned to school as it had quit raining.  We played for special ed. kids a number of times and provided food and gifts for them.  Flute, Clarinet and Jazz groups played at retirement homes.  We instituted the Santa Hat instead of a band hat for parades and soon after every band was doing the same thing.  Food covered my desk in the form of presents from band members.  Not that I got to eat most of it as it seems that any food in my office became community food.  I also remember the first time a parent gifted me a bottle of bourbon and, after hiding it in my trunk, looking up the rules of 180 day suspensions for alcohol to see if they applied to teachers (not that I could tell). 

            You were all special folks but seemed to become a little more special this time of year.  I hope that you and your families have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah (or any of the 5 other spellings), Great Holiday and a Wonderful New Year.

p.s.

            I still owe just over a thousand dollars for Sousaphone cases.  There is a donation button on the side of this blog.  Those two facts can be related if you wish them to be.

Trivia Help Needed!!!

HOUSTON BAND ROOM

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

7:00 P.M.

$10.00 PER PERSON

         I am in serious need of help with this venture.  A sign-up genius link is included below for those who can help.  While it is possible to sell tickets, sell concessions, set up and clean up all by myself, I would much rather share the fun.  If you can’t help with the details but can come to help raise money for equipment, please do.  If you can help but don’t and later develop a rash…. please know that I still have some powers.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0949adab2d6-trivia

Getting Trivial

On a cold and somewhat rainy night in November of 2007, we held our first Trivia Night in the band room at Houston.  My one certain memory from that night was Lori Tingle running to the front to hand me something and wiping out on the wet floor as she tried to stop.  On this, the 10^th anniversary of our first soirre’ into all things trivial, I remember how much fun we all had.  I hope to repeat that experience on this November 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the band room.  I am asking anyone who can help with this to checkout a sign-up genius list at:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0949adab2d6-trivia

I need help and, as I am sure you all know, I no longer have a band of folks who do things because I tell them to.  Now I am hoping you will all help out because I am begging and the cause (new equipment for the band) is good.  In case you are pre-2007 and don’t know how this works, the most important thing is to show up.  We will build teams of no more than 10 to a team.  There will be 10 rounds of 10 questions (one question each from 10 different categories).  We will have limited concessions (drinks, pizza, candy).  It all takes about 2 hours and cost $10.00 to play. 

There were also some lessons learned in the first 10 years of doing this sort of thing.  One night, I caught a parent looking up answers on their cell phone (a big no-no).  Our prizes are not large enough to risk eternal damnation for cheating on a question like, “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?”  My wife no longer buys tickets for our “Split the Pot” drawing.  Her name was randomly drawn the first 3 times we did this and, even though we donated the money back to the band, the optics were really bad.  The most prevalent problem was excited folks shouting out an answer so loudly that not only other people playing but also some people across the street would know their answer.  Sometimes that answer was wrong!  Once, Audrie Pleasants was running concessions and got so excited about an answer SHE shouted it out….. and she wasn’t even playing.  From picking team names (Nesvick’s Naughty Nose Pickers) to the exciting battle for last place, I hope all of you will join us on Nov. 10.

What is the only U.S. State to grow coffee?

The New Tuba Cases Are Here !!!

            As a brief tribute to Steve Martin in “The Jerk”, “The new tuba cases are here.  The new tuba cases are here!”.  The band at Houston has been using sousaphone cases that were in such bad shape and so old they may have been manufactured by John Philip Sousa himself.  As was noted in a previous epistle, I have been raising money through donations to pay the $5,400 necessary to purchase these cases.  Ex-tuba players are notoriously cheap and I have ended up short of my goal.  Nonetheless, I ordered the cases and they are in.  My options are to leave the balance on my credit card and hope Amy pays for them or to have a fundraiser.  To that end, and knowing that not much gets by my wife, we are having a TRIVIA NIGHT on Friday, November 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the band room at Houston. 

            For those who are unfamiliar with our trivia night procedures, they are simple.  On that night, you need to arrive at the band hall just a little before 7:00.  The cost of participating is a mere $10.  You will join up with others to make teams no larger than 10 members each.  We will do 10 rounds of 10 questions each and award some sort of prize to the winning team.   Questions will come in categories like, “Things That Taste Like Chicken”, “Words That Rhyme With Mulroy”, and “How Many Nesvicks Does That Weigh”.  And now a quick story:

            We were having a trivia night some years back and some serious trivia players came as a team.  These were non-band, bar room trivia aficionados who expected to win.  At the end of regulation, they were tied with a rather rag tag group of band kids and parents.  The tiebreaker question was, “What’s the first thing you know?”  The serious team put their heads together and came up with what they thought to be a serious answer backed up by science and common sense.  Their answer was, “Your mother’s voice”.   The band team gave the correct answer, “Ol’ Jed’s a Millionaire”.  The serious folks never returned and the morale of the story is:  Don’t Be Too Serious!

We will have limited concessions (drinks, candy, pizza, caviar, road-kill).  The whole thing takes a little over 2 hours and can be lots of fun.  What I need is a lot of bodies to show up so ask your friends, former band mates, neighbors and pets.  At some point I will post a Sign-Up Genius asking for help with setting up, cleaning up, concessions selling, and score keeping.  Until then, please make plans to attend on Friday, November 10.  The thought of me sitting alone in the band room trying to figure out how to tell my wife we are now the proud owner of sousaphone cases should be motivation enough.  If you can’t make it and want to donate using the PayPal button on this blog, please do!  I hope to see many of you in November!

Have A Little Fun With It!

            I went to Houston versus Germantown football games for 25 years in a row.  Mostly I just laughed at the ridiculous seriousness of it all.  Sometimes fights would break out.  Not actual fights mind you, but what passes for fights among spoiled suburbanite children who want to shoot their mouths off and then look around for an adult to intervene before they have to pay a price for said mouthing.  Sometimes administrators and coaches would have been better off to take the doctor’s pledge, “First, do no harm”, as they got a little too wound up in us against them thing.  And sometimes it was just chaos.  Energy plus desire multiplied by youth. 

            Not that I find anything especially wrong with all that transpired.  I was responsible for some of the foolishness myself.  In the summer following my first year, Houston was hosting summer school.  A young man who was attending summer school and happened to be from Germantown High School wandered into the band room and started talking smack about band.  Not “football” mind you, but band!  He was wearing a GHS Band t-shirt with their logo on the front.  Some of my guys asked if they had to listen to such mouthing and I said no.  So, they held him down and cut the logo off the front of his t-shirt.  We actually still have the logo in our archives.  His mother called Mr. Clayton the next day to complain.  Mr. Clayton told her to dress her son more appropriately before sending him back to HOUSTON High School.  Today that would be a front-page article in the Commercial Appeal.  Which reminds me:  What do you get when you throw a Red Devil off the Empire State Building?  Applause.

            The first time we beat Germantown in football at their field, the Houston kids wanted to storm the field.  A problem arose because the field was protected by a rather high fence that had no gate in it on the visitor’s side.  This wasn’t going to stop a group of over adrenalized teenagers who began climbing the fence and jumping off the stands onto the track.  The principal of Germantown at that time was a quiet and unassuming man (sarcasm off).  He came toddling over to the visitor’s sideline and started yelling for the kids to get off the field.  He then pointed at me and yelled, “and shut that band up right away”.  We did what any self-respecting visiting rival band would do.  We played louder!  That was also the first night I had ever seen a football team (Germantown) come onto the field for the 2^nd half warm-ups while their own band was still performing.  Two thoughts:  Show respect for ALL kids efforts at the game…… and Karma is a bitch.  Which reminds me:  What do you call a movie about a kid attending Germantown High School?  “The Devil Knows Nada” (with apologies to Meryl Streep).

            We played a game at Germantown on Halloween one year.  I let the pep band wear Halloween costumes to the game.  A lady administrator at Germantown did not want to let us in, as we were not all dressed uniformly (paragraph 3, subsection F of the “How to Over-Administrate Handbook for Morons”).   At some point after we were seated, the same lady tapped me on the shoulder, pointed to my mellophone players (all girls), and said, “Those 5 will have to go!”.  It seems that they had dressed as pregnant nuns.  Now, I agree that is not the best costuming decision they could have made.  I would have gone with pregnant Red Devils.  The nice lady and I reached an agreement that involved the removal of strategically placed pillows (none of them were actually pregnant).  Should I have noticed this issue before we arrived?  Probably.  Was it in poor taste?  Absolutely.  Can you find a problem if you go looking hard enough?  I think you know the answer to that.  Which reminds me:  What do you say to a GHS graduate when they are wearing a 3-piece suit?  “Will the defendant please rise”.

           

            I started by saying I found all of this to be a little silly and I still do.  We need to support our schools while always remembering why we are at school in the first place (that education….. remember).  Have fun when and where you can, but maybe tone down the serious a bit.  There are obviously good things about both schools.  Heck! I was replaced by a GHS graduate in Mr. Taylor. which reminds me:  You know why GHS graduates are uniquely qualified to work at the DMV?  Because, as my preacher often says, “The Devil takes many forms.”