I have been very fortunate to get to teach with an extremely talented assortment of gentlemen who served in the position of assistant director. I learned much from each of them. From Kevin Tabb, I gained an appreciation for how indoor groups (both drum and guard) can strengthen both the camaraderie and performance attributes of the entire band program. From Michael Wilson, I learned much about not losing my temper and that wounding is often as effective as killing when dealing with idiots. From Spencer Nesvick, I learned the value of constantly re-educating myself when it comes to best practices and procedures. From Matt Taylor, I learned (was reminded) of the value of loving and taking care of the kids “along the edges” that others seem to ignore.
I also learned not just from these gentlemen, but about them. And so the story goes…..
We traveled to Disney World at some point while Mr. Tabb was with us. Before going to the Magic Kingdom, we went to Canaveral to visit NASA. Kevin fell in love with this jacket that looked like one an astronaut would wear – complete with your name on the front pocket. After much debate, and considering the pitiful salary of schoolteachers there was much debate, Kevin bought the jacket. I pointed out that he went to sunny Florida to buy a long sleeve jacket but all in all he seemed pretty pleased. The next day dawned much cooler than expected, allowing Kevin to wear the jacket to the Magic Kingdom. We had been in the park for about an hour and I had assumed my usual spot on a bench in front of the castle when kids came to get me with the rather ominous “Mr. Smith, hurry, you have to see this!!!”. They walked me to an area near the Tommorowland Terrace where a line had formed. At the other end of the line was Kevin, wearing the jacket, signing autographs and telling everyone about his life as an astronaut. This went on until it got too hot to wear the jacket but as we were leaving the park that night (and hunting for lost kids) I heard someone yell, “Look…. There’s the astronaut guy we met this morning”.
Not the only time one of them impersonated someone…..
We were at a Germantown football game and I had carried the entire band. We had warned the kids that the crowd at Germantown was often rude to the band and not to retaliate if someone yelled at them or threw something at them but to let Mr. Wilson and me handle it as calmly and professionally as we could. We marched first and waited on the track to watch the Germantown band. Everything was wonderful until the last 45 seconds of their performance when the Germantown football team ran out onto the field and started warming up right where the band was marching. I went with the Germantown director to “discuss” the matter with the Germantown coach and Michael started moving the Houston kids around the track to our seats. At that time, there was a large, tall fence that separated us from the student body (10 feet tall). All at once I hear yelling and turn around to see Mr. Wilson snarling (yes, snarling) and climbing that fence. He went over the top, dropped to the ground and took off into the stands. It seems that some G-town kids had thrown a couple of those little plastic footballs at our kids, hitting one kid and one horn. With that, the legend of “Spiderman” was born. Not that Michael had just been bitten by a radioactive spider, but after watching him scale the fence, the nick name the kids gave him stuck. He was, after all, “Doing whatever a spider can”.
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