Like I indicated in my first entry, my reputation as a good player was increasing. However, the first week of HS I was floored (first I was 2 weeks late to begin with after recovering from hamstring surgery earlier that summer. Second, the building was so large I got lost trying to find my classes, and third, I found out I couldn’t march because my knees weren’t strong enough to take the grind just yet. I got a relatively low score in tryouts and ended up in the 2nd row in the clarinet section.

We tried to do a parade at Southridge Mall in early December. The crowd was so large that we only got 2/3 through 1 level and 1/3 through the other before we had to pull off.

The band also competed during the summer, working out a 10-minuut field drill show (similar to a college band halftime performance). At first, I hated going over the same moves ad nauseam with the hard-nosed drum major watching everything. Early June banc camp was held for 2 weeks, we’d be out there in the hot sun-the other thing I remember was that was the same summer that Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover” was released. If memory serves correct, the first competition was in Verona, just outside of Madison. There was a crowd there, cheering us on. After that first time, I started to see that the hard work was worth it.

The band did a concert on the White House steps in Washinton DC that same summer. It was a humid day with temps in the mid-90s and several players wound up in the hospital after passing out. I still remember the sister of one of those players weeping as she assisted me off the playing area that day. I just hadn’t seen much crying at home or from anyone else in that age group before then.

I skipped a couple of competitions because my legs weren’t strong enough (they allowed me to do every other marching competition back then). Every time I would march (even though my errors wouldn’t count in the scoring_ the band’s score would go down. By the time we got to Carpentersville, IL I was so frustrated, I cried after the lone rehearsal we had there before our last competitive field dirll competition. Fortunately, that was also the same (lone) competition we didn’t finish in last place.

My 2nd year of HS, I was put in a weight-training class, which helped increase my strength big time.

First funny HS band incident: Winter of Sophomore year at a concert in the gym–stands were lined up in rows, all the parts in order on each stand for the opening segment. Each player marches to their spot correctly, but when the director cues to bring the horns up, the long end of a trombone hits one of the stands, the music goes flying off that stand and the audience was getting a good laugh out of it. Fortunately, the director had a dry sense of humor about it, saying later on in the program “I’m going to walk right between the 2 guys who embarrassed me earlier;”

Second funny incident: Winter of the following year, prior to a rehearsal, I was with a bunch of brass players in a small hallway west of stage in which there was enough space to hold sectionals. I stood and listened as these guys were jamming away, nothing coherent, just jamming frustrations off. Mind you, it’s bitterly cold outside (single digits, a slight wind and flurries. 10 minutes into their jam session, one of the guys says “Let’s go ouuside and do “Smear It Up”. One of the trombone players had a red T-shirt on, and the guy who made the suggestion had a white sweater on. I watched the whole bunch go out there. They barely got through the first line before they started laughing. They went back inside and the guy in the red T-shirt says “It’s mighty coold out there” I was thinking “Well-DUH! What did you expect?” (For obvious reasons, I dedn’t say that.) I finished my first year of weight training, which helped my endurance greatly. More on that in a seperate entry.