IN THE BAND NOW....

When we all joined the marching Band in 1967, or after New Year in 1968, first thing starting that January we had to learn how to read music. That was the hardest thing. Almost like when we had to learn Latin for church. They gave us music sheets and explained all the different notes for us. This was upstairs in the Grade 8 classroom after school and sometimes in the evenings or Saturdays. And we stuck to it, all us boys, until we learned all the different songs like’ Red Wings’ or ‘Green Beret’. We learned some 10 different songs we played as we marched sometimes in parades or at events. Us in our red and white cadet uniforms.

And in the spring time, once we learned all that music we hit the pavement. And began to learn different formations as we played our music. Two formations we did were the ‘Wheel’ and ‘Musical Ride’. Some days we spent hours practicing the different formations. Each formation had to be right on cue, with the song. Sometimes you finished one formation at the end of a song, then, if you were going to be performing in an arena before crowds, you finished one formation and one song, then you went straight into another formation and another song.

At Kamloops, our entire performance took a full 15 minutes! With some 5 formations and maybe 5 songs back-to-back. We memorized every song, every formation, every step! It was awesome!

AT KAMLOOPS WE WERE AWESOME!

That was in 1969. That was us....we were the boys in the Band.

One year we had been outside our school quite some time practicing our entire 20 minute performance with half a dozen formations and at least as many songs. Every song, every formation, every step. And we weren’t getting it. There was one part which wouldn’t fit. And Brother McCormick, our Band Master, was getting extremely frustrated! Something wasn’t working.

He tried this, then that but for some reason we ended up off note! And our lines backwards.

We were just outside the workshop, all us boys and Brother McCormick. Then Father Sweeney and a couple of visitors stopped by to watch us practice. It was also at that point when Brother McCormick had become so frustrated he was beginning to raise his voice as he shouted out instructions to us. Then….he got so mad he just about swore. I remember Father Sweeney looked at us, then at his two guests, then they all wandered off. To leave us be.

Then....Brother tried something else.... and it worked. There would be days like that.....when nothing worked.....then you tried something entirely different....something new.....and somehow it worked.

That was Band.

Selling Xmas Cards....

We made our own Christmas cards, and then sold them for our Band trips. We had a contest one year, maybe in about 1968, to see who could design our Christmas cards. We were told when designing the cards that it had to be fairly simple so our designs can be used when we make the Christmas cards using paint and screening. They explained it all for us and of course, we were all confused.

Until we actually got to do the screening ourselves then we could see what they were saying when they explained to us how the ‘screening’ works.

They picked maybe a half dozen designs from all the students from all the classes at Lejac. They even picked one of mine which was about three Wise Men in a Canoe following the North star.

Once they made the selection they then made a number of screens at the Scout Hall and all us students and supervisors (and our Band Master, Brother McCormick) began making the cards. It involved a lot of paint which we poured onto the screens and then hung these cards onto lines of string across the hall for them to dry. We had to run some of these cards through the screens more than once depending on how many colors in the picture. All the boys and girls chipped in and helped.

Once the Christmas cards were all done we travelled to the local towns and sold them door-to-door. They sent me and another intermediate boy with a senior and we sold cards at Vanderhoof one weekend. I remember knocking on a fellow’s door that Saturday afternoon. And he was watching television. We each took turns asking people if they would like to buy the Xmas cards. And we had to be ‘polite and courteous’.

The fellow had a color television. And none of us had ever seen a color television before. And we took turns poking our head in his door and watching his color TV while the third boy talked to him.

In 1969 we went to Prince George and sold cards at a table we set up at the Hudson Bay store downtown. Me, Victor West and two other boys took turns sitting at the table selling cards. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. photo courtesy of 'flickr'.