"Memories from the outside looking in" by W. Gade

That's how it felt for me back then.
Quiet kid...always protected in a way by my "big older brothers" Kim Bruhn (did I also say "LOUD!") and lead piper Dale Johnson. Both guys, among many others, took me under their wing - as so many other Scots did for so many other goofy looking freshmen.
Playing as part of the pipe drum section with Dale and Kim and so many others was a treat because as we all know - drummers are always known for _______________ off (you fill in the blank). We had some serious fun and Dale with the pipes and Kim with the drum squad were both good for leading...in the goofing as well as those many other times when we needed (because Doyle was headed our way with a head of steam) to kick it into gear.
Quiet kid...not always understanding what all the hoopla was about, all the stuff that made the Scots THE SCOTS. Only later did I get it. By nature, I'm still not a shouter and flag waver, but I do get it.
And now 34 years later, having been a band director for over 30 years (and now a music director at a church), teaching kids (mostly middle school...you didn't think I'd be doing all that marching, did ya???? - add smiley) about the "joys" of music and the value in practice and importance or working together for a common goal - I got it!
And while any young musician/athlete/scholar, etc "gets" what it takes to win, to excel, to take center stage...it's seems safe to say that no one who hasn't worn that cockeyed hat/tam and woolie skirt and felt the "chills" of a St. Patrick's parade in Chicago, or the chills when marching with incredible focus down the Main in St. Petersburg or Traverse Bay or standing on stage at Hemmens Auditorium and felt the real CHILLS when Amazing Grace is played - can really get what our combined experiences were really like.
And to think that it took some guy (DH) with a wild idea: to buy some kilts and convince high school aged boys (and girls) that this is what they were going to wear in summer competitions; to teach some pretty decent clarinetists, etc, to give up those horns to play (in tune, even) the pipes; to convince a girl that the drum head really was going to hold her when she was going to dance on it at the center of the field - some would say that old bass drum never was put to better use; to convince a whole town and high school culture that it really was "cool" to be a Scot; to prod a multitude of students to give up tons of time each spring/summer to learn (on a parking lot, no less) drills year after year; to convince moms and dads and kids - not me...remember I was quiet - that it was fun and cool to smell like onions and seasoning for a week after the hoagie sale (and we all know we have never had a sandwich that was as good as those 3 or 4 fresh hoagies we would wolf down the very day they were brought home); to convince young musicians that they really could play soft on a football field...
That took lots of vision, guts, chutzpah, smack - you name it.
I would love to have seen the looks on some of those early faces (Rich Levault/Don Stroup vintage and beyond) when Doyle came up with this wild haired "scheme".
I, and you, if you're reading this, really did get it.
Thanks Doyle, and thanks so mch to the Carl Radde's, all the band semi drivers; and all the screaming drum majors; and Kim and Teresa; and Rich and Don; and Dale J.; and now all these current band geeks and event organizers that keep these memories fresh enough to revive and relive the honor felt by standing together for something better. As a fortunate father of a young musician (9 yr. old piano student, about to start up on a band instrument) I can only hope he gets what I got.
And since my wife knows what it's like to be married to a band goof, my heart also goes out to Judy and her/their children...because their's too was perhaps the greatest sacrifice - Thanks for sticking with a guy with some pretty wild ideas! And, when Doyle first came home to share this "thought", for not saying "Settle down Doyle, it can't/won't work!" Judy, you surely were Doyle's finest idea and best sounding board! Blessings to you!
Alas, I had no intention of writing so much, but quiet guys are sometimes better in writing than speaking.
Looking forward to seeing the faithful in a few weeks.
Peace,
w.gade