School's Day

Today is going to be a busy day. At 10:30 A.M. we have to be at http://sttammanyjunior.stpsb.org/

the trick is going to be able to get to the school and then fit in another school that someone told us about called the Salmen High School. We want to expand our files on the schools and this is how it happens. Someone tells us a school that was hit very hard and we go in that direction trying not to get lost.

So this morning we loaded up the van with the instruments we wanted to give to the school and our own instruments so just in case they want us to play we will be ready to go. That happens sometimes. Al and I got up very early to get ready while Mike and Elaine slept in a little. Here at http://www.bioliberty.net/ early in the morning it’s nice and peaceful. We’re right on the bayou. With a cup of coffee and sitting near the water answering e-mails, it can get down right nice. There is a heavy mist that goes about a foot over the water while cranes are like kings standing over their own domain. Morning birds are singing their songs, and to just sit here can be a little piece of heaven.

Well as soon as 9.A.M. rolls around, we all start to figure out what instruments are going where. We have all the instruments at Meg’s House, and figuring what goes where can be funny sometimes. It’s all talk about “well let’s see; that drum we can send to Burus, but that one can go to St. Tammany’s” and so on. Traveling with 4 people it’s not always easy going to the same direction. We all have our own ideas of what we should do. So we always hash things out, and it always ends up working out right somehow.

Next, it’s pack up the van and get to the school on time. We have to do things on their schedule, not ours. Mike is doing the driving and just wants to know which back-seat driver he should be taking directions from.

We take off, and as the school is fairly close by, we find we’re ahead of schedule. This being the case, we decide to stop and say hello to our friend Yvonne Brown, since she lives near the school. Yvonne, is the wife of the late renowned musician Gatemouth Brown , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_%22Gatemouth%22_Brown She had’nt met Mike or Elaine, and we wanted to introduce her to them. We got in a short visit and then headed down the road a few blocks to St.Tammany’s.

Once there, we were greeted warmly by Principal Vince DiCarlo. This man really cares about the kids there and truly appreciates it whenever anyone wants to help them. He invited us to play a couple of tunes for the 6^th graders, and then have lunch there at the cafeteria. Since we never turn down a chance to play, (or eat), we gave that suggestion a resounding “Yes!” Another nice thing to see was Mrs. Guillory (the music teacher) back from maternity leave (It’s a boy!). This lady is a real go-getter, and is highly thought of by some other schools’ band directors, as we found out later. She really gets her students fired up, and her motto seems to be “We will find a way”.

Time always seems to go way too fast when we go to a school. We come in and bring the instruments in and maybe do a small show and before you know we have to leave so the teachers can do what they do the best, teach.

In the gymnasium, at St. Tammany’s the Principal talks a little bit to the kids about who we are and why we are there. Before you know it the kids started rocking back and forth and waving in time to Woody Guthrie’s classic “This Land Is Your Land”; really getting into it and singing along. It seems no matter where you go, kids will know that song. We’d play all day to an audience like that, but since they had classes to go to, and we had another school to visit, we joined some other kids for a quick lunch, took some pictures, and headed back to camp to load up the next batch of instruments.

Next on the agenda was to introduce ourselves to the folks at Salmen High School. We had made contact with band director Jim Stevens, and had arranged to meet him at about 1 o’clock. Of course, one should always go through proper channels, so we first stopped at the main office to introduce ourselves to the Principal. He was’nt in at that moment, but by the time we moved the van and found a parking spot, he found us. Byron Williams is an imposing figure and very authoritative. At first he wasn’t too sure about us. Fortunately, we had a letter of introduction from the Parrish Supervisor of Fine Arts to explain who we are and why we were there. (Thank you, Peggy Sharpe!) After finding out we weren’t there to terrorize his students, Mr. Williams was very gracious and explained where we needed to go to deliver the instruments and find Mr. Stevens, then, busy man that he is, he bade us goodbye and went back to work. Mr. Williams had pointed out the building where the music department was and told us to go to the third door on the right. So we walk over to introduce ourselves. We heard some very loud drumming coming from one of the rooms and figured it must be the place. There was Jim Stevens leading some students and he turned around and saw us. As always in cases like this we tell our story. Then, there comes that smile that we have seen many times. Jim tells us, “Sure bring in the instruments”. We get to the van and bring them in and Jim tells us, “I am not supposed to cry in front of the students, but I want to thank all of you”. I ask him, “Do you need a piano?” “Yes”, he told us, “that’s one thing we still need.” We think of Peter Spring http://www.stevenspring.org/ and say “Let us make a phone call…”

Stay tuned for, Salmen High gets a piano.

Still Pickin'

Bill Hudson & Crew

http://www.dragonfly.com/ is sending entertainers to the devastated areas in Louisiana and Mississippi.