“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words.” – Victor Hugo, author

Music has always been a pretty important driver in my life. I met my best friend (Non-Spousal Division) in sixth grade band class. I also met my first wife in band in college. Hey, not every drive can be a good drive.

Most of my favorite teachers have been band directors. Our high school marching band won the Michigan state championship back in… You know what, I don’t want to say when. The year started with a 19; Damn, I’m old. Anyhow, it was during the late 1900s that decided that I wanted to be a high school band director someday.

Through actions that seemed legitimate at the time, I didn’t actually go to college for music like I wanted to. This was one of the main factors that led me to not going to college very much at all.

Even though I entered the real-world workforce at 19, mostly in an I.T. setting, I still spent nearly every summer and fall working with my high school’s competitive marching band in just about any and every capacity I could. Helping design the show themes, helping choose the music, the visual concepts we would try to express, hell I even co-wrote a song from scratch. And that was all before teaching the students ever took place. Weekly rehearsals over the summer, a week-long band camp at the end of August. Early morning and late-night rehearsals to perfect the show. This was one of my happiest places.

In the early 2000s, During one of Michigan’s once-a-decade rebooting of the automotive economy, I found myself out of work. I had one more shot to try and do what I knew that I always wanted to do, so I went back to school for what I wanted to do the previous century. Through actions that seemed legitimate at the time, I still didn’t graduate with an Education degree. So, right back to IT for me. Then, shortly after that, completely out of Michigan.

Almost 15 years later, I can say that I’m barely sad at all that I didn’t get through the Ed program. Hooked up to a lie detector, I would say that it’s less than 1% of a regret. I’m in a pretty solid place, as far as my personal and professional life goes right now.

But that didn’t seem to dampen any of the joy I got to feel last night as Twin B got to perform with other students in the Fall River Schools’ All City Band.

This concert featured the fifth-grade band students from all of the elementary schools in the district, then all of the middle-schoolers, then the high school band. The finale was a song played by all of the students together. This concert does an amazing job of showing the progression that these kids are all capable of making if they stay in the program and put forth the effort.

I pretended to reluctantly volunteer to assist with feeding the musicians in the hour between the end of their final rehearsal and the beginning of the concert. Deep down inside, but mostly on the surface, I was champing at the bit to help out. And, not to brag or anything, but that was probably one of the top one-thousand smoothest instances of feeding about 150 kids a slice of pizza and a chocolate cookie that anybody has ever seen.

It was really cool for me to get to see, firsthand, that parental volunteers willing to help out the entire Performing Arts Department seems to be a universal phenomenon. Even better was getting to see, based on half an hour in a high school cafeteria, that band kids being goofy-assed band kids is also a constant.

Twin B had, by all accounts, a successful concert and even allowed Twin A to get some staged photos of her playing the bells afterwards. I know that she currently plans to say in band for at least the next two years but is a little less sure after that. I’m not going to force her to stick with it through high school. I want to, but I won’t. Probably.

B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River has a competitive marching band program. In fact, they had an undefeated competitive 2024 season, including the U.S. Bands National championship in their Group. When it was mentioned during the concert that students entering at least the seventh grade could try out for the marching band, my eyes lit up and I literally got goosebumps.

I am going to at least attempt to push Twin B to try out for the Marching Band this summer, but with the approval and, frankly the insistence of my best friend (Spousal Division) there’s a good chance that I’m going to see what kind of volunteer help the marching band needs this upcoming fall, whether she is involved yet or not. I wonder if a “No electronics during Marching Season if you aren’t in band” would be a reasonable parenting policy. Sports parents have nothing on me in this regard.

Thanks to all of the teachers who had a part in putting on the concert last night. I hope you know that your hard work is understood and appreciated.