The band room

The beginning of school here in Keokuk is still almost a month away, but things are ramping up. Jordan and I went to the high school yesterday to turn in some paper work and get some band info. Walking into the high school all these years later, going in through the front door, was kind of weird. I've been to several events in the field house, but never in the main body of the school. Not in 30 years.

It's changed a bit. It's still large and imposing. Those 4 stories, looming up behind the single story fron,t is a bit scary when you're a freshman. Now, I'm just thankful that I don't have to manage all those stairs several times a day any more! : )

We didn't really wander far into the building. We were there on band business. And let me tell you, the years have not been kind to that poor band room! The music addition, housing the band and choir rooms, was built when I was in high school. It was awesome! The band room was the best you could get back then. Tiered levels for the band to sit on. Acoustically designed for a high school band. And, wow! was it big! Before the new addition was built, we'd been making music in a "temporary" room in the basement. (20 years in a temporary room, from what I remember.) It had low ceilings, was cramped, shared with the choir, and had no storage.

When we moved into that huge, new band room it was awesome! I was all excited to go into that room again yesterday. To walk into the room where I'd spent so many, many hours of my high school years. Sigh. That poor room. The years have not been kind to the band room at KHS. Sigh. I'm not quite sure what happened, but that room has shrunk horribly! It's tiny. It's scuffed and scarred. And did I mention that it's tiny??? Wow.

You expect changes over the years. People change. Landscapes change. But the band room??? Wow. I looked at that room and could not for the life of my memories know how you fit a whole band in there! Sure, there was the spot where I'd sat, flute on my lap, in the front row, towards the right. But how in the world did we do it? How do they do it now? Wow.

Obviously, my memories have been kinder to the band room than reality. As the years have gone by, that room, in my mind, grew larger. (I do not remember that room being that small at all!!) The scuffs and the scars are expected and I'm sure are borne proudly. But, have I mentioned that the room is small? Goodness.

So, kudos to the Keokuk band.... to the director and the kids and to everyone who has used that room over the past 30 years to create music. I heard the high school band for the first time in many, many years last spring. Oh my. I do know that our band did not sound that good when we were in high school. To take those kids, and their instruments, and their gear, and the director... and put them in that small room... and have them come out and create that amazingly awesome music is incredible! Wow. You should hear them sometime, if you never have.

The poor band room at KHS may have shrunk and become worn over the years, but it is still serving it's purpose to the fullest. It's taking teenagers and turning them into a cohesive group with a common purpose. For 30 years that room has seen, and heard, things and sounds, that no one should ever have tosee or hear, I'm sure! It has also seen and heard the best that Keokuk has to offer. You may not be a fan of the band, but you have to be a fan of the band room. It has survived 30 + years of kids and instruments and scuffing and scarring. It's still standing firm and sending The Band out to entertain us.

Again, if you've never heard the Keokuk band, marching, jazz, concert, or in any other form, you should sometime. And, sometime, you should stop by and see that band room and give it some credit for doing it's job so well. Shrunken or not, that room is still a huge part of a lot of people's high school lives.

And the beat goes on.............