I'm With the Band

There seems to be something going on lately where adults are reliving activities from their childhoods. Adult kickball leagues, for example. And the whole thing with dodgeball that even spawned a stupid movie. Can competative adult Red Rover teams be far behind?

Here in the Portland area, we're lucky enough to be home to the world's largest adult marching band. (And by "we," I mean ME.) Imagine, if you will, 560 band geeks, ages 18-80, trying to relive those glory days of high school band. We even have baton twirlers...



This is my second year in the band. When The Star decided to play alto saxophone in 6th grade, I was reminded of how much I had enjoyed it myself. I hadn't played since college, but I rehersed a few scales, auditioned and was accepted. Last year we shared the horn. I would leave my job in Vancouver, swing by the house in Milwaukie and drive to band practice in Beaverton. It was a lot of work.

But worth it. In Portland, the One More Time Around Again Marching Band is famous. We're celebrities, walking (marching really is only encouraged, not required) the 5 mile Grand Floral Parade route while waving to the crowd. The people at the end of the rows slap hands with all the little kids sitting on the curb and many of the spectators shout "Louie, Louie," our signature tune. Our band alone fills more than a block and a half of the route.

In high school, marching band is very serious--it's about precision and conformity. My band, on the other hand, is NOT serious. We're expected to learn our music, but we don't have to memorize it. We can decorate our uniforms and our instruments. We can fill rests in the written music with slide whistles, kazoos and bubble horns. We don't do a very good job of staying in columns and rows--and no one cares too much.

We can't, though, wear colored underwear with our white pants. But that's just common sense.

Today The Star marched in her first parade with her middle school band. I could tell she loved it. She's an applause whore.

One of my odd jobs when I worked for the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau was to chauffeur members of the KU marching band to bars to rev up the crowds before football games. The Star used to come with me sometimes, always dressed in the Jayhawk cheerleading costume I made her. She was about 4. She once said, "I don't know why you were in the band, Mom, when you could have been a cheerleader!" Maybe now she understands.