The Battle for the Beat and Blow Stand


As a freshman, there was one senior in B-Company who was more imposing 
than the rest.  His name was Bill Moore.  And he had one of the longest
index fingers I have ever seen. He would wave it at the freshmen.  
Especially those in the Drum and Bugle Corps.  The Drum and Bugle Corps
was composed of all freshman and sophomore drummers and brass players.
The reed suckers were not in it.  No woodwinds.  Well, Bill Moore was a
saxophone player.  Aside from yelling for "valve oil" at drill (God
help you if you tossed your valve oil to a woodwind upperclassmen [they 
don't use valve oil, but they would cry for it to try and trick trumpet
freshman into tossing their valve oil to them]), the woodwinds saw the
"Drum and Bugle Corps" as a rival organization.  And the Master Sergeant
had a wooden stand from which he would direct the group.  Bill Moore 
was after that stand.  And he would ridicule the D&B Corps.  And he 
would do it by waving his finger under our chins and promising, "The 
Beat and Blow Stand will be mine....".  Anonymous notes from Bill Moore
would read, "I will have the Honk and Bonk Stand".  This is what he 
would promise.  Fish Feuerbacher and I were the guardians of the 
stand.  Then one day, while we were all in the showers, Bill Moore got
the master key, and pilfered the stand. He transferred it to the room
of fish Gwin and fish Baha (both saxophone freshmen).  Then he directed
them to hold out.  Which they did.  We noticed it was missing immediately.
We soon found out where it was and there started a very amusing yelling 
battle.  It was all very fun and light until Richard Warner showed up. 
He was the Drum and Bugle Corps Master Sergeant on CBS (Combined Band
Staff).   And he ruined it.  Started shouting about everyone getting 
written up, and calling down the wrath of Corps Staff, blah, blah, blah...
He killed all the fun by overreacting to what was basically a prank.
Enduring image that waving finger....


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Copyright © Richard Hay 1998