Love2Drum
06-13-2005, 11:03 AM
Just wanted to throw in an observation I've had over the last couple of years here in the California games. You DMs here will know who I'm talking about.
There is a new DM in the ranks named Jake, he's all of 5 years now I belive. He started showing up at games like Queen Mary, Costa Mesa, San Diego, etc, with a tiny, tiny set of bagpipes, and he would march in massed bands. All of the bands would welcome him in. Then he started showing up with a tiny plastic drum, and again, couldn't wait to join the other bands. He would hang with our band a lot, and we got to know him and him parents well.
At the Pomona games this year, I watched massed bands from the stand instead of playing, and to my surprise, for closing ceremonies the first day he was out there with Micky, Kevin, Jason, and all the other drum majors, leading the massed bands onto the field.
Since all of you DMs were on the field, I just wanted to give you a glimpse as to the audience reaction. It took a minute for them to realize he was out there, since he's so small, but once they did, they all started cheering for him. I could hear a lot of the people in my area begin making comments about him like "oh, how cute it that", or, "look how small he is!", etc. Well they really took to him. We all watched as he fell behind the other DMs, and basically became the one DM in front of the bands. Slowly but surely the bands were gaining ground, and the audience began cheering him on to get ahead. Little Jake would look over his shoulder, realize the bands were getting close, and run up a little, then get right back into form. You could see the front rank of pipers watching him too, making sure they didn't over run him.
I just have to say it was the best thing I've ever seen. I had heard a rumor he was being taught, and I think it was obvious as even at his small size and age, he had the movements down, even saluting the Chieftain at the right moment.
I hope whoever is teaching him sticks with it. It got me to thinking, as part of the organization that put that games on, I wanted to make a point of following him as he grows with pictures in the program. We got a couple of nice ones of him this year. It made me think, how neat to be able to follow this little tyke as he grows from a 5 year old drum major to his future.
So, I just wanted to post about that. He's become a real part of the pipeband community at our games here, and I think its great whoever is teaching him that they were willing to take on someone that young. I think it will be interesting to see what Jake becomes as he grows older!
There is a new DM in the ranks named Jake, he's all of 5 years now I belive. He started showing up at games like Queen Mary, Costa Mesa, San Diego, etc, with a tiny, tiny set of bagpipes, and he would march in massed bands. All of the bands would welcome him in. Then he started showing up with a tiny plastic drum, and again, couldn't wait to join the other bands. He would hang with our band a lot, and we got to know him and him parents well.
At the Pomona games this year, I watched massed bands from the stand instead of playing, and to my surprise, for closing ceremonies the first day he was out there with Micky, Kevin, Jason, and all the other drum majors, leading the massed bands onto the field.
Since all of you DMs were on the field, I just wanted to give you a glimpse as to the audience reaction. It took a minute for them to realize he was out there, since he's so small, but once they did, they all started cheering for him. I could hear a lot of the people in my area begin making comments about him like "oh, how cute it that", or, "look how small he is!", etc. Well they really took to him. We all watched as he fell behind the other DMs, and basically became the one DM in front of the bands. Slowly but surely the bands were gaining ground, and the audience began cheering him on to get ahead. Little Jake would look over his shoulder, realize the bands were getting close, and run up a little, then get right back into form. You could see the front rank of pipers watching him too, making sure they didn't over run him.
I just have to say it was the best thing I've ever seen. I had heard a rumor he was being taught, and I think it was obvious as even at his small size and age, he had the movements down, even saluting the Chieftain at the right moment.
I hope whoever is teaching him sticks with it. It got me to thinking, as part of the organization that put that games on, I wanted to make a point of following him as he grows with pictures in the program. We got a couple of nice ones of him this year. It made me think, how neat to be able to follow this little tyke as he grows from a 5 year old drum major to his future.
So, I just wanted to post about that. He's become a real part of the pipeband community at our games here, and I think its great whoever is teaching him that they were willing to take on someone that young. I think it will be interesting to see what Jake becomes as he grows older!