The next year, we were in the Cadet Band. This combined the brass and percussion with the woodwinds. The class got a whole lot more interesting because the woodwinds meant one thing. Girls. There were lots of girls who played flute, clarinet, and saxophone. As I mentioned there weren't any girls on brass or percussion. Some of the girls I was in love with from time to time. And it was hard to have Mr. Crawford yell at the percussion section (which he did a lot because we made many mistakes) and know that the special someone was right there listening to him yell at you. It was especially hard because most of the time the girl that I liked didn't particularly like me. So making a major mistake on the drums and having everyone know about it didn't make my case any easier.
One of the duties of the Cadet Band was to play at school games. We also played at Pep rallies and assemblies before games. We were also to beat the drums as the cheerleaders lead us in various cheers. I hated this duty and could never get into it. But playing at games was okay. We played the school song and other songs like the Themes from Hogans Heros and Hawaii Five-O which both had very interesting snare drum parts. We played for the boys and girls volleyball teams as well as the boys basketball team.
Mr. Crawford was also in charge of the Stage Band and it was always nice to hear them play. Even years later I find myself singing McCarther Park which was one of their best tunes. And I think of the Bonneville Junior High School Stage Band which was where I first heard that song.
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