The time came when it was our turn to perform. First we went to a band room to play scales and make sure we were all tuned up. Then the moment came that we had all anticipated. We entered from the wings of the stage. We set up our percussion equipment that we had brought. The larger percussion instruments such as the timpani and the bass drum were already there so we didn't have to bring them. I familiarized myself with the timpani and got it tuned up for our first piece. I looked out at the audience. It was dark, yet I could tell it was huge. On one side of the auditorium wall was a large pipe organ. There were not too many people in the audience but I could tell one person was there. He looked as if he had a microphone and he had a small light that illuminated a music stand full of music. From what Mr. Crawford had told us, I assumed that was Dr. Dalby, ready to judge us on every wrong note we made.
Mr. Crawford made sure we were in tune and adequately warmed up. Then he turned to Dr. Dalby and indicated we were ready to begin. As we started, I was very nervous. But Mr. Crawford had couched us on how to behave in performances. "If you make a mistake, don't make a big show about it, just go on as if nothing happened. Most people in the audience won't know you made a mistake." Yet we knew that Dr. Dalby would notice. That's why I was so nervous and I'm sure my sister Vera and everyone else was too. Despite our initial nervousness, we played very well. We sounded very good in the large auditorium. The sounds of our band rang throughout the hall. On the last number I realized that this honor was what we had worked for. All the practices in the back room, self practicing, rudiments, band classes, and tedious scales had led up to this.
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