Strike up the band

By JUSTIN KOLLMEYER
Pastor

It’s time for another round of praise and thanksgiving for the talented and successful superstar youth of our great community! My celebration this time is for the Fayette County High School Marching Tiger Band.
In mid-July these kids reported with caps, sunglasses, water bottles, and huge hearts to the painted lines on the burning asphalt of their school parking lot for “two-a-day” marching drills. After a week or so of this nearly-sadistic self-sacrifice, they shipped off to a week of band camp for further torture and training in the heat and humidity of an Alabama college campus.
They poured music from their souls and brains, out through their instruments – all while memorizing over a hundred intricate steps, moves, and formations. By the time school actually started, they were well on their way to mastering “the show” they would take not only to football games and halftimes, but also to national and regional “marching competitions.”
What a “machine” this was developing into! The brass and woodwinds played and marched and played and marched and played and marched, and then to get it “more perfect” (yes, that was their goal), they played and marched some more. The three drum majors drilled tirelessly to bring every tempo and syncopation to unified precision. The drum line stood for hours and hours even before and after regular practice to mold every snare, quad, and bass stroke into a single percussion heartbeat. The “pit” percussionists played accompanying notes and “noises” over and over, counting and waiting until just the right beat to inject their vital but often over-looked contribution. The flag corps and majorettes drilled and waved and danced and tossed and caught and counted and choreographed, only stopping to band-aid blisters and ice down bruises.
I’ve said for a long time, “If you’re in the band, you’d better give your soul to Jesus…because Mr. Beard’s gonna get the rest of you!” Can I get an “Amen” to that? (Of course, we love Mr. Beard and admire and respect him and his staff! We say “Thank You” to all of them for their hard work and dedication to benefit these young people!)
Now we all know that hard work, dedication, commitment, sacrifice, and team effort have their own reward even without external success … but we also know that when all these lead in addition to “external success,” the rewards are particularly sweet. You won’t be surprised when I tell you that this band’s final product this year – a musical-and-marching, sound-and-sight extravaganza called “Cartoon – Saturday Morning Fever” – has now been showered with “external successes”, and the rewards have indeed been particularly sweet:
• “Bands of America” finalist in national/regional competition at Johnson City, Tenn. (a terrific honor bestowed).
• Grand champion of the Sandy Creek Annual Marching Competition (winning by a landslide).
• Grand champion runner-up (the only band to perform in a driving rainstorm) at Rockdale County Marching Competition (a true test of courage and discipline).
So, we stand to salute you, Fayette County Marching Tiger Band! You are absolute superstars, shining among us. We congratulate you. We honor you. We admire you. We are thankful that you make our little corner of the world a better place in which to live.
And yes, we thank God for you! And give Him praise for the marvel and wonder of His awesome creation of you!
(Kollmeyer is Pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, located in Fayetteville on Hwy. 314 between Lowe’s and The Pavilion. He invites anyone without a church home to Sunday morning worship at 8:15, 9:30 (Contemporary), or 11:00. For more information please log-on at www.popdove.com or call 770-461-3403.)