Sousa and a sweet roll
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
‘THERE’S a bunch of kids with band instruments down in the lobby for you,” phoned Thada Peters, the receptionist at this noospaper. She sounded surprised.
I cheerily greeted them, and then — lade-e-e-z and gentlemen — the show began.
When was the last time you saw six high schoolers, one of them with a bass drum, plus three teachers, jammed into an elevator? I climbed aboard, too. That made 10. It was like the old hee-haw days of how many kids can you jam into a telephone booth?
IT WAS UNCLEAR why they were in my office until they blasted “Hail to the Red and Blue.” It was a good sound, the boom-boom of the bass drum. You can’t beat the tweet of a flute, either.
They were from Davenport Central High School, and with the serenade came a band uniform with jaunty hat. Maybe I shall wear it to celebrate some event, like polka days in Durant. Aha, I thought, they were here to salute me because 65 years ago this springtime I made sour notes on my King cornet with the Central band.
“We want to talk about 120 band members standing under a bedroom window and waking up someone with a Sousa march,” said Jo Souder Vandecar, a grownup who was standing alongside a jazzy trumpet player, Aaron Askam.
THE KIDS are pitching “Wake Up to Central Band” tickets at $2 each or six for $10. The winner will get an over-the-coffee wakeup at their home — or an evening good-night concert for someone before they put on their pj’s. If that doesn’t suit the winner’s fancy, there’s always choice of a concert at a business or just about anywhere.
The lucky ticket will be drawn at Central’s band concert, May 14 in the school auditorium. Money goes to the band fund.
Now, I know why they gave me that uniform. They want me to wear it when I draw the winning ticket. I can’t wait, but they warn me not to bring my old horn.
That reminds me …
Ed Winborn, Davenport’s ex-mayor, has grown a goatee and moustache since leaving office. Why? Something he always wanted to do, but didn’t think it would fly in politics? Is he nursing an inner hippie? He says, “I feel quite dapper.”
Big boat, heading south
Up close and from afar, it looked like a white whale tied up on the Mississippi, 900 block of River Drive, D’port. That biggie, overnighting at Wakeen’s Boat Center, is a shiny new $3 million Skipperliner, 105 feet long and heading for Delray Beach, Fla., where it will be a dinner boat. Named the Lady Atlantic, it was built in La Crosse, Wis. She stopped in Davenport for some tinkering. “We have 2,200 miles to go,” said Capt. Greg Sadowski. “It’ll take us about three weeks to get there.” That’s one long ride on the water! “But she handles well,” the captain says.”
A chef’s stop at Whitey’s
Under USA Today’s “Quisine & A” — a series about Food Network chefs — Mary Nolan gets in a plug for the old hometown. No wonder, she’s a Davenporter. The question was: “If you could take your ideal road trip this summer, which classic restaurants would be on your itinerary?” She writes: “Whenever I go home to visit, I have to stop at Whitey’s in Davenport. Summer wouldn’t be complete without ice cream! During my childhood, my favorite flavor was Gummi Bear, but they’ve stopped making it, so now I get their Mississippi Mud.”
Bill Wundram can be contacted at (563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes.com.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
reddit() comments
» More Bill Wundram Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Free Credit Report with All 3 Scores
- Free 3-bureau Credit Report – includes Transunion, Equifax, Experian.
- FreeCreditReportsInstantly.com
- Refinance $300,000 for Only $965/Month
- $300,000 Mortgage for only $965/month. Save $1,000's - No obligation.
- www.HomeLoanHelpLine.com
- Refinance and Save $1,000S
- $150,000 Mortgage for $483/month. Compare up to 4 free quotes.
- www.pickamortgage.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
