We came here this afternoon to honor the achievements of this band.  We came here to honor your achievements.  And, believe me, there has been a great number of achievements made, both on the academic and spiritual fronts of this band.  During the past year, many obstacles threatened us a whole.  There were changes made.  Mr. Hartwick retired.  Mr. Halquist stepped up.  And Mr. Stoker stepped in.  The band separated into concert band and wind ensemble.  The transition was hard on all of us.  But we overcame. We climbed the mountain and rounded the top.  We pulled together and it’s together that we made it!  And THAT is what we honor this afternoon.  Despite the obstacles, despite the band split, we proved that we are still ONE band.  Though the band be split, the soul remains one.  It is as ONE BAND that we succeeded.  I mean, would have ever thought that we would go to the Gator Bowl!  Who would have ever thought we would play in Disney!  And today, we have honored you for that achievement! 


But, I believe we honored someone else today.  My old band director, Mr. McLaughlin, once asked the band a question.  He held up a sheet of music and asked, “Is this music?”  We all answered yes and to our surprise, he said, “No.  It isn’t”  He said, “No, it isn’t.  It is simply a sheet  of paper with black lines and dots on it.  The buttons you push on that instrument, the dynamics, the life, the enthusiasm you put into that instrument to make sound come forth, that is music.”  Personally, I believe it takes a truly spectacular person to teach someone else to make music.  For it is more than simply playing notes off a sheet of paper. It is an expression of the soul.  It takes a special person to inspire someone else to express their soul by music.  That is why I believe that by honoring you today, you honor those who inspired you and/or instructed you.  You are telling them, “Look, I did it!  I made it!  Thanks!”  You are telling them thanks in the most memorable way.  Words can never compare. 

I want you to think today, about every person who instructed or inspired you.  I want you to thank them because had it not been for them, you might not be where you are right now.  But I know for me, one of the greatest inspirations I had to make music is you.  My fellow band members.  Right from Geoff Packard’s words of acceptance upon first introduction to Will Cole’s witness wagons!  You might be a flute or clarinet player way up front that I’ve not even met.  I might not even recognize you in the hallway should we pass by each other.  However, you too are an inspiration to me.  Because you played in my band; I played in your band, and together we made music.  I am very honored to have had the privilege to play with such an awesome group of people.  I am honored to call myself a member of the Brockport High School band.  And I will consider it an extreme honor to call myself an alumni.  And I know when I look back on my High School band career, 10, 20, even 50 years from now, I know that I will see your faces; that I will hear your voices; that I will hear your laughter, and that I will hear our music and be forever embrace by a symphony of your friendship and our music made together!

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To most people, this speech will mean little.  It may even be lost on them, out of context, for they did not share in the moments spoken about.  It was delivered 22 years ago at the end of my Senior year of high school, at the end of the year as we gathered for our annual band banquet.  I asked to be the first speaker after the meal before all the awards and acknowledgements began.  I remember sitting at my dining room table, penning the words to this speech on 3×5 cards.

Yes, to most people, this speech may mean little.  To me, it continues to be one of those moments that forever marks ones life.  The final words of this speech have rung true all these years.  Despite having lost contact with most of the members of the band; despite having never returned for any reunions, I still look back with honor and fond nostalgia at the years I spent with this band.  This speech, and the responses it evoked, continue to be one of the most proud and significant moments of my young life.  The memories of delivering it; the memories of all those who went out of their way to seek me out and offer their praise for my words still burn clearly in my mind where so many other memories have long since faded. 

Sometimes it seems silly to even me that this simple speech and the praise it received means so much to me as a grown man in his fourties’.  I do not often speak of it to others, but over the years, I find myself reminiscing over it.  I still have the 3×5 cards that bear the words.  I will pull them out from time to time and reread the words.  In fact, they have never been written down in paragraph form until now.  For 22 years, they have only existed on those famed 3×5 cards.  Indeed, sometimes I do wonder if writing and delivering this speech is not one of those watershed, formational moments in my life. 

I do not remember nearly as much as I would hope or desire from those days, but this speech, my days spent in band, they remain important moments to me.  I was not the greatest musician. Where some came by their talent and musical skill naturally, I had to work at it. I still have to work at.  I never did well with sight reading.  I play better after hearing the tune rather than reading the notes.  I was very insecure and unsure of myself in those days and struggled to extend and exert myself in the ways that others did. 

But, here, being part of this band, I felt important, significant, and part of something.  The acknowledgment I received from delivering this speech remains indelibly etched upon my heart and mind and is one of those moments that I cling to with great passion and pride. 

So yes, perhaps it seems silly to most.  And perhaps it is.  But I like to think that it is one of those moments that God used to propel me towards his will and desire for my life. 

Yes, I do look back with great pleasure and delight upon those days.  I do expect that when I hit that 50 year mark, it will still be true as then as the day I wrote them as a young 18 year old just beginning the journey of life.  Those days were most assuredly used of God to shape my life and push me towards a life given over for his use.  Perhaps this is why this speech and those days remain so permanently fixed in my heart and mind.  Perhaps, just perhaps God used this moment to begin knocking down the insecurities and giving me the confidence for the life of ministry he had in store. 

Who knows. But it is fun to wonder.