It was also about the 6th grade that I became aware of instrumental music and was introduced to the elementary band program via the Clarksdale Public school system. My dad had played the flute in the CHS band under the direction of Simon Kooyman, a Dutch immigrant who in 1926 founded the first high school band program in Mississippi in the burb of Clarksdale. When I asked about the possibility of joining this program, I was told that I could be in the band as long as I played something the school owned or my dad's flute. I must have wanted it badly because I endured all sorts of ridicule for the first semester by playing that worn out old flute. Second semester I was allowed to switch to percussion with others whose instrument rentals had run their course and their parents opted for the "school owned" instrument as well. For the next 6 years or so, I pounded the percussion in the marching band, concert band and in the jazz or stage band as we called it. It was around this time that I received my first guitar and began to pursue the learning of that instrument in all of its various forms.
It was around these early days that my athletic and musical interests began to collide. There were conflicts and practice schedules that needed to be worked out and compromises made concerning chores and when they would be done, not if. It was also about this time that derogatory handles began to circulate; "meatheads" was the affectionate term of endearment reserved for the athletes and "blowboys" or "girls" reserved for the band folks. Teachers clearly had their favorites in classrooms, for their were definitely some who gave preference to the athletes over the music students and vice versa. The truth be known, these words were likely uttered out of either jealousy or awe from both viewpoints. Through the years I have recalled those moments of athletic or musical success with pride, for I remembered the work required to learn the music or the plays and the fact that none of it came without the sacrifice of time and energy.
The collisions of culture; the arts versus athletics still continue today, but the battles are fought now in the areas of budget cuts and appropriations. How did we get to the place where the ability to be educated in the arts comes down to a matter of dollars and cents? Granted it costs money to run music programs and teach the arts, but is not the end result worth the investment? I remember the youth sports programs I participated in as a child and these are still going on. Communities still find a way to sponsor athletic events for the youth of the community though it seems private funding of these endeavors has and is continuing to rise. Hopefully communities will take the impetus and move toward to the funding of arts programs as well. I think it would be sad if we lost either of these two communities as part of our youth's development.
