Why would people that graduated high school go back? Moreover, why would they go back after graduating in 2012, 2005, 2001, 1997, 1995, 1984, 1977, or even 1971 and participate with the band? What makes people think they can or should play with teenagers half or a third their age?
Why would they search through boxes and find old recordings of the band from their day and put those recordings of that band on YouTube (which you can access here, by the way)?
Why is there a group dedicated to the history and preservation of that group? Why did they do community service in their hometown this past Saturday and hold a big concert the next day celebrating that legacy?
Because the Hibriten High School Band is the legacy of great music in Caldwell County. High School band was started in Lenoir, North Carolina in 1924 by Captain James C. Harper. That Lenoir High School Band began a legacy and amassed a record that was unparalleled as long as it existed. It closed in 1977.
Hibriten opened in 1967. The band was started from scratch by John Craig at the request of students. This past weekend I learned I have really underestimated the contributions he made to the band's legacy. He hired George Kirsten, a former director of the Lenoir Band to be part of the program. Mr. Kirsten would later succeed him as director of the band. In later years Ms. Camilla Graeber who also worked with Lenoir would become the Hibriten Director. Mr. Kirsten would continue to help out with the band until his passing. Also helping out was Mr. John Miller, who was Lenoir's last director. He was very influential to euphonium players like me, and was loved by many. Mr. Miller passed away this past Friday, the same day we gathered for the second time.
He was laid to rest today, the same day as Hibriten's fall concert. But his passing coincides to show what legacy is. To many people, Lenoir High School is just a closed school that is now senior living apartments, a functional auditorium, a gym and a field used by hispanics for soccer games. To them, the Lenoir Band's legacy is a run down band building and grave stones, like Captain Harper's:
To me and others like me the legacy is more than a building. It is in the lessons that Capt. Harper taught to people like Mr. Kirsten and to his students. It is in the lessons that Mr. Miller taught to people like Ed Whitener, who would later teach to people like me in middle school. It's in the lessons that Dennis Carswell taught me at Hibriten. See what I mean? The legacy is passed down.
This is why we come back. It's not just the music; it's in the lessons we learned, the people we learned them from, and the people we learned them with. It's in knowing that things at Hibriten are not now like they were when I was a student, but they have improved since last year, and the improvement is telling. Big thanks to Justin Hammonds for accepting the challenge, and from the looks of things, being up to the challenge.
The students of my day and those before me recognize that we were part of something amazing. We also recognize that the students of today need the support that we had. That's why we came. That's why we do what we do.
The legacy lives- and it's up to us to keep it alive.
