Saturday Wraps Up the Reunion

 Saturday begins with the annual Membership Meeting. The morning is taken up with reports, elections, suggestions and questions from the floor. Thanks to our parliamentarian, Bill Sterk, business is accomplished with great efficiency and little bloodshed.

A last-minute gathering of former
members of Show Band West.

Saturday afternoon is liberty time. Members are out on the beach, or resting, or continuing the party. Often, members join fellow alumni of Navy bands for a "reunion within the reunion."

Finally, the culmination of the week arrives: the Saturday night Dinner & Dance.

Often, the evening begins with a performance by an active-duty Navy band. To the band, it may be just another ceremonial gig, but to us, it's the highlight of the week, and we let them know it, the applause is deafening; an MU3 from Norfolk's Fleet Forces Band once said, "After it was over, I felt like a rock star!"

Veterans know how to behave during a
performance of the National Anthem.

Last night, the spotlight was on the concert band; tonight, our dance bands hold sway.

When the last note has been played, we clear the bandstand and tear down the gear. Some of us adjourn to the lounge for a last round of farewells.  

And then it's over. 

Taps. Lights out. All hands return to their racks
and maintain silence about the decks.
Now, Taps.

Friday Night Showtime

Friday is a big day at an NMA reunion. .

Well, they've all been big days. But Friday night signals a change; it's time for the concert band to show the fruits of our hard work. 

Of course, we've had a lot of fun during our daily rehearsals. Reunions are designed to be enjoyable affairs, not slave labor camps. Sill, we become a little more serious during our final rehearsal. Only a few hours remain until showtime.

Mel Leketa and Diane Beegle review
last-minute changes to their vocal parts.

Finally, it's showtime. The band plays the National Anthem and the evening begins. 

Our concerts provide a mix of new publications, patriotic tunes and special arrangements; but, yeah, we play the old favorites, too.

We close our concerts with a sequence of patriotic music that has become increasingly dear to us. "America, the Beautiful" has become more meaningful to us as the years pass; "The Navy Hymn" now evokes memories of departed shipmates.

It's moving, yes, but it's nothing that a final, rousing service medley can't cure.

The concert has ended, but the evening isn't over;
Bugler: sound Mess Call!

 
 

We Find Our Sea Legs

The first thing new attendees learn
is the NMA Reunion Motto:
"Check the Rehearsal Board."

 

By Thursday of an NMA reunion, we're falling into a comfortable routine. We know where to be at any given time.

Except things are always changing. Just as no cruise or road trip ever went as planned, challenges to our scheduling always pop up.

And we're finding time for much more than rehearsal.  

We're catching up with old acquaintances and 

making new friends. 

In the evenings, you'll find us in the lounge, relaxing,
telling stories and enjoying the music.

And, of course, playing the music...

A Message From the Department of Morale

Getting Underway

 Our first rehearsals provide challenges unique to the NMA. We haven't played together in a year. Some of us are active, professional performers; others dust off the horns less frequently. We're sight-reading. The bandstand has empty seats for members who haven't arrived yet.

And our concert is only days away.

Being an MU has always meant dealing with challenges.   

Vocalist Mel Leketa volunteered to play 3rd  clarinet.
Terry Chesson lent her his instrument, It was widely
agreed that Terry's clarinet had never sounded better.  

Bonus Feature

Shipmate Frank shows you the secret of brewing a good cup of hotel-room coffee.

Preparations for Getting Underway

 

 

Over the years, I've developed the habit of arriving at the reunion site a few days early. I enjoy meeting up with other "early birds" before things get hectic. I also like participating in the process by which the impersonal spaces of a hotel become our home for a week. 

Once the gear has been moved into the hotel, willing hands unpack, organize, and set up our equipment in rehearsal rooms, storage spaces, registration room and lounge. 

It's worth noting that our registration room--the "quarterdeck" in which we report aboard, check schedules, leave messages and seek coffee--is staffed by volunteers. Their job isn't done when the room is set up; they run a smooth operation throughout the week.  

Bonus Feature:

The ever-helpful Shipmate Frank made his debut in this 2013 training video,"Music Stand Assembly with Shipmate Frank."

Getting From Point A to Point B

Preparation for an NMA reunion is a year-round job, but the hardest work is done in the last days before we get together. That gear--the stands, the PA system, the drums, pianos and computers--has to be moved to the hotel. 

There are no roadies. There are no School of Music "IP" students. There's just us.

In 2010, Death Valley was booked up, so we settled for San Antonio, Texas. Terry Chesson and David Blakeley drove a van full of NMA gear from Virginia Beach to San Antonio.

Their advice for anyone who takes a 1,600 mile trip in a vehicle packed tight with drums, pianos, amplifiers, basses, music stands, lights and cartons of reunion gear: somewhere in that rat's nest, probably buried at the bottom, is a snare drum. Before turning on the ignition, turn off the snares. If you don't, they will rattle and roll, mile after mile, day after day.

Terry and David looked a bit frazzled when they arrived at the hotel. They've just driven halfway across the country in a permanent buzz roll.

When you're an officer in the Navy, you get to dine at the "O" club and relax in the wardroom. When you're an officer in the NMA, you get to haul gear around the country.