The Chinewrde Marching Band march onwards to the future!
After Dotty took over in January 1991, things seemed to calm down a little. And although Dotty took the band more seriously than Myrtle, she was easier to talk to and was less bossy. Dotty, like Myrtle before her, wanted the band to be un-prejudiced as well as professional, committed and the very best at what they do. She had new uniforms made for the band in 1992, and reviewed the band’s ethos on a yearly basis in an attempt to ensure they remained dedicated and professional within their amateur status. As regards the elaborate formations which Stixx had tried to introduce she compromised with him and suggested that anything he wanted to try had to be simple, and more importantly, safe for the band members. Dotty decreed that anyone in the band could have their say on anything, but if changes were suggested by anyone (including her) they would put it to the vote and the group would decide as a whole. Basically what Dotty did was take the shell of Myrtle’s band and nurtured the concept creating an environment where each member could excel and feel comfortable enough to add to the overall performance – Myrtle would have been proud.
Dorothy also managed to have a calming effect on the trumpet section and between the years 1992 and 2009 the trumpet section seemed happy, indeed there were a lot less arguments. This calming effect had happened shortly after January 1991, where Dorothy explained that she had no tolerance for arguments or spite in her band and basically they all want the same thing. More importantly she made it clear, via both her whistle and vocally, that she would just replace them if they started again! For the next few years, the band managed to get gig’s all over the world and their over all look was much more neat and sophisticated due to the new uniforms.
In 1998 the local social services got in touch with Dorothy about a man who called himself Blind Smokin’ Toots who had enjoyed an extremely varied life but had hit hard times. The woman asked Dotty if he could join the band as part of his therapy. Dotty said yes on hearing that he was a Saxophone player, after all the CMB had never had a Saxophone player before. In 2006, Dotty was still on the look out for some different musicians, and went to a fete at the local school. After watching Tina Cleff perform a wonderful piece of music on her flute, Dorothy asked her to join. The Chinewrde Marching Band now had a flute player!
During the annual review of the band’s ethos in 2009, Dotty felt that something was missing. The band were doing well and had a fair few gig’s but apart from their many fans, no one knew who they were. Dorothy felt that they needed a presence - a website would be useful. And although they had a logo they needed a much more sophisticated one and more importantly they really needed to use it! Dorothy asked a local illustrator to provide them with a logo and then started looking for someone to set the band up with a website. In 2009, after reading an article by me about her band, Dorothy contacted me and asked if I would help set up the blog complete with profiles; this would eventually lead to me becoming the band’s official biographer.
Still on the look out for new recruits (as always) Dorothy put an advert up in the local shops, churches and pubs for a flag bearer and some back up trumpet players! In December 2009, Freda Flagstone auditioned and was offered the position as the CMB’s flag bearer. Now all the band needed was a flag! At the end of 2010, Jerome Flabagaster (who had walked out of the Philharmonic Orchestra) was due to be helping out the CMB playing the viola on the John Cale version of Leonard Cohen’s Halleluja! However, he has since been persuaded to join, and has switched his instrument to a saxophone to strengthen the popular Pink Panther theme.
Meanwhile, Barabara had been dieting for a number of years and had finally lost the weight which was causing her health problems. This had meant that she had switched from the tuba to the recorder and the CMB were in desperate need for something to replace this loss. In February 2011 Dorothy put up a new advert offering vacancies and a young girl called Felicity came along to the audition, liking the girl immediately Dotty asked her to join – the CMB now had a trombonist!
The band was in full force and was marching towards success again! So Dorothy updated their ethos:
· A professional amateur band
· Open to all who excel and are exceptional
· To be in full uniform, neat and tidy
· To use the logo in an appropriate way
· To make full use of all new digital media in order to increase their fan base
· To keep waste to a minimum and recycle all uniforms and instruments
· To be environmentally friendly and keep carbon emissions to a minimum
· To always be ambitious and fresh in their approach to new challenges
And I conceived their motto filling your ears with quality since 1945
It is now 2011, and the band is looking forward to an exciting future, Dorothy still tries to communicate to the band using her various whistles and the band tries to understand the squeaks and squeals. They have just agreed to play Kenilworth Carnival and are rehearsing with excitement and have put an ambitious list of music together for the day, with some wonderful formations choreographed by Stixx and enforced by Dotty.
I look forward to seeing the Carnival, I shall be watching from my usual spot on Rosemary Hill.
Official Biographer for the CMB – Godfrey Yammerstein: A Profile of a Great British Marching Band
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