Remember Frank Sinatra’s song about the ant and the rubber tree plant? Me too. I had high hopes I could motivate certain of the Kitsap gentry to help me promote a youth music festival here in Kitsap. The idea was to have been a three-day affair, with marching bands on Friday, jazz ensembles on Saturday, and vocal groups on Sunday. I hoped it might be a world-class event, with competitions, workshops, and a chance to see and hear invited professional groups who would come and put on shows in the evenings.

It’s an idea I’d been playing with all my life, ever since I participated annually in just such a festival at Waterloo, Ontario, when I was in my twenties – nearly half a century ago. Bands and other groups would come from all over Canada and the United States to compete. A fabulous group of Boy Scouts from the little town of Preston, Ontario always took first prize in their class, and it was an experience to come and see and hear them perform. You had to see them: scarlet shirts, white-plumed Aussie hats, short-short black pants, and knee-high white cowboy boots. Ablaze in color under the brilliant lights, they moved as one in drill routines that took your breath away. And the music! Truly awesome! We couldn’t touch them, no matter how hard we tried, but it gave everyone something to shoot for.

That’s what I hoped to initiate here in Kitsap.

I wrote about it in the Kitsap Business Journal and the Port Orchard Independent, so you may have read about it. The Peninsula’s major newspaper declined to carry the story, which may have been partly responsible for the sad demise of the project. But I tried to get the word out to the bands and other groups I thought would be interested by contacting the community coordinators at each of our five school districts. They were most cooperative in helping me identify the parties likely to be interested in the idea.

For a while the idea seemed to be catching on. I had firm commitments from Lt. Ken Collins, director of the Navy band at Bangor, and from Rick White, leader of the Olympic College band.

To get the message out to the rest of the area bands, most of which were junior and senior high school bands, I contacted Stephanie Dupuis, who chairs the OMEA music directors’ group, which would I had hoped would be enthusiastic about such a venture. But Stephanie had to report to me that she had encountered “a ton of resistance” to the idea. The OMEA directors were saying that there already were too many band competitions – as if any of them could match what I had in mind! But without their support, the idea was not going anywhere. So I had to admit defeat. Kitsap was not ready for the Music Man.

Too bad, really. Melody Shaw, leader of the South Kitsap Highlighters, who went down to the national competition of jazz singers at Monterey, California this year, and performed brilliantly, was most upset to learn of the lack of support. She was keenly interested in the vocal part of the program for her young singers. Others, including community leader Karl Duff, expressed interest in going without the school bands, to put on an adult music festival. But that wasn’t what I had in mind when I began the project. To borrow an apt phrase from the Democrats, it was “for the children.”

I’m still puzzled about this. Everyone I spoke to about the idea seemed more than casually interested. My goals of promoting music appreciation, discipline, and citizenship seemed to strike the right note of approval. For the first few months I tried to find a leader for the effort, but when no one stepped forward I had to try to do it myself. Perhaps that’s why it failed. I’m a good engineer, and used to play a pretty fair saxophone, but I’m no Harold Hill.

Still, miracles happen, and if these words can reach out and reverse the negative reaction of the OMEA music directors and get them to support the idea, I’ll be glad to try it again. Our kids deserve this opportunity.

And what a boost it would be to tourism in our area. Once news of such a sensational musical event got out, we’d have to start worrying about where all the visitors were going to stay, to eat, and to spend their money. We might find that suddenly Kitsap was on the national list of major tourist events. A consummation devoutly to be desired in an area where jobs are hard to come by.

Anyway, now you know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. But it’s an ongoing one, so stay tuned.