Mark Gunderman's column
Chippewa Herald: Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005

A lovely rose swaying in a breeze shows band's affection

Family members sprinkled Cardinal red rose blossoms on Doug Greenhalgh's casket at Forest Hill Cemetery last Thursday. Some gestures of affection for a much-loved man are common, though genuinely felt.

Other gestures of affection, just as genuinely felt, are unique.

Perhaps those roses reminded some Chi-Hi Marching Band Alumni of the time the band tried to make things right for their director.

"Of a Rose, a Lovely Rose" was the title of the signature song of the performance that would have gone unnoticed were it not for the affection that the band members felt for Greenhalgh. The year was 1998, and the state championship was to be held at the same stadium at UW-Whitewater that hosted this year's grand performances.

The field in that stadium seems to sit at the bottom of a bowl, with bleachers rising at a steep angle, giving an audience a good overhead view of what is taking place on the field. Mindful of that, and the fact that judges would be seated in the press box, Greenhalgh designed a marching band routine made expressly for the stadium.

The band was to play five songs, with the last being the rose number. For that song, the band members were to form the shape of a rose on the field, then the formation was to gently move back and forth, as if the rose were blowing in the breeze.

The timing was perfect for such a routine, or so it seemed. With 174 members of the marching band, Greenhalgh for the first time had a group large enough to pull off such an elaborate routine.

But in reality the timing couldn't have been worse. On performance night, the clouds opened up and soaked the Whitewater field. The performances were moved to a gymnasium inside, with stand-still performances only. A year's worth of work by Greenhalgh seemed to go to waste.

It absolutely poured that night and the field was a swamp," said band member Kristin Andersen in a Herald story a week later.

We finally got enough kids, he wrote this awesome drill, and then he didn't get to use it," said band member Crystal Loschko.

I had never seen him so disappointed," said band member Emily Buchanan. "You should have seen the look on G's face. There was a look of emotional emptiness and he means too much to us to see him like that."

The band couldn't bring back the competition, but it brought back the drill. Five days after the band was to have completed its season with that performance, its members gave G, which is what they called Greenhalgh, a present.

A diversion was created to bring him to the office early that morning, while the band members got dressed in their bright red uniforms. Along came a Cardinal red Chippewa Falls Fire Department snorkel truck.

The surprised G was brought outside and hoisted high above the field by the snorkel arm to view the performance as it was meant to be seen. And from above he screamed, "It works!"

Sometimes a tragic death can raise the level of affection for a person beyond what people actually felt in life. It is said that President John Kennedy achieved by a tragic death a legendary status he never would have achieved in life.

But that isn't so for the beloved Mr. G.

His students in 1998 couldn't stand to seem him disappointed, so they did what they could to show him they care.

Current and former students were heartbroken when he left them in the horrible crash just hours after the Whitewater performance this year. They have been doing what they can to show their affection and to support one another ever since.

I am not one of those who believes that "everything happens for a reason" and that no matter how terrible an event seems to be, it was somehow "for the best."

No, some things are either so intentionally evil or horribly accidental that we know in our souls that we have lost more than we have gained. At such times we pray for strength, pick ourselves up and move on, hoping that in the long run that through our works we will make more good things happen than bad.

But if any good can come of this tragedy, it may be in how it has enhanced the image of the Chi-Hi band. The stories of the close-knit group and the teacher they loved, and how the grieving members supported one another and paid tribute to G, have shown others that high school band is a good activity to choose.

That can change young lives.

Perhaps G is not finished making a difference.

I am indebted for this column to reporter Jeff Hage's story in the Oct. 25, 1998 edition of the Herald, and to band mom and photographer for that story Anne Bowen, who reminded me of how it showed how much the band has always thought of G.

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Contact Mark Gunderman at mgunderman@chippewa.com.