By this time, the band chaperones were constantly hovering over my new found soul brothers and myself. One particular night, Mrs Harris kept peeking in our window and knocking on our door to make sure we were in bed. Just to piss her off, we'd make obnoxious noises and yell obscene remarks at her from inside our room. Each time, she'd become more animated until she was beating on our window...to which we began yelling, " hey quite down... we're trying to get some sleep in here"! Before long we finally fell asleep, but tomorrow what was to be the most eventful day of the trip.
The next morning began a little over cast and the wind was kicking up a bit, but this did not detour the Limestone Marching Rockets or those of us in the Jazz Band. We were in Florida!!! It was February and this was to be our day on the beach!!!! The band director and his assistants were not going to let us down and cancel this part of the trip. However, looking back on this grey and windy afternoon, it would have made more sense to abort!!! By the time we actually made it to the beach, the sky was dark and the winds were blowing fiercely. All the locals knew this was A BAD DAY to be swimming in the Atlantic and this should have been a warning to someone!!!! But hey, if the parents thought it safe, then it must be safe!!! Let's party!!!!
Within minutes of hitting the sand, dozens of teenage band members were splashing and bobbing in the luke warm salt water!!! For many of us, this was our first time in the ocean. Sure it was a little cold and grey and the wind was blowing like a son of a BEACH but so what!!!! It was fun!!!!! The first thing I noticed was the chaperones and other parents seemed to be much further down the beach than I remembered. Originally, we went into the water directly in front of them. Still children, I guess we all were used to not straying too far from the adults. Within a few minutes, I noticed that we were MUCH FURTHER down the beach. That was very odd. A few minutes later, we all began to notice the same thing and began to PANIC.
It seemed the entire band was being SUCKED or PULLED slowly OUT TO SEA!!!! Was it an under water current or the wind? We couldn't be sure!!!! All we knew was there was a reef that jarted out at the end the beach, but it was made up mostly of jagged shells, sand and rock. Past that reef ???? A SUBMARINE BASE of some sort and then.......NOTHING BUT THE CHURNING ATLANTIC OCEAN!!!!!
As we all began to swim closer to the reef, we all sensed that this was our only chance of surviving!!! We had to get up on those rocks or else our next stop may well be Australia!!!! One by one, girls and boys, trumpet players and clarinet players all began dog paddling and flopping themselves up on the jagged shells of this reef. One by one, we were pulled out of the angry waters of the Atlantic Ocean and found ourselves on the rocks. The problem was, the reef was so dangerously jagged that many people were getting cut as they approached. Arms and legs were getting seriously cut and torn. Both of my feet were cut deeply and blood was every where. Some were actually THROWN into the reef...summersaulting before being pulled to safety. Many were badly hurt. Some had DEEP wounds to their chest and head. Many more were bleeding from minor cuts and abrasions to their hands and feet.
I can't remember how the police were contacted as there were no cell phones but the next thing I remember were two policemen handing the last two girls a towels and helping them out of the water. They were in shock. It was very scary. Towels were being used to as temporary bandages to stop the bleeding of everyones injuries. Soon the head count began...and I can't imagine the fear and panic of the band director and chaperones. These kids were all somebody's babies!!!! Had one of them not made it to shore? Did someone die on their watch? It must have been horrifying to them. I was trying to stop the bleeding on the bottoms of my feet when I heard one of the police men commenting on the girl in shock. It seems there had been a sighting of TWO 12 FOOT TIGER SHARKS swimming the the BLOODY water near the reef!!!! I never knew if that was what put our classmate into shock or not but it about made me pass out!!!! Shit man!!! My girlfriend and I had just seen JAWS the previous July at the Fox Theater and that flick about blew our minds. I can't believe that I even got in the water that day!!!
What makes this story even more worrisome is that no parents were contacted as there were no cell phones. Many of the band parents slowly received news of the "SHARK ATTACK" through the Peoria Journal Star. The story was reprinted after being picked up by the local Florida papers. No one knew if their kid was dead or alive, eaten or not!!!! Your imagination can make you go crazy. I'm sure several did call their parents from land lines after they were treated and released but many did not. I don't think I did. The next day was to be our second and last day at Disney World. But how could we attend with so many injuries and lacerations?
We learned the next day that you can't keep a good band down and by gosh, we were not gonna to miss Disney World!!!! When we arrived at the front gate to Micky's Playhouse, I counted 14 band members in wheelchairs and another half dozen in arm slings. My feet were sore but I was good. We looked like the picture of George Washington's Army marching into Valley Forge!!!! All we needed was to bring along a fife and a snare drum out of the bus and we would have been set!!! We spilt up.... damaged but not broken, and began our last afternoon in paradise.
I had taken measures to lick the last of my tin foil which contained a slight hallucinogenic to take my mind to Wonderland. But it was in Future land that I felt my first flash of freedom. I had shared this time with one of my soul brothers so we were both on the same plane mentally. I began to notice how Tomorrowland was already becoming dated and how its rides and exhibits seemed a bit cartoonish and kitschy. But that's what I loved about it. It was pure comic book with its space themed rides and other worldly visions. The original Tomorrowland at Disney land in California was opened in 1955 and in that time period, I'm sure Tomorrowland seemed very futuristic..... but in 1975, just twenty years later, Tomorrowland was almost Yesterday's News. I loved it though. I remember singing In The End by Rush over and over that afternoon......I can see...what you mean....just makes me stronger..... Oh yeah......and the "oh yeah" on the record had a delay on the word "yeah". So my friend and I just kept saying "oh yeah" and the word seemed to delay on its own. "oh Yeah' yeah,yeah,yeah.
All good things must come to an end..... just like the song, "You can take me for a little while....you can take me, you can make me smile in the end". I still smile when I think of that band trip in 1976. My girlfriend picked me up at the airport and we kissed and then went to Steak And Shake on Adams. We had missed each other.
Later that night I slept once again in my ORANGE ROOM.
As far as my new found soul brothers, we ended up starting that rock n roll band and by the end of the Summer we were playing gigs. I miss those days but I'm happy to still be here sharing stories.... when days were psychedelic!!!!
I remember when Jaws came out at the drive-in.