Cameron Turner | Proud of Our Kids: Muir Musicians Make Peace

There were plenty of thrilling moments during Muir High School’s 53-35 CIF playoff victory over La Mirada. There were the five touchdown passes hurled by Dejon Williams (four of them caught by Taeon Mason), the gallantry of defensive injured star Terry Wilson and Williams’ two almost-back-to-back interceptions…

But one of the most remarkable and inspiring events of the night didn’t take place on the gridiron. It happened in the stands. And instead of ball players, it involved Muir’s musicians.

Some sort of disagreement between the Mighty Mustang Marching Band and Muir’s alumni Drum Section led to both units playing at the same time. When the Mustangs scored a touchdown and the band struck up Muir’s traditional victory tune, “The Horse,” the Section began simultaneously pounding out one of its rousing cadences. At half time, as the band performed a Michael Jackson medley on the field, the drummers – who had exited the stadium and were now behind the bleachers – began playing once more.

These unfortunate events led to confusion and dismay among Muir fans who have cheered enthusiastically for all of the school’s organizations (football team, Pep Squad, Band, Drum Section, ROTC, ASB, clubs, etc.) throughout the season.

Then, the beautiful moment happened.

Early in the third quarter, a leader from the Band approached the Drum Section leader and extended his hand. The head drummer set aside his sticks and extended his hand in return. The two young men shook hands, sat down and talked quietly to one another. A short time later, they rose, shook hands again, and the Band member rejoined his unit. When Muir scored its next touchdown, the band burst into “The Horse” and the Drum Section stood down until the victory song was finished – then, they let loose the thunder. That uplifting display of unity was repeated on the following Mustang score, with one extremely cool addition: the Drum Section started rocking the Band’s signature dance moves during “The Horse!”

The best and most remarkable part of this grandstand détente was that the young people resolved their differences among themselves. Intervention by the principal, parents, teachers, Alumni Association or other adult authority might have inadvertently heightened the tension. But a respectful, one-on-one dialogue between the young leaders of these two proud, much-loved groups led to a quick squashing of differences that made possible the flowering of unity that defined the second half of the game.

Exiting the bleachers after the singing of the Muir school song at game’s end, I complimented and thanked the band member who had gone to speak to the drummers.

“They’re alumni who aren’t much older than us. So, we speak the same language,” he said of the drummers with a smile. The feeling was mutual as I expressed gratitude and admiration to the head drummer a few minutes later in the parking lot. “We’re all musicians, we all want to play, so we worked it out,” he explained warmly.

I have always been proud to be a John Muir Mustang (before and since graduating in 1981) but my pride soared to new heights after watching those young musicians broker their own peace. It was a shining example of the greatness of character that exists among youth but too often goes uncelebrated. And it’s part of the unifying character that burns still on the historic campus on Lincoln Avenue. We said it back in the day, and we continue to declare it before the world: We ARE…John Muir!

Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.