Kuna Kids in the Troopers
This article appeared in the January 15th edition of the Idaho Press Tribune.
KUNA--Three Kuna High School students will put their love for music and desire for personal improvement to the test next weekend when they perform for the new president and vice president marching in the Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C.
Mike Gough, Paul Klimetz and Beth Straker are among about 20 Idahoans who will be featured in the parade Saturday as members of the Wyoming Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps. The event is the culmination of hard work and practice for the trio, all of whom have been involved in music for years.
But even with the practice, the 2.5-mile trip along Pennsylvania Avenue in the dead of winter promises to be pretty intense. The teen-agers from Kuna already know how difficult it is to balance the precision required to play and march in the Troopers performance."It’s the most complicated thing you’ll ever do," Gough said.
In addition to the Kuna High students, Albertson College freshman David Larson and a group of Fruitland students will be in the parade for the Troopers corps.
The corps was founded in 1957 and represents Wyoming in numerous events during the year, but has members from many states. Aside from regular summer performance activities, the Troopers have appeared at numerous professional sporting events, participated in the 1993 Inaugural Parade, and has performed before Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.
Gough, 17, is the more experienced of the Kuna group; Klimetz and Straker are newcomers. Straker has some beginners’ butterflies as she prepares for the trip. "I’m scared," the 16-year-old junior said. "But it’s quite an honor and I’m the only female in the Trooper contrabass line." The contrabass is like a tuba, and it’s a new instrument for Straker, who’s used to playing the trombone. She decided to take on the larger instrument for fun, even though she’s a little shaky. "I love the bass sound," she said.
Klimetz also will be playing a relatively new instrument. A clarinet player at Kuna High, he switched from reed to brass for the Troopers, where he plays a soprano, similar to a trumpet. "I’m brand new at a brass instrument and I enjoyed the challenge of re-learning an instrument," he said.
The three musicians often use the word "challenge" to describe why they joined the Wyoming Troopers. In addition to practice at home and band activities in Kuna, members of the Troopers travel to Casper, Wyo., one weekend a month for rehearsals and then travel all summer with the corps.
None of them really want to take on music as a career. Straker is interested in chemistry, Klimetz wants to work in computer technology and Gough has his eye on movie directing. Their work for the Troopers is a way to learn a tough new skill on the side and enjoy the rush of reaching personal goals.
"What I like best is the final product that we produce," Klimetz said. "I like when the audience cheers and when the noise from the applause is deafening."
The corps was invited by Vice President-elect Dick Cheney to represent Wyoming in the parade. Organizers say the corps is in the first division of the parade, so there’s a good chance they could appear on national television. The inaugural festivities are being broadcast by the major networks.
The local students are honored by the chance to play for an event with such national exposure. "I just about fell over when I found out we were going. A thousands things went through my head at once," Straker said. "I’m a rookie--but they said, "You can do it." Then I said, "I have a lot of work to do."
Reflecting upon Western heritage, the Troopers’ uniforms are replicas of those worn by the 11th Ohio Cavalry in the late 1800s and its musical style is American West in flavor. The group is rehearsing "A New Battle Hymn" to play in the parade.
Gough, who also plays a soprano, enjoys being a part of a group with decades of tradition. "Most of the way the drum corps is today comes from the Troopers," he said. "It’s cool to be in a corps that has so much history."
He said the complexity of drawing together the different aspect of the performance makes his work with the Troopers fulfilling. "I wasn’t really into band until I got in the Troopers. Then I started to realize what it was all about," he said. "It’s like the NFL of marching band."