Blaine Grissom has participated in summer band camp at Southern Arkansas University for three years now and he hasn’t regretted a single one, in spite of the work that goes into the week-long session. The Paris (Texas) Junior High School freshman comes the distance to sharpen his music skills, but admits there is a lot of fun thrown in to keep the experience from getting imbalanced. After all, all work and no play can make a French horn player go flat.
“It’s nice to learn things and I know it helps us improve in our abilities, yet they offer a lot of fun stuff to do on the side and in between,” he said, espousing a list of things that included a dance, movie and swimming. “We like to learn, but no one wants to pay $200 just to work. We get to learn about music while having fun. It’s pretty awesome.”
For over a decade, SAU’s Mulerider Band program has offered the opportunity to junior high and high school students in the region. It just so happened that the group of students from Paris, Texas were the ones filling the campus with golden tones and youthful exuberance the week of June 18. They shopped in the bookstore and enjoyed refreshments from Java City, the campus coffee house, and ate meals in the Mulerider cafeteria. The empty residence halls were active again with life during the usually quiet summer sessions when most full-time students are home enjoying summer break.
Carrying her trombone into the band hall, eighth grader Leah Heidlen took time to share what she gets out of coming to SAU’s summer band camps.
“I came last year and had a really good time. I wouldn’t have missed it,” she said. “It helps you excel in your musical ability. We learn a lot within our groups. It’s really intensive and we go home ready to show what we learned.”
The young students are a reminder of the opportunities and value SAU brings to the quality of life for the community and beyond and to all of the people who benefit from programs and offerings on its campus.
Assistant Band Director at SAU Michael Britt worked with the young group Thursday, taking time to answer a few questions while the students tuned and warmed up their instruments.
“They work throughout the week to prepare for a concert on their last day. They work hard to make that happen,” he said. “For kids, it’s really important to have a great time and to learn. We try to give them a good mix of both learning and fun. It seems to be working.”
Growing up in Kentucky, Britt said he didn’t have the chance to attend band camps in junior high, but he understands their value in building a love of music in a new generation. It’s out of these early experiences that the love of music is indelibly marked in the heart and where youth learn to march to the beat of its own rhythm.