Klarinet Archive - Posting 000248.txt from 2004/12

From: "Don Hatfield" <dhatfield@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] humidity & orange peels
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 11:34:09 -0500

> Ick! Here in the humid climate of Virginia, during the summer, mold and
> mildew in instrument cases can be a serious problem.

Well, I didn't know you lived in the 'real' Virginia. (We never shoulda
split from you guys way back when) West Virginia fights for name identity
more than people realize. Our college band went to Virginia Beach one August
maaaaaany years ago when the Neptune Festival there was in its infancy, and
when we pulled onto the lot of the motel where we were staying, the marquee
out front said "Welcome To The Western Virginia Tech Band". It was three in
the morning when we arrived, and darned if our BD didn't march into the
night clerk and demand it be changed ASAP when someone was around to do it.
A funny side-story -
Our jazz band had to be in a local TV studio four hours later to perform on
their local morning talk show. At 8am, after two days of no sleep I'm
sitting waiting for the thing to start while sipping on some coffee. The
girl who sat to my right elbowed me in the ribs and screamed "It's Barry!" I
looked, and there was some long-haired guy grinning back at us from five
feet away.

"And who is Barry?" I asked. The guy chuckled, walked over and shook my hand
and said "Manilow. Barry is Barry Manilow." He gave us autographs, and later
even sent the jazz band tickets for a concert close to our campus that fall.
He had just had his first hit single and was out making the rounds. I never
admitted that at the time it happened I had not heard of him. I was actually
more impressed then to meet the other guy on the show that morning, Ion
Tiriac, the tennis star.

As for critters in the cases, the worst ones we encounter here are
moths...they love to eat flute and clarinet pads...and termites in old
wooden cases. And one dead mouse we once found in a Sousaphone that the
student who used it told us "seems to be plugged up." Another Sousaphone
once was brought in 'plugged up', and we determined there was something
stuck in the works. We took really dirty fiberglass Sousas to the car wash
down the street and cleaned 'em with the high pressure hose after removing
the valves...lo and behold, a piccolo case came flying out the bell. When I
called the BD to report, he told me the piccolo in question had been missing
from inventory for five years and written off as stolen.

Don Hatfield

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