R.C.M.P. Musical Ride

For many years I played the grandstand show at the Western Fair. Contractors were Martin Boundy, Lionel Thornton and Bob Martin in that time. The R.C.M.P. Musical ride was an attraction on at least two of those occasions. They sent a Mountie to conduct. We had Corporal Danny Carroll first. In rehearsal he got into a heated discussion about how a certain figure should be played and finished his rant with " You can't tell me, I'm a graduate of the Toronto Conservatory."

This certainly impressed us, but not how he thought it might. On the first evening performance, the spotlight came on him and he was introduced to the 10,000 people in the audience. His downbeat produced silence. Suddenly his manner changed to panic and he pleaded for sound. We responded that we had an unresolved issue. He frantically apologised and the performance began. The moral of the story is obvious.

Another time the R.C.M.P. Musical Ride came and our conductor was Corporal Drummond Hudson. He started the rehearsal by saying " I've never conducted before so I'll try to start you together and after that, if I do anything to distract you, ignore me." We got along with him pretty well.

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