Perfect old Fridays
Published 8:51 pm Thursday, October 22, 2026
Last Friday, about 6 pm, I was whisked back in time. Max and I went outside – maybe we were going for a Friday date – and it was marching band and football weather. The sun had a special glow, the temperature was warm but not hot, the air was light and a couple of blocks away, someone was waiting on the grill to get hot enough for hamburgers. Hit by melancholia and longing, I was transported to a Friday way back when marching band and high school football games ruled Friday nights. Those were happy days.
Every Friday night in the fall, I dressed in my green and white cheerleading uniform – skirts on lovely Fridays such as this particular one, and pants in late October, when it was colder. I had coated my white tennis shoes with white shoe polish, so they could be seen a mile away, and I had borrowed a letter jacket from one of the football boys to wear if I got chilly.
The Thayer Marching Bobcat Band practiced all week each week for the week’s halftime show. We started at 7 am on the field every day, and because it was first hour, we stayed on the field until around 9. By each home game Friday, we had gone over the formations until we could do them in our sleep (and maybe some of the trumpet players found a few seconds to throw in a nap here and there while they were standing up – like horses). We memorized all the music. Mr. Oliver wrote the script to match the songs he had chosen, starting with “Hi, Neighbor” to greet the visiting team, and ending with the Thayer fight song, which really had no impact because we never won a game. The band was ready to entertain the crowd.
When the evening was perfect in temperature and light, we all met in the band room and got our instruments ready, and then we lined up to do our snake dance down to the field. The drum majorette gave the whistle, and off we went, drums pounding out the cadence Mr. Oliver had written that transitioned to a hot rendition of the drum solo in “Wipe Out.” As we approached the field, we all yelled with the drums, so the people who were there knew we were coming. When we got to our seats in the stands, it was not yet quite dark.
The poor football boys began the game and played their best until halftime, which usually wasn’t “best” enough to “best” the other team. Then they, the ones who were also members of the band, took off their helmets, and waited for someone to bring them their instruments and their band hats. They marched in the halftime show, too.
The football game was just a footnote in the evening, because the band stole the show.
So that Friday a couple of weeks ago made me long for the good old days. I decided that I needed to share those feelings. So I texted Mr. Oliver and told him that I was remembering him, the band, and Friday nights. I caught him at a good time, and he responded that he, too, kept those memories. He calls his time in Thayer his own little Camelot. I think that’s accurate. Especially on Friday nights.
On another note, I voted this past Monday. The Pettis County Clerk’s office on East 5th Street is open for no-excuse absentee voting throughout the week up until election day. You can cast your vote from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and this year, you can give yourself a Halloween “treat” and vote from 9 am to 1 pm. Saturday, Oct. 31. I’m sure all the people in the office would love to see you!
You know I’m hoping this will be the year when the dam breaks on one-party rule in Missouri, the Republican party rule that has kept Missouri in the bottom ranks of all the states for the past 20 years. Democrats have some good candidates. Check them out and see if this is the year you can take a chance and vote for someone else.
Deborah Mitchell is a Sedalia attorney.
