Milligans Band

MUSICAL MEMORIES: EAST ISLIP/ HIGH SCHOOL BAND - THE MILLIGAN YEARS
1956 – 1960

by Mike Piliero 05/31/09

“The simple facts of life are such…
You must remember this / a kiss is still a kiss / A sigh is just a sigh / the fundamental things apply /
as time goes by” ‘As Time Goes By’ (Casablanca, 1943)

From 1956 to 1960 my sister, Carol (class of 1960), and I, resided in North Great River and attended East Islip High School. During these formative five years we enjoyed and took pride in being members of the great East Islip High School Band. Our family moved quite a bit in the old days. Only now, on reflection, does it register that my K to 12 schooling was spread across five districts - mentioned as a point of perspective for the following musical-diary account of these profound and unforgettable years. The mood: ‘Lost in The Fifties Tonight’, by Ronnie Milsap.

About to start 8th grade in the fall of 1956 at age twelve, and having just moved from Wantagh, N.Y., my family settled on Westbury Street, off Connetquot Ave. in North Great River. (Though only 17 miles away, Wantagh seemed like thousands back then.) The move was especially hard, for besides leaving good ‘Ramar of the Jungle’, ‘Flash Gordon’, ‘Cisco Kid & Poncho, and ‘Davy Crocket’ friends behind, it abruptly ended my first platonic love - Dorothea.

FLASHBACK: Dottie, as she was called then, was the very beautiful ‘girl next door’ on Chelsea Road, who regularly ‘beat me up’ in the feigned ‘Boy vs. Girl’ ‘battles’, we so thoroughly enjoyed. These ‘Coming of age’ gender rivalries came to be, in part, from viewing the impressionable Walt Disney movie ‘Bongo’, where, among its lessons, we (my generation), and Bongo (the circus bear), learned that ‘real’ wild bears (and by fantasized extension, mankind) expressed affection with a slap- simple as that! And, adding to the confusion, those Westerns of the day taught us that cowboys avoided girls – except for Roy Rogers. As for all the romantic kissing stuff? Well, “That’s for girls!” (But then why? …. oh, well!) In winter these ‘Cupid’ battles would quickly appear on snow blanketed lawns: Dottie led the Girls snowball and ‘face washing’ attacks, (prompted, no doubt, by us guys) while I orchestrated the Boys’ ‘slow’ (Hey, these girls really are pretty!) retreat amidst accompanying accusations of the other side having ‘cooties’. (Huh?) It was, after all, just our adolescent way of getting together. Eight years later, Dottie became Miss New York State in the 1964-65 Miss U.S.A. pageants – later she eclipsed this success with many praise worthy accomplishments. (My ‘vision’ remains intact.) Conjured traces of her consoling tone can be heard in Dianna Kralls’ ‘As Time Goes By’. ‘Ain’t That A Shame’ exclaimed Fats Domino. Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners cried ‘Since I Don’t Have You’ and ‘Call Me Mister Blue’ by the Fleetwoods set the tone.

As fate would have, (while seemingly closing one door and opening another) one adapts to new beginnings and surroundings. Please allow me to regress, a clarifying moment, before getting into the East Islip years.
My 1950’s Wantagh (age 8 through 12) was a world of fun and excitement, for the most part. From the crack of dawn ‘til twilight (when days seemed never ending) we happily engaged in all sorts of games and adventures. Our gang (like ‘Our Gangs’ ‘Little Rascals’), played in [relatively safe] streets, on neighborhood lawns, and at the old nearby, Oakfield Dairy cow pasture, on Oakfield Ave, whose perimeter was enclosed with three pliable strands of sharp barbed wire – agility kept us from harm. It was here, in pursuit of the “greatest play in baseball” that we often failed to circumvent the fresh “droppings”, consequently spending the remainder of the day in tattered, smelly clothes - a small price to pay for the glory. Other activities included sprint races, (usually from one driveway, or light pole, to the next.) stick ball (half a broom stick), touch football (when cars parked in driveways), stoop ball, wrestling, hopscotch, tag, and all forms of hide and seek. The Ames Brothers sang ‘You, You, You’ Patty Page, ‘How Much Is That Doggie In The Window’, Eddie Fisher eased our slumber worries with ‘Count Your Blessings’. Meanwhile The Crew Cuts came out with ‘Sh – Boom’, and Elvis pleaded ‘Don’t Be Cruel’.

Television, relatively new – with just 3 channels, besides the above programs, broadcast a slew of ‘Westerns’, including ‘The Cisco Kid’ with Poncho, and dramas like ‘I Remember Mama’. Weekly variety shows were very popular. ‘Ed Sullivan had his really big ‘shoe’; Jack Benny with sidekick Rochester, played by comedian Eddie Anderson, brought ‘worlds’ together; Jackie Gleason had the hilarious ‘Honeymooners’; Perry Como and Steve Allen added music; the “one, an a two, an a three” Lawrence Welk Show popularized the Polka; and Jimmy ‘Young At Heart’ Durante sang and joked his way into our hearts. Variety format was king. Rockville Center resident Ray Heatherton hosted ‘The Merry Mailman show’, on which my dad, who produced his own weekly Garden City radio program ‘The Sergeant Safety Show’ hosted by, Telly ‘who loves ya’ Savalas - made guest appearances. West Islip resident Bob Keeshan was our ‘Captain Kangaroo’. “Say kids, what time is it?” shouted Buffalo Bob (Bob Smith) on ‘The Howdy Doody Show’. Saturday evenings were incomplete without ‘Million Dollar Movie’, which presented old movies and adapted, as its own theme music, the awe inspiring Max Steiner song, ‘Tara’s Theme’ which originated with the movie, ‘Gone with the Wind’. (“…at last I found you / ‘My Own True Love’.”)

Back then Wantagh was “chock full of” hard core baseball-card-collecting-and-flippin’ kids, who overwhelmingly rooted for the “...if they don’t win it’s a shame”, Brooklyn Dodgers, -‘til the ‘end of baseball’ - on September 24, 1957. That’s when the ‘Bums’ played their final Ebbets Field game before moving to California. Consequently, many young fans lost all interest in baseball - until our children became Mets and Yankee fans. My best friend Steve Hayden, (a 1972 Munich Olympics USA “Race walker”) lived a few houses down Chelsea Road. Together on a typical 1950’s day, we would go bottle hunting. (cans didn’t have deposits then) and in true entrepreneurial fashion, walk the back undeveloped neighborhood roadsides (today fully over developed), collecting discarded beverage bottles whose deposits when redeemed at the corner deli on Jerusalem Ave., provided enough change for each to buy a bottle of Hires or Mission root bear, a small box of pretzels, and a 5 cent pack of Topps baseball cards with great tasting gum - cards that sell today for upwards of a fortune. (Note: Mom, where’d you put those cards?) After bottle hunting, we’d have a game of catch, or, able to gather two or more friends, a choose-up game of baseball – two on a side, “..can I borrow your mitt?” Any or all of the above activities rounded out the day – ending only when a parent (or sibling) shouted one of our names to come home – but then only after the third call. At 11 my parents’ set me up with a Long Island Press paper route. I vividly remember bicycling into some very bitter cold, wintry days. ‘The Happy Wanderer’ by Frank Weir, and Percy faiths’, ‘Theme from ‘Moulin Rouge’ were popular. Walt Disney released the movie 'Lady and the Tramp.'

FAST FORWARD:
September 1956 arrived with Carol and I busy transferring into eighth and ninth grades. The East Islip high school band was led by Mr. Roy H. Milligan, an extraordinary, strict - but fair, mild mannered gentleman who warmly accepted us even though we lacked instrumental experience – a firm prerequisite for other high schools.
We practiced clarinet and trumpet – Carol chose the clarinet and I liked the macho look and Harry James ‘sound’ of the trumpet. Harry popularized ‘You Made Me Love You’ and Perez Prado ‘nailed’ trumpet favorite, ‘Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White’. So began a wonderful and highly redeeming musical journey. The Del Vikings sang ‘Come Go With Me’. That December, Alvin and the Chipmunks came out with the soon to be classic ‘Christmas, Don’t Be late’. “…me, I want a Hula hoop”

In East Islip I delivered ‘Newsday’ on bicycle avoiding most neighborhood dogs and bullies along Connetquot and Carlton avenues, and Jefferson, Madison and Adams streets. I carried golf clubs at the Great River Country Club (now Timber Point Golf Course under Suffolk County Parks.) Caddying on sultry summer days paid four bucks a bag (with tip – we did all right) and when blessed, we had refreshing fragrant bay breezes that carried soothing radio melodies emanating from the Club-Marina-Pool. Songs like Johnny Mathis’ ‘Gina’, ‘Chances Are’, ‘A Certain Smile’, or Debby Reynolds’, ‘Tammy’, wafted in and out of audible range – along with Nat King Coles’, ‘Mona Lisa’, ‘Ramblin’ Rose’, and ‘Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer’.

So, with oversized golf bags (complete with portable metal folding chairs and umbrellas) dangling from aching shoulders, and a popular song in the air, I was routinely rejuvenated with the prevailing southerly, rhythmic, zephyrs that cooled the back nine, particularly on the 170 yd. 15th hole nicknamed Gibraltar, where varying wind speeds could factor the need for an eight iron in the morning and a driver that afternoon. Depending on the handicap of the players, my reverie could easily be shaken with the loud shout of “FOUR!” or the other name of golf: “OH SH_ _!!!”, frequently articulated after errant shots.
When not working or doing ‘Yakety Yak’/ “...don’t talk back”, (by The Coasters) chores: “...if you don’t scrub that kitchen floor / you ain’t gonna rock and roll no more, ...”, I was likely exploring the great outdoors with my brothers Charles and Allen at the old Southside Sportsman’s Club, (now Connetquot State Park). Gil Bergen, the much revered Superintendent of Connetquot State Park today, would, on occasion (back in his game warden employ at the ‘Sportsman’s Club’) catch’ my brothers in their 'rite of passage’ trespassing days. But Gil, though expert in all Field and Stream matters, could not (even with the help of the Clubs’ hunting dogs) ‘capture’ the legendary ‘Green Jacket’ (my nom de guerre). Club members, employees and fellow poachers often recall ‘Green Jacket’s’ daring feats and evasive escapades: “… ‘Green Jacket’ possessed the coolness of an owl, the cunning of a fox, the swiftness of a deer, and was as elusive as the wind and a friend to all the Clubs inhabitants in days of yore.”; “…all we ever saw was a flash of ‘green’ as he leaped the streams, bogs, shrubs and felled trees, before quickly fading into the pines horizon to the west.” (Quite a humble person, I’d add.) ‘Canadian Sunset’ by Hugo Winterhalter echoes forth.

Images from the past including clamming, crabbing, fishing, swimming and boating on the beautiful Great South Bay, and are recaptured listening to ‘THE OLDIES’: Acker Bilk’s ‘Stranger On The Shore’ with Bilk’s plaintive clarinet solo, or Bobby Darin’s up beat ‘Somewhere Beyond The Sea’. Richard Rogers’ tumultuous, roiling theme for ‘Victory At Sea’ also brings to mind those rough boating days on Great South Bay. Songs of the day bring-on these memories.

A lot of transformation lay ahead. One word best describes East Islip in 1956: QUIET. Maybe I should add a second: PLEASANT. And third: EXCITING!

Mr. Milligan’s presence alone, assured that the band program would proceed posthaste to become a paradigm in music education, training, and appreciation. On many occasions since, I’ve had the pleasure to witness and testify to his glowing praise - from music directors, teachers and former students. Having seen and listened to many high school bands over the years, I’ve concluded that few come close to the high proficiency achieved by Mr. Milligan’s E.I. band. He soon rose to Chairman of the department, and over the years received much acclaim and honor before retiring in the 1980’s.

Our school schedules included ‘band period’ which quickly became my favorite and remained so for the next three years. Always too short, (40 minutes) it began the same way. There were three allotted minutes to retrieve instruments and music folders from the storage closet, greet fellow bandsmen, take care of whatever business, get back to our chairs and set up music for the days practice, and finally, begin to ‘warm up’. Imagine the scene: each bandsman enthralled in a happy warm up soliloquy, seemingly oblivious to others, gradually fusing together, making way for an ever increasing, unforgettable, inharmonious but dramatic, ascending crescendo of catastrophic, chaotic, sound!?! Until mercifully, Mr. Milligan (akin to the Sorcerer in the Disney classic ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, from Fantasia) steps up, onto the podium, and with raised arms, brings instant cessation to the wild, unique sounds created by the Sorcerer’s Apprentice (us). Band period officially began.

For some, Band served as a life-nurturing foundation that encouraged and empowered success. Music’s bountiful treasures inspired William Congreve, in 1797, to write “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” I would substitute the words ‘Arts hath’ for “Music hath…”, (above), to be inclusive of ‘all’ creative genius - think how void the world would be, without the Arts. But the greatest music quote belongs to Plato: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” But I digress.

Now, still only a few minutes into band period, we were ready to begin the important warm-up and tune-up routines. Playing out of tune can spoil the anticipated harmonic rewards and passions that music sets free.
Our practice scale, (Really, the Milligan Warm-Up Scale) started out in double whole notes at middle staff C, descending to G, E, and finally below staff C. Then - in whole notes – ascends in major scale to D ( above middle staff C ) and back down to below staff C .Then, up & down this Milligan Scale in half notes followed by quarters, eighths, sixteenths, and: Look Out! Thirty-second notes and if there remained any semblance of unity: sixty fourth notes – albeit, with the master “Sorcerer” at the podium. Tune-up would start by section, then individually, and occurred frequently through out the period. Finally, after all this, we got down to playing the music at hand, and the fun began - always ending too soon.

Each spring, Mr. Milligan would select music for the coming year - bearing in mind a more challenging level. Before playing the first measure of any new piece, he customarily captivated us with a richly informed background story that led to the setting of tone and desired music dynamics. I wonder if fellow bandsmen recall the “calm, before the storm” segment in the ‘William Tell Overture’ by Gioacchino Rossini, featuring the woodwinds? Not to mention the STORM itself: blasted by our brass section – the part of the Overture heard as televisions’ theme song for The Lone Ranger. In Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, our woodwinds carefully painted a serene setting for the “worlds’ greatest love” journey, while our brass ‘splashed’ the “shipwreck on the rocks” clash, finally inviting back the woodwinds to delicately apply the heavenly eternal ascension of ‘loves’’ phoenix. Years later I met with Mr. Milligan and had the opportunity to ask which of all the classics he liked the most. His reply: Scheherazade, though he loved them all.
Ever up to the challenge, our leader strove for excellence while pushing our musical techniques envelope. One year for example, we played P. Tchaikovsky’s March Slave, which required the practical use of ‘double’ and ‘triple tonguing’. I think the 2nd and 3rd trumpet sections had to do a quick-learn there. Another time, Mr. Milligan and First Trumpet Arty Accardo, - what an exceptional performer - tweaked the score in the final stanzas of the Star Spangled Banner to include a spectacular high trumpet part that moved audiences.

Our Concert Band performed the popular classics with such distinction that, when compared with professional recordings, one is hard pressed to discern a difference. The dedication, hard work, and consequent joy, shines through and illuminates Mr. Milligan’s gentle encouragement and inspired passionate direction that brought many fine performances to fruition. Preceding concerts (in the tense, ‘butterfly’ moments of anticipation), bandsmen and director were concerned with performing up to audience expectation. Would we ‘nail’ the notes and solos that were tentative in practice? Anxiety hung like a heavy mist, only lifting on Mr. Milligan’s assuring first down beat. From that point on, it was enjoyable and usually superb. The band anxiously awaited his beaming smile of approval. At times we experienced a unique joy from the profound physical and emotional feelings that ever so fleetingly enraptured the band – a kind of divinity that in those intense seconds transcended all. Some refer to this as a chill, shiver, harmonic high, or spine tingling moment. Well, we surely had to be doing this right for, recollection has it, the audience responded with abundant Bravo applause! Indeed, it was rewarding just to acknowledge our Maestro’s contentment.

Not to be outdone by the Concert Band, our Marching Band, complete with Majorettes and Color Guard (mostly same crew), annually participated in Memorial Day ceremonies at two memorial sites: one situated just west of the old Woodland Rest (diner) on the corner of Main Street (Montauk Hwy.) and Bay View Ave; the other on Great River Road near the town dock. We played the Sousa marches crisply with attending staccato. And I recall a beautiful concert march (I haven’t heard since) by Baccalari called ‘The Italian Rifleman’. Anyone remember? It is accurate to say we marched with a precision to be envied by our own Armed Services. (Boot Camp, not withstanding, would be a breeze.) In addition we performed at football games, home and away, including spectacular precision half time shows that featured our quick stepping, baton swirling Majorettes.
Bandsmen were annually rewarded with summer field trips that brought us several times to that ever refreshing get-away, Jones Beach. Percy Faiths’ ‘Theme from a Summer Place’ written by (once again) Max Steiner, must have been conceived along its majestic Boardwalk with the sensational panoramic views of ocean, sky and sand. Up and down the Boardwalk,well-kept to this day, one experiences waves of people leisurely strolling, exercising, singing, laughing, talking, jogging, embracing, frolicking, (Norman Rockwell could have done this sketch) peace and harmony everywhere. All with the fresh, briny scent of the Atlantic, mixing with the appetizing smell of cotton candy, grilled hot dogs, sauerkraut, and fries coming from the concession stands: The Drifters’ “Under The Boardwalk” (shuffle board anyone?)

Much like the movie ‘American Graffiti’, and follow-up TV show ‘Happy Days’, our friendships and romance flourished in the background of academic and musical enrichment. Did I say academic? That reminds me: in addition to band activities, we did attend other classes - but I’ve mostly forgotten them. The years were slowly rolling by; “..and time can do so much, / are you still mine..” from ‘unchained Melody’ (the mid 50s versions); ‘Rock Around The Clock’ by Bill Haley’s’ ‘Comets’ segued into Danny and the Juniors ‘At The Hop’; The Platters crafted ballads like: ‘My Prayer’, ‘The Great Pretender’, and ‘Twilight Time’; The Flamingoes sang ‘I Only Have Eyes for You’; The Elegants asked ‘Where are You, Little Star’? We enjoyed the Coasters take on ‘Charley Brown’ and ‘Poison Ivy’. Frankie Avalon had ‘Venus in Blue Jeans’ while Ernie K Doe moaned about his, ‘Mother In Law’, “I come home with my pay…she asks me what I made”.

Band also served to ease my ‘Dorothea’ heartbreak as personal interests started swaying toward a new exciting acquaintance. All previous concerns, now ‘played second fiddle’, rather ‘second trumpet’, to this developing, competitive, second platonic crush. My longing for Dottie dissipated in a musical mist (Johnny Mathis’ ‘Misty’), as I ‘fell’ ‘Heart and Soul’ (The Cleftones), for Her - Her mesmerizing eyes, Her enigmatic smile. I was so ‘caught’ - and thought she knew. Lerner & Loew’s ‘My Fair Lady’ had just debuted on Broadway and radio began airing ‘On the Street Where You Live’ making me feel, in the words of the song, “several stories high” too (just to be in the school she attended). Romantic notions clashed with teen emotions that led to the hidden ‘feelings’ of Doris Days’ ‘Secret Love’, and Ray Charles’ ‘You Don’t Know Me’. ‘You Were Mine’, lamented The Fireflys. Young hearts yearned as Sam Cook chanted ‘You Send Me’, The Chantels implored, ‘Look in My Eyes’ and Ed Townsend pleaded earnestly, ‘For Your Love’. Alas, my new crush was unrequited and, like Dorothea, would excel in her future endeavors.

Once again, fate appeared in August, 1960 when my family moved to Levittown, N.Y., where after an emotionally exhaustive year, (living the later half in the school auditorium and unlocked cars) I graduated among a class of strangers. (Tony Joe Whites’, ‘Rainy Night in Georgia’ sung by Brook Benton years later, closely depicts this time.

Fortunately my East Islip years brought sustaining comfort and fraternity.

Since then, in brief, I’ve been blessed with the greatest in life - marriage and family (to name only two). I feel lucky to have lived in East Islip. I’m not sure if it’s “the music”, the “50’s” itself, or the special-innocent “ first loves” aspect, or the fixation and “longing” for “youth”, or all of the above, that get credit for today’s pleasant memories.

When I look in the mirror these days (with my “poetic vision”), a young guy appears. The mirror hasn’t changed me, though I have no clue as to the identity of that aged, imposing, balding guy in photos of late. I wonder if others experience this phenomenon. Try to Remember … “the kind of September when life was slow and oh, so mellow”, Roger Whittaker, 1960, from the play The Fantastics. Over the years I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking with a few of our, “still young”, band alumni including ; Peter Paschke, clarinet, now living in Florida, who along with fellow clarinetist Andrew Sloupe should have (and easily could have) become, professional musicians - among others. I have spoken with Geraldine Gehr, flute, who thought it would be nice to have an alumni band get together (B.Y.O. instrument), Sharon Leonard, trumpet, (she played almost as well as me) whose favorite period, like mine, was band and who clearly remembers the protocol instrument positions vis-a- vis the conductor standing on the podium. I haven’t been able to contact First Chair Trumpet, Arthur Accardo, or Mary Kate Maddox, trumpet, among others, but I’ve heard that Arthur (Arty) had a very successful musical career in the Navy, culminating in the directorship of a U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C. Another trumpeter, former Honor Society President, Buddy (Dr. Harry) Hlavac, presently a Clinical Professor, renowned Author, and practicing Podiatrist in California, (he played almost as well as me, too) fondly remembers Mr. Milligan as a person of great character whose passion and tough standards brought the band to its’ high level of excellence; the type of person who could always be counted on to “do the right thing”; and who at one time, invited (for a lecture) famed trumpet-coronet player, extraordinaire, James f. Burke who, though handicapped, played with the use of one hand.

It was a time when Elvis was ‘beginning’ to become King; when groups like The Platters and The Ink Spots made way for Danny And The Juniors, and others, to ‘Rock and Roll’ this generation on to the gym dance floor, (socks, no shoes); when The Beach Boys and The Beatles were still, years away from their ground breaking debuts; and when the band room substituted as a 2nd home and fellow bandsmen, family. It brought together very fortunate students, some really nice sounds, memories, and amazing transformations that will hopefully remain, (as in Bob Dylan’s “may you stay”) ‘Forever Young’.

POST SCRIPT

Mr. Milligan passed away in the summer of 2003. Students and friends are forever grateful for his tireless efforts to instill the love and appreciation of music in our lives. His children, Rich, Patti, and Rob graciously forwarded many photos of the band from 1956 through 1961. I thought it best to entrust these photos to the East Islip Public Library (a block east of the old High School).

After speaking with the enthused Library Director, Mr. Guy Edwards, I was in turn introduced to the equally enthused Mr. Ray Lembo, the Archivist/Trustee from The East Islip Historical Society, which is located on the lower level of the library. Ray, as the contact person, has shown great interest, passion and expertise in preserving East Islip’s great history.
Thank you, Ray!

Most of us, I guess, are aware that the old High School was remodeled into a commercial complex that has - so far- left the old classrooms intact and wisely turned our concert auditorium into a theater venue: Bayway Arts Center. The school athletic field where gym classes were held, and where we marched and played sports, exists today as a 55 + co-op development, Bel Laurel, with current prices for a low maintenance 2 bedroom 2 bath coming in around $230k, a mere 23 times the value of our late1950s homes.

NOTE: There were several recordings (78’s) of band concerts throughout the 1956-60 years. Band members and family would enjoy being able to listen to them again. If anyone is in possession of records or tapes of this time, please present a copy to the E.I., Public Library/Historical Society for duplication. It would surely add tone to the memory - also feel free to send photos / band artifacts, comments, etc.

Email me or Ray Lembo at eihs@eastislip.org, or write in care of :

East Islip Historical Society
P.O. Box 8, East Islip, NY 11730

Editors Note: 8/17/2010. We are thankful and pleased to announce the receipt of a vinyl record, and record-transferred CD, of a 1961 EIHS Concert Band performance from Dr. Harry ‘Buddy’ Hlavac, trumpet (Class of 1961) who also made inquiry of a possible class/band reunion? The CD is available at the East Islip Historical Society. Anymore out there? Keep them coming!

Mike can be reached through the East Islip Historical Society eihs@eastislip.org

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