A loud birthday surprise

By Janine Anderson

Sunday, February 27, 2005 2:11 AM CST

ROCHESTER - With two important 50th birthdays coming up, Kim Lindquist knew just what she wanted to do for the guests of honor - her husband, Skip, and brother, Craig Wendricks.

Humiliate them. Embarrass them. Make a big deal out of their combined 100 years of living.

And it only cost her $105.

She was the winning bidder when the Waterford High School Band auctioned itself off at its annual band booster dinner on Feb. 11. And the band came, instruments in hand, to play for the Saturday birthday bash.

The bus took up most of Fox Knoll Drive; its yellow bulk blocked through traffic for about a half hour Saturday afternoon.

Since it was a weekend, only one-third of the band showed up, but the 30 kids in the driveway filled the neighborhood with noise. So much noise, in fact, that they set off a car alarm. Honks rang through the silences in "The Hey Song."

Neighbors popped out of their houses to see what all the commotion was. A black cat named Rascal meowed continuously, filling in the breaks between songs.

The reluctant birthday duo - gerbera daisies and VIP ribbons proudly pinned to their shirts - took the instrumental ribbing in stride.

"I didn't want it to be a big deal," Skip Lindquist said. "I was told I

didn't have a choice in the matter. But it was neat."

The band's field trip to the Rochester neighborhood was one small part of its efforts to raise enough money to buy new uniforms for the 90-member band. It's been about 15 years since the group had new gear to march in.

They've been coming to football games in costumes that match the theme of the half-time show, said director Mike Nelson said. They only pull out the official uniforms - aging green, white, gold and black windbreakers - for parades.

And birthday parties.

The windbreakers were all the defense the band had against Saturday's 28-degree weather.

The jackets are not popular with the students, one reason they were so willing to play their driveway

concert.

"They kind of smell bad," said junior Gavin Kirchner, a trumpet player.

Junior Joey Madden agreed, and said there are more problems, too.

"They just don't look that sharp," he said.

Gavin and Joey were on the committee that designed new uniforms - snazzy sashed jackets with pointed cuffs and matching plumed hats.

The band is still about $8,000 short of the about $30,000 it needs to purchase the new uniforms, but the band plans to order them this year, and have them ready for the start of the 2005-06 school year.

"It's going to be cool," Madden said. "Especially since we were involved in designing them."

Special Offer: Get 5 Weeks of the Journal Times for $7!