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On a cool
fall afternoon in 1979, a group of men met in a house in Amarillo,
Texas to discuss and plan how to form a new unit in Khiva Shrine Temple. Over the years since the Temple had been chartered in 1921,
there had been two other periods during its tenure when an Oriental
Band had been in existence, but each time the unit failed for lack of
enthusiasm and membership due to the conservative nature of this part
of the country as well as being unable to attract a respectable number
of members who would endeavor to pay a musette or wear "funny" costumes.
The leader of the assembly that day was a hard-crusted,
bulldog of a fellow named James Burdette who had moved to Amarillo to
manage one of the new banks in town. James has previously been a member
of the Suez Oriental Band of Brownwood, Texas and had visions of
organzing one in Amarillo. Over the next six arduous months, he and
then Potentate E. Duane "Buck" Allred spent an appreciable amount of
time locating not only instruments, costuming and funds, but members as
well. The original group's founding fathers were primarily comprised of
Nobles from other units within the Shrine that had become either almost
inactive or appreciably disenchanted at the time in regard to the units
they were in. From this truly rag-tag collection of what may very well
be one of the most "off-the-wall" and diverse in the history of Khiva
if not in all Shrinedom, came the cornerstone and indeed the spiritual
foundation of the Khiva Oriental Band. Four of them still participate
to this day.
The original set of drums were secured from Suez
and India/Lawton-Fort Sill Oriental Bands and both bands also provided
music, guidance and perhaps more importantly, moral support in the
critical formative months of the Khiva Oriental Band's early existence.
Also, a few drums were obtained from the Khiva Drum & Bugle Corps
which had purchased newer and more up-to-date models. The aging green
metal-flake solid Ludwig drums were painted red, gold and black in a
bumblebee motif and some are still used in the drum section today!
Practice
started in September of 1979, most of the time in someone's home and
the end result was nothing short of a cacophonous din. Only one of the
members had ever seen or played a horn and the others received their
instruments more on a luck-of-the-draw basis than anything else. Soon
the existing members moved practice to the third floor of the Temple
and word of the new boys on the block began to spread among the
Nobility. Some came just to see what was going on but more than not
came in an attempt to find something that had been rumored to be mostly
fun and not take itself too seriously. Within six months the membership
grew to 20 members, all of which relished in coming to practice to hear
new jokes as well as hone their craft.
The Bands first
competition was in Austin, Texas, only a scant nine months after the
original meeting. Somehow the timeline seems to strangely parallel
another significant and well recognized evolutionary period in life.
From the first trip to the Texas Shrine Association Ceremonial that
inaugural year, the Band perhaps became better known for its ability to
have a good time and consume mass quantities of the byproduct of hops
and barley as opposed to its music. The Band did win a 2nd place trophy
for Parade in its first outing and managed to survive the Concert (aka
Fantasy) portion of the competition even though one-half of the horns
played the required tune "GIZEH" while the other half mistakenly played
"SAFARI".
In 1983, the Band made a decision that still impacts
it to this day. The construction of the infamous KOB room began and has
over time evolved into a two-story 2500 square foot edifice on the
third floor of the Shrine Center. As the Band grew, it was certainly
not without its cast of characters. Among the most notable was the
original "front man" James R. Courtney. A charter member, Courtney (aka
"Snake") was the face of the Band for almost two decades and provided
leadership in any number of ways. No one ever enjoyed a parade the way
J.R. did and his 6 foot rubber snake "Esmeralda" was known far and wide
in West Texas as something that terrified many adults and yet
entertained most children. J.R. always carried a couple of dozen tiny
green rubber snakes in his cummerbund which he gave to kids along the
parade routes much to their delight. Parades without him have never
been the same.
A mere five years from after its inception, the
Band moved from Class "B" into Class "A" (which is equivalent to
"Unlimited" in the A.S.O.B.) in Texas for the competition year of 1985
and has remained there ever since. Each year at T.A.S.O.B. (and Imperial
when the Band goes) there are members that are still part of the Band
which live in Arkansas, Oklahoma and even as far away as South Carolina
that travel to compete along side their bandsmen.
In support of the
T.A.S.O.B., KOB has had five members serve as President during its
25-year existence. Grady Wilson in 1986, Sam Campbell in 1994, Joe
Brewton in 1996, Ron Frymoyer in 2004 as well as David Brewton in 2008
have all served in this capacity and position of responsibility.
Currently, Tim Beecher is on-line to serve as its President in 2011.
Khiva also had a member who served as the Texas Ambassador to A.S.O.B.
for 10 years. For years the Band has been one of the larger, if not
largest, financial contributors to its Temple and there has been five
members that have served as the Potentate of Khiva Shriners since 1995.
In 2003, Joe Brewton, who served as Caliph (Director) of Khiva Oriental
Band for 25 years, was elected to the A.S.O.B. line and served as its
President in 2008. The same year, his brother served as President of
the Texas Association of Shrine Oriental Bands. There are as many as
six father, son/son-in-law combinations currently in the Band. As that
old adage goes, "the family that plays together, stays together......" | |
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