Though identified (today on fb, by the younger brother of someone who was in the picture) as 1972, I believe it to be the summer of 1971 (in the 1971-1972 school year), based on who (including my friend's older brother) was in the picture.
The sousaphones are Conn 36K's...
At that time, the only "tuba" the school owned was a King 1240 (upright detachable bell) with three VERY worn pistons.
The sousaphonist on the far left is Jesse Allen, who (using the pictured instrument) made first chair in the Tennessee All-State Band every year from 8th grade on (was a beginner in the 7th grade) and took his sousaphone home EVERY day and practiced for SEVERAL hours each day.
Straight out of high school (using that same instrument) he auditioned into Pershing's Own (during Vietnam, when TONS of people were trying to get into ANY military bands - to avoid going to Vietnam). I believe Lee Stofer has told me that Jesse is said to have earned a "perfect" score (nothing marked down at all) on his Army audition. Jesse could read/play anything, and with a gorgeous sound. Today, he plays a Jinbao rotary tuba at home, for his own amusement, along with a euphonium.
I'm the third person (10th grade, as Jesse would have been in the 11th grade) in the picture.
Jesse had a cool little circular "Competition Proven" decal (covering up "CONN"...probably from a model car kit) on his sousaphone, whereas mine featured an American eagle.
Some tuba/sousaphone person from our school held that All-State chair for about a decade or so...The person after me was Greg Jones (still today, a close friend, as is Jesse). Greg also went into the Army (quitting college - after a year or so) and played tuba and bass in a band in Germany. Greg is not in this picture, because (at the time) he was in the 8th-9th grades "Junior Band", though he is only a couple of months younger than me (as I was one of the youngest in my grade).
This camp (TENTS, not buildings) was held annually at Lake Charles State Park in northeast Arkansas (not too far from Jonesboro). The daily routine was
> breakfast
> marching (practice parade marching, as well as our halftime show...on a mowed field, which we marked off)
> break (possibly: shower)
> lunch
> concert band practice (outdoors)
> swimming (in Lake Charles)
> dinner
> jazz band rehearsal (outdoors)
> campfire (perhaps some jokes/skits/entertainment/etc...including a local friend of the band director - the friend, named Larry Verkler...?? - who knew a bunch of funny stories)
> lights out
There was one BIG tent and SEVERAL small tents.
We alternated (from one year to the next) whether the boys or the girls were all in the large tent, and the other were spread out in the small tents. The preference was small tents.
The band director (Allen Goldsmith) is seen (in a striped shirt) towards the right end of the picture. His son (who was not in the band, but who participated when we had concert band rehearsal...as he was a very talented multi-woodwind player) is Gary Goldsmith, who still plays/teaches music to this day. Within a few years of this picture having been taken (probably by 1978 or so), I was hiring my former band director (Allen - a fine jazz trombonist) to play dixieland gigs, as well as Gary (on clarinet).
After an epic rain, I instigated an epic mud fight that year (probably, half the band, with the girls having scrambled to put on their bikinis and joining it), that year. It was caught by some parent's Super-8 movie camera...The film was shown (once) at a band parents' meeting.
