Band buddies provide hospitality for visitors

By LIZ MAPLES
Staff Writer

When the Hellcats of West Point, N.Y., arrived in Danville, gingerbread awaited them. 
Band members wrestled with their instruments and luggage to hold out their hands for the cookies. 
“Someone is giving us some love right here,” said John Manning, a bugle player with the band. 
The treats from Burke’s Bakery were a gift from Jane Boyd, the group’s band buddy. 
Each band at the Great American Brass Band Festival was assigned someone to help explain the itinerary, find area attractions and places to eat, help them get checked in and out, answer questions and generally be their personal assistant. 
The 257th Army Band found out quickly how important their band buddy would be. Bad weather in West Virginia and problems with their truck delayed the band for more than three hours. At midnight their buddy, Anne Diem, met the tired group at the Piggly Wiggly with their Centre College dorm keys. 
“It was so much fun,” Diem said. “They were pooped, but they were glad to be here.”
On Friday, Deim, Boyd and the Circle City Stompers buddy, Kathy Miles, teamed up to throw their bands a traditional Kentucky barbecue. 
The clouds parted above the Miles’ home in Parksville for some of the prettiest weather of the weekend. 
Miles has the metabolism of a hummingbird. She got off work at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, went to the grocery store and cooked up a tasty spread. 
She stood in the kitchen of her 19th Century home. She started making a green salad with strawberries and feta cheese. In the middle, she disappeared out one door and came back with blankets for extra seating on the lawn. Back in the kitchen, she took out the fried chicken from the oven. A split second later, she was headed out another door to check on ice. Then she came back, grabbed her neighbor, Susan Martin, and gave instructions for finishing the salad.
In between, she talked about her role as a buddy. 
“We want to make them feel like their family,” she said. “Feel like they never want to leave Danville.”
Later, on a sideboard next to the buffet, Diem talked about why she likes being a buddy. 
“You get to introduce Danville to people that don’t know it yet,” she said, a twinkle in her eye. “Danville is the neatest little town.”
As the sun set at the Miles’ home, the musicians began to gather to head back for practice, and Boyd circulated among them asking if they needed another beverage or plate of food.

This story ran in the Advocate on June 15, 2003.