Nawlins band says Danville's `like being at home'

By JULIE CLAY
Staff Writer

It's been a decade since Main Street was introduced to the fringed umbrellas and plastic beads that magically appear when Dejan's Olympia Brass Band parades to Centre College from the courthouse gazebo.

Every year, Weisiger Park fills with people of all ages swaying to the music of a band first formed in 1883 and so popular in their hometown of New Orleans, it's a youngster's dream to grow up and be in the band.

The Great American Brass Band Festival is one event Dejan's knows they will play all year.

This year, Danville was treated to an additional performance at the installation of Centre College President John Roush. The band flew members up for the one-hour parade, including something festival-goers don't normally see: a grand marshal.

``King'' Richard Batiste led the band at Roush's installation, dressed in a top hat. Father Milton Batiste, the band's leader, said Richard ``tries'' to play a tambourine in New Orleans but he is not a regular musician.

Dejan's keeps coming back, despite the buckets of rain or muggy weather it's experienced over the last 10 years, because ``it's like being at home,'' Milton said.

``It's a reunion. It's a family here - from tots in carriages to old people in wheelchairs,'' Milton said. ``People make us feel welcome here.''

But crowds in New Orleans must be as appreciative of the band as festival-goers, right?

``There, there's a lot of us. Here, we're alone,'' Milton said. ``We love the attention. It's like Christmas once a year.''

Eleven-year veteran band member Byron ``Flea'' Bernard, who plays tenor sax and clarinet, works at a hospital when not playing with the band. It's been his lifelong dream to play in Olympia's.

``Playing for the band is a dream come true,'' Bernard said. ``When I was a kid, it was all I wanted to do.''

Milton grew up thinking he would become a doctor until at age 12 he picked up a horn and played it.

He's still playing, up to six concerts a week all over the globe. The band's life on the road can be seen on some of the band's drum cases, which are so gray with duct tape the original black color is almost obscured.

Dejan's has a standing date on Sunday nights at Preservation Hall in New Orleans and occasionally will hear an audience member ask if the band will return to Danville.

Milton doesn't have a favorite restaurant in Danville - unless you count the Rev. Norman Hagley's house for Sunday brunch before the church service. Dejan's joins the Salvation Army Band at the Hagley's every year, Milton said.

``It's like home. You get to really know a person, not like first time.''