Volunteer retires after helping kids for 40 years
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008  |
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| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
| Howard Taylor spent 40 years working with the Largo High School Band of Gold. |
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LARGO – For more than 40 years Howard Taylor has been helping Largo High School students.
Now, at 88, he has to stop because old age is creeping up on him.
Better known as the “Gatorade Man,” Taylor has received numerous awards and gifts over the years of his dedicated service. His comfortable home is filled with notes, clocks, pictures and plaques he has received over the years.
But the students who play in the school’s Band of Gold are not going to just let him walk away. On Saturday, Aug. 9, they are throwing an event in the school auditorium to honor his many years of service.
“I could not have lived life without my wife without them,” said Taylor, whose wife, Laura, died in 2001.
But long before that one of his four children, Susan, joined the band and played the flute between 1972 and 1975. That’s when Taylor became involved with the students.
Born in Oneida, N.Y., his father, Roy, first introduced him to marching bands as a child. They would attend parades to watch the local American Legion band march.
“They were state champions for 12 years in a row,” Taylor said. “I even saw them marching down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.”
Although he loved music, Taylor never excelled in playing an instrument. He tried drums as a youngster. At about 8 or 9 he took piano lessons from a blind instructor who did not realize that he was watching kids play baseball rather than concentrating on his lessons.
World War II came along and Taylor was drafted into the Army Air Corps. Following his discharge he went to work for IBM in Connecticut. He later was transferred to Tampa and retired after 40 years as an engineer.
Taylor’s four children still live in the area. Susan is still in Largo. Daughters Barbara and another, also named Laura, live in St. Petersburg and Tarpon Springs, respectively. A son, Howard Jr., lives in Indiatlantic.
Over the years he met hundreds, possibly thousands of students, and he cherishes those memories.
“They were my hobby, my children” Taylor said. “I can’t say a bad thing about any of them.”
As a volunteer he did everything from lining up transportation to different events to setting up chairs. He was a mentor to students, a stand-in parent, counselor and helper. Over time he met the children of former band members who became part of the Band of Gold.
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Article published on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008
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