Bizarre events were happening in San Quentin. Warden Robert Ayers, Jr., stepped up to the microphone on the lower yard and announced that the California “State Prison” at “Ophir” was closed, and the members of the marching band were transferred to San Quentin. In a gesture of good will, these newly arrived (volunteer) “inmates” decided to put on a concert on the lower yard.
On Saturday November 22, 2008, the band came marching down the paved road from the Garden Chapel area. The group of misfits played their musical instruments while Captain Rufus T. Whizbang headed the procession. Rules must be totally slack where these dudes rolled in from, carrying contraband of every sort, including a rubber chicken. Hats which included beer kegs set off a lax dress code that no respectable convict might wear.
Proudly dragging the rubber chicken at the rear of the procession, the band marched to a prepared stage. With a few more bars of their marching tune, the band ended with a loud shout of, “Up yours!”
Captain Whizbang, wearing a pith helmet with a huge windup knob attached to the top, got the gathering crowd going with raucous talk of drinking beer. The part of being a “Temperance Society” seemed to be from a time before they all had slipped off the wagon.
The music was tight, playing familiar tunes. A SQTV video showed them on temporary community release marching in local parades. In the end, the inmates were applauded loudly by San Quentin prisoners. A reversal in the transfer must have come about, being that they marched back up the hill under heavy escort, never to be seen again.
