WALKER VALLEY – Lynn Inglima has been a nurse for 30 years, a resident of Walker Valley for 25 years, and active with the Marching Band for 12 years. During that time, she has served on the board of directors of the Marching Band in various positions. It might be fair to say that the Marching Band has no greater champion. But in June 2005, when her barn burned down, torched by arsonist Patrick Dickson, it would also be true to say that she had never felt more devastated.

"We lost everything beyond the basic 28 uniforms and the instruments we kept in the shed behind the firehouse," she says of the incident. "It was absolutely terrible. The kids were just stunned. Shock and disbelief, really, they weren't aware of how much equipment we had in the barn."

The list was a long one, beginning with 75 complete uniforms. There were 40 pairs of shoes. There were extra drums, glockenspiels…everything else that a marching band needs, and a marching band needs a lot of stuff.

"When one of the firemen, who had been a drummer in the band, went into what was left of my barn and then came and told me that the band's stuff was gone, either burned or melted, well, that was my darkest moment."

That wasn't the end of it though.

"The next moment of darkness was when the insurance company said they wouldn't pay for anything, that the policy didn't cover that kind of fire, no arson. They kept talking about spontaneous combustion as being what the policy did cover. It was ridiculous."

Faced with disaster, the Marching Band took stock, gave thanks that they at least had the basic set of instruments, and went out and performed less than a week later. Inglima says of that time, "We just made a determination that we would not be stopped by this. I said, 'this changes nothing, and we will make every engagement.' "

Of course, it wasn't quite that simple.

"We had a booking at Busch Gardens. That was in August and the fire was in June. But in the middle of parade season, which runs through the summer months, it's impossible to get new uniforms. It takes months to get them, and we usually order them in January to have them by March or April. So we were down to bare bones, but we were determined to fulfill every contract, especially the one at Busch Gardens. So I said we were going to do it and the kids went along with it. They were young enough to believe that if an adult said it, then it must be so. But really, there were some sleepless nights in there."

And, of course, by then Walker Valley knew they had an arsonist at work in their community.

"We were all afraid. Nobody knew what would be next and nobody knew who was doing this. All of us were absolutely on edge. But about a month later they arrested Patrick, and he confessed."

The sense of betrayal ran deep in the community. At first people couldn't believe it, but with the confession came something else.

"We went through shock and then we went to pity. I thought, 'this kid just ruined his life.' To tell you the truth, I wanted to be enraged, but I kept thinking 'what is going to happen to this kid?' And I'd known him and been closely involved with him since he was ten years old. I mean, his dad is our mailman. His poor family, I just felt so sad for them in this terrible situation."

But the Walker Valley Marching Band still had to get to Busch Gardens.

"We had raised $12,000 for the trip. So we took 28 band members down to perform, because that's what we had; 28 sets of clothes, and that was all the band we had.

"And I have to say, the band was never better. They came home so high on themselves it was great. And that fall they went on to win trophies in every parade they participated in."

Of course Lynn Inglima's barn was still a ruin, but that became another part of this story about a community that didn't give up.

"It wasn't until the fall that we took the building down. I was actually away in New Hampshire, taking care of another property that I own there. And I didn't know that Kelly Pallinkas had put an item in her Walker Valley Times column about the barn. And when I came back, thinking that it was going to take months for me to get this done and thinking I'd be on my own, I found thirty people waiting to help me. They were my neighbors, firemen, band kids, and family. They had food, they set up barbecue grills, and they just tore it down and we got rid of it all in about six hours."

And it didn't stop there.

"The community was fantastic. They read about the fire and started sending checks. Unbelievable spontaneous check sending took place. People were stopping me in the street and handing me a hundred dollars and saying 'this is for the kids.'

"We could not have got through that time without help and our community was there for us."

And today?

"This year the kids went out 33 times. They made 12 donations of their services to various causes and they played for the Korean-American Day parade in New York City. They brought home more trophies this year than in the last five. It's been amazing."

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