By Leila Summers
Original TDN Article

The number of instruments Rich Kirkpatrick has donated to local middle schools could outfit a symphony several times over.

“Some are tarnished or have a dent here and there,” said Kirkpatrick, a Longview physician. “The bottom line for brass instruments is how they sound.”

Over the past five years, Kirkpatrick has donated between 500 to 600 secondhand instruments to middle schools across Cowlitz County and in Rainier.

He acquires the pieces gradually, saying he spends only “a little at a time.” Sometimes he can find used instruments worth $800 priced as low as $40 online.

Kirkpatrick, who’s been playing the clarinet since fifth grade, said he hopes students will develop a love for music through the instruments.

“You learn through music, there’s no task you can’t conquer — you just work through it,” he said.

Athena Cunningham, a Coweeman Middle School eighth grader, said she wouldn’t be in band if it weren’t for a trumpet from Kirkpatrick.

“I wouldn’t have had anything to play,” said Cunningham, 14. “I would have to take another instrument or take another class.”

It’s nice to be able to use the same instrument three years in a row, Cunningham said. She likes that the trumpet makes her feel heard.

“In most of the songs you hear, you can always hear trumpets. I wanted to stand out,” she said.

“Sometimes Mr. Hoffman says ‘Oh, Athena, you can bring it down a little bit,’ ” she added, with a smile.

Brian Hoffman, the Coweeman Middle School band instructor, remembers when students sat empty-handed the first week of school. For many years, the school didn’t have enough supply to go around, he said.

“I would definitely not have as many kids” if it wasn’t for Kirkpatrick’s donations, Hoffman said.

Instrument shortages were first brought to Kirkpatrick’s attention 10 years ago in a Daily News article asking the community to clean out their attics, and donate old instruments to local schools.

Later, Kirkpatrick learned the Monticello Middle School band had dwindled down to a dozen students. Kirkpatrick asked the Monticello instructor what was wrong.

“Someone figured out it was because no one could afford instruments, so I said ‘what do you need?’” Kirkpatrick said, making his first donation shortly after. It was a clarinet for $15, he said.

“Then, pretty soon it was tubas and the whole gamut of instruments, flutes and clarinets,” Kirkpatrick said.

Searching for good deals can be addicting, but Kirkpatrick tries to limit his online searches to twice a day: before work and before bed.

“It’s become kind of a consuming hobby,” he said.

Music is more enjoyable if children aren’t forced to play a certain instrument, Kirkpatrick said. He communicates with area band instructors to find out what instruments students want to play.

Growing up, Kirkpatrick excelled at the clarinet, but always yearned to play the trumpet.

“I knew what it was to be denied the one you really wanted to play,” Kirkpatrick said.

He worries about music programs today getting overshadowed by standardized testing and sports — neither of which typically spark creativity the way music does, Kirkpatrick said.

“Football is a great, life-building experience for any kid, but they should have those opportunities in music too,” Kirkpatrick said.

Instruments are never gifted to individual students, he said.

Middle schools receive most of Kirkpatrick’s donations simply because that’s the earliest band classes offered in most public schools, he said. It’s also a vulnerable age socially for children, he said. Students start developing attitudes and making decisions about drug-use and gangs as early as sixth grade instead of in high school.

“Ideally every student in middle school should have something to do after school until 5 p.m.,” he said.

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