UNBELIEVABLE STORY IS JUST THAT PONY EXPRESS TAKES CANYON HIGH FOR AN APRIL FOOLS' RIDE.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - Imagine a fall afternoon, the football team taking the field in eerie silence, the stands where once the marching band played now empty, cheerleaders choreographing their moves to shouts instead of drum beats.

That was the picture painted in a lead story of the Pony Express, the school paper of Canyon High School, announcing that the school's celebrated bands, including jazz and concert groups, would cease to be when director Randy Gilpin takes his new position as band director at Rancho Pico Junior High School.

With budget crunches and new school campuses opening all over town, it seemed almost real. The story claimed that Gilpin would not be replaced and instruments would be abandoned in a wave of cost-cutting measures. Some teachers even came to Canyon Principal Bob Messina offering to take over the bands so as not to leave musical students wanting.

The response was unbelievable. So was the story.

``That's an April Fools' joke,'' Messina said with a laugh. ``Randy wants to step down from all the commitments of a high school band director, and we are hiring a replacement for him. The kids wrote that up for their April Fool edition of the paper and people believed it.

``We've posted the opening and put stuff out to other schools,'' Messina continued. ``I've talked to six candidates so far that are coming in for interviews. He is a great band director and will be sorely missed, but we will continue the program as good as it's ever been and we hope it gets even bigger.''

The special edition of the paper, which looked identical to other issues except for a small line printed upside down on the front page that tipped the editors' hand, carried the band story and another about members of the Class of 2004 having to pick up their diplomas in government class on the last day of school because of school construction.

Journalism adviser Larry Dubin said that the key to the April Fools' Day edition, which is not done every year, is that the spoof stories are not so far out of whack that they couldn't be true.

``The last time we did this, which was about four years ago, we ran a story about students having to go to the prom on buses,'' Dubin said. ``And now they do, so it wasn't that far-fetched. Kendall Sommer and Jen Lee really did a good job on this one. They made it so believable. Some of the kids couldn't believe it and some of the kids read through it. Some of the teachers had to really convince the kids it wasn't true. And Mr. Gilpin was a great sport about it, working with the kids.''

When he learned that news of the bands' purported demise had reached other Hart district campuses, Gilpin giggled.

``I'm excited because I leave Canyon with a lot of feelings. I've been here for 25 years, and I talked this over with all my other friends who have been at Canyon for a long time,'' Gilpin said. ``I'm looking forward to the adventure of a new school, not just the move from high school to junior high.''

Gilpin will lead the seventh- and eighth-graders of Rancho Pico as well as the ninth-graders at West Ranch High School for the first year while the two schools share a campus. He will be working with two of his longtime Cowboy colleagues, Dave LeBarron at Rancho Pico and Bob Vincent at West Ranch.

``I hired in early, so I could tell the kids in November that I wasn't going to be here next year,'' he continued. ``They've had most of the year to deal with it and the shock is over - that's why I think the April Fool thing was so effective. I sent my compliments to Mr. Dubin and his writing staff; they pulled it off well and made it read fairly believable, especially in light of the budget situation. Some of the kids in the band played along and gave them some great quotes.''

Gilpin doesn't have much of a rest before his departure, with the school's Jazz/Pop celebration next weekend, a spring concert on May 18 and an appearance as featured entertainers during the Valencia Jazz Festival on May 22.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com