After more than 20 years in the Clements High School band room, Gary Russell said it’s the interaction with the band family he’ll miss most.

“People throw around the word ‘family’ probably more than it’s justified, but the band really is a family,” Russell said. “… The band parents at Clements are absolutely the best band parents I’ve seen anywhere.”

Russell got his start teaching in Tennessee, then moved to Mobile before returning to Tennessee and finally settling in North Alabama. He started teaching at Clements in 1997.

He said it was his own band directors at Brooks High School in Lauderdale County who inspired him to pursue music education as a career.

“Garry Taylor and Mack Roberts,” Russell said. “They made band fun, and it’s something I felt I could succeed at and share with other people, too.”

It’s an environment he worked to build at Clements.

“With an activity like band, they do it because they want to do it,” he said. “If they’re going to dedicate that much time and blood, sweat and tears, and if they’re having fun, then they’re going to succeed.”

The work paid off, too, as many of his alumni remembered their days under his direction fondly. When his retirement as a band director was first rumored, his daughter Emily created a special Facebook group, “Alumni of Gary Russell’s Bands,” where current and former students could gather to share memories and even work on a going-away performance for a football game last season.

“I’m certainly glad I was fortunate enough to get to study under his direction,” one student posted. “I learned so much, both inside and outside of just playing music. Still some of the best memories of my life have to do with Mr. Gary Russell and the CHS Marching, Concert, and Jazz Bands.”

Many said they were saddened by his retirement announcement, with one saying the then-upcoming performance “should be epic for an epic teacher!”

“When it became official that I was leaving Clements, that was really nice, to see all the sweet comments and memories that kids shared,” Russell said. “… We had great kids at Clements. Most of my students, I’ve had them for several years, so it’s not just a regular teacher that might have a kid for just one year. I built relationships from the time they were in sixth grade on — and same for parents.”

Band was part of life outside Clements, too. Russell said he started at Clements with two children: a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old. Over the years, he and his wife had a third child, and all three children went on to join band. They attended Brooks High but occasionally joined Clements for a performance.

“My oldest daughter even married a band director,” Russell said.

Russell’s retirement from Limestone County Schools as a band director took effect Thursday. However, he did not retire as a music teacher, he said, instead accepting an elementary music teaching job in Pulaski, Tennessee.

In a post to the CHS Band group, he wrote: “For 22 years, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to see this program grow and become one of the best in the area. It has been wonderful. But, just like raising a child, the time has come for me to step aside and let you continue to grow.”

Russell said in the post he is needed more at home and hopes the new teaching position would allow for that. He told The News Courier it will be an interesting transition from his years teaching older students, and he knows the Clements program is in good hands with its new director, Jacob Maurer.

“He seems like a fantastic guy,” Russell said. “We’re similar in a lot of ways.”

Meanwhile, Russell will be introducing a new generation of students to the joys and importance of music.

“There’s a quote from a movie called ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ that probably sums it up,” he said. “In the movie, they’re cutting arts education and the main character, Mr. Holland, says if you keep on cutting the arts, then kids aren’t going to have anything to read and write about. The arts really kind of make life worth living. It’s not just getting by, it’s not just learning the basics of what you have to do to survive — it’s making life interesting.”