he Lilliland Marching Band

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

Lilliland was a neutral country that diplomatically stayed out of politics and wars. The Baron's ancestors believed that wars had no part in a small country that had mostly farmers and dairymen. The shooting of deer and other animals in the forest and mountains was banned. In fact, no one was allowed to own a gun or shoot at anything for fear of hurting a mountain climber or downhill skier.

The Baron often wondered why he had a royal guard around the castle. When he asked his father, as the young Baron was growing up, the reply was to impress leaders of other countries. When the elder Baron visited the other countries, they always held a parade with the palace guards and a band parading around for the event.

The Baron did not want to change the royal guard except to have them become helpful to tourists who were lost or wanted their pictures taken with the guard dressed in their colorful official Lilliland uniforms. The royal guards helped make sure that the curfews were observed and that the children were off the streets at dusk. The taverns were to be closed at midnight and all the patrons seen safely home.

The Baron decided that Lilliland needed a marching band so he hired a musical director to teach each of the guardsmen the use of a musical instrument and how to march while playing the instrument. The Lilliland Royal Marching Band quickly became a big hit with the Baron, the tourists and visiting diplomats.

Everyone enjoyed the music of the Lilliland Royal Marching Band.