And the beat goes on for 95-year-old Valley drummer
By Ashley Luthern
aluthern@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Eighty years ago, a Youngstown boy in eighth grade began to play snare drum, and today, he continues his lifelong passion with a performance in Poland.
Clark Hammitt, 95, drummed in the Rayen School band, the Ohio State Marching Band and the Canfield Community Concert Band, and will perform with the Canfield band at 7 p.m. today at Shepherd of the Valley in Poland.
Hammitt has the distinction of being in the first “script Ohio” — Ohio State’s signature marching formation that spells out Ohio in script design — in 1936, and he has returned to the university’s Horseshoe stadium many times, joining more than 700 band alumni who make the trip annually.
“During one of the reunions, I was the lead drummer,” Hammitt said. “I was the first person on the field. I don’t know how I contained myself.”
Hammitt plans to be Columbus-bound for the 42nd reunion Sept. 2 when the OSU football team takes on Marshall — and the alumni band will create four script Ohio designs on the field.
In 1986, Hammitt dotted the “i” in Ohio with a group of 1936 alumni. But his drumming experience at Ohio State is only a small part of a musical life.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.