'All-time best prank': Peoria Richwoods high school principal serenaded by a bagpipe player
PEORIA — Senior pranks come in all sizes and shapes, but what Richwoods High School students did to their principal on Thursday was music to his ears.
Knights principal Billy Robison was pranked by his students when they arranged to have a professional bagpipes player follow him around at the school, playing from 10-11 a.m. at the Peoria school.
"I had a great time with the guy, he was phenomenal," Robison said, laughing. "Teachers were coming out of classrooms to see what was happening. Kids following along.
"I love bagpipes. The kids didn't know that. He showed up at the office and started playing, said, 'I'm gonna follow you around for an hour." I said 'OK, let's go.' He gave the kids their money's worth. Everyone had a great time."
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The secret Scottish plot
Seniors Maggie Moore and Pierce Hill, players on the Richwoods girls and boys tennis teams, respectively, were brainstorming for a senior prank.
"I was looking at mariachi bands on Pinterest, the idea was to have them follow (Robison) around," Moore said. "But it was around Cinco de Mayo and prices were really high, and they were all based out of Chicago.
"So I started thinking about how much I liked bagpipes playing Scottish music when I was growing up. It was Plan B, but it worked better."
Moore and Pierce tried a Facebook search and landed on Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums, a group out of accomplished musicians that practices weekly at a church in Eureka.
"Everybody loved it," Pierce said. "People started dancing to it, clapping to it, following it. He went from the main office, to the gym, then upstairs to the top floor, down and out and a block outside. Probably a mile and half."
Richwoods tennis coach Terry Cole said Moore and Pierce did it the right way, bouncing the idea off him, then athletic director Jeff Crusen and clearing it with school administrators, all while keeping Robison in the dark.
"I thought it was hysterical," Cole said. "There's this one part where Billy is walking across the gym trying to talk to someone while the bagpipe guy is behind him, playing. The bagpiper never asked for anything. Maggie got him a $100 gift card. The whole thing was light-hearted and funny."
The man holding the bag
Scott Whitman is the Pipe Major for Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums. He's also a former high school music teacher, and he liked the prank idea and signed on board.
The 34-year-old Bloomington resident is head of music education at Illinois Wesleyan University.
"The request was surprising," Whitman said, laughing. "We get a fair amount of gig requests. Most are funerals or weddings. Maybe a birthday. But this was my first senior prank request.
"I used to teach high school for 7 years. We all know what senior pranks can look like. Some can be destructive, others leave messes. I had a lot of respect for them figuring something out that avoided all that and was funny.
"I probably went through 20 different tunes. I went through my whole repertoire. He (Robison) walks fast. I felt like I was jogging, but he was a great sport about it. Classrooms were emptying out, people were laughing, dancing, it was great. I loved doing it."
Celtic Cross has 12 pipers and seven drummers, and was founded in 1963 as the Peoria Pipe Band. Membership grew and for several years called Morton home as the Morton Highlanders. In 1994, they shifted to Eureka and took on their present name.
They give free lessons at Eureka Christian Church in Eureka every Thursday. You can contact them on their Facebook page.
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They will play this summer at Highland Games in St. Louis and Milwaukee, perform as part of honor flights departing Peoria's airport, and can be heard at the Tremont Turkey Festival in June.
"He (Whitman) is a former high school music teacher," Robison said. "He played the whole hour, even asked if I had any requests."
A prank well-done
You never know how a prank is going to be received. This one was a good idea, with participant and target both enjoying their roles. Video of the prank has gone viral online.
"It was a lot better than I hoped," Moore said. "I didn't realize they were going to be as loud as they were. We ended up going outside. Mr. Robison loved it."
And how did Robison grade the day?
"It was the all-time best prank," he said. "Nothing got broken, no one got hurt and no mess to clean up.
"I loved it."
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Senior prank sends bagpipe player to serenade Peoria Richwoods principal
