GWHSBand Archives 2005-2006

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<<< ~ 2005-2006 ~ >>>

Good Luck Seniors

It's time to send off another group of seniors who have helped continue the tradition of excellance that has become the hallmark of the Mighty Maroon Marching Band. Sure we'll miss their experience, but will continue with the legacy of success the band has enjoyed over the years.
And ... the website goes under new management, too. Rest assured, I will keeping an eye to make it meets the high standards expected of a quality ... uh, well, Mark's a professional at this. Don't cut him the slack you've been allowing me all these years. We've got an image to maintain!
Good Luck to all.

The Class of 2006

Leah Counts Memorial Scholarship

Congratulations to Senior Audrey Kern for recieving the Leah Counts Memorial Scholarship. The Scholarship is given by the Counts family to honor Leah, a mother of Three MMB members and an avid band supporter. The $1,000 award goes to a band member with three or more years experience and who displays skill and leadership in the band program. A band member for 6 years and a section leader for the past 2, Audrey still found time to graduate at the top of the Class of 2006. She will use the scholarship at Virginia Tech this fall. A big thanks to the Counts family for providing this recognition to dedicated members of the band and their continued support of the band program.

Welcome to our new digs !!!
Welcome to www.gwhsband.org, the new home of the Mighty Maroon Band. Be sure to update your bookmarks so you can find us, the Sports page, the Festival page, etc., etc., etc, next go round. Look for all the latest news fit (and even unfit) to post about the MMB here. In a few weeks we'll even be breaking in a NEW webmaster (be patient, he's new at this). What a brave sole! But what a neat job to have, spending the wee hours of the morning bragging about the best Marching Band in 6 States (any six!!!). Stay Tuned!!!
Next meeting: Thursday, June 15
And it all starts again. Time to break in those new officers. Start planning for band camp. GET TO WORK on the Spring trip planning, Got those new rain coats to order really soon See you at the band room at 7:00!
Review the George Wythe Band Boosters BYLAWS here.
GW Afterprom Pics
Need another copy of that photo from After Prom? Want to check out all of the photos from the event? CLICK HERE
ELECTIONS RESULTS!

I threatened anybody who didn't show up at the last meeting could be elected to a new office, RESULT: possibly the best attended meeting ever! Our new officers for 2006 - 2006 are:

President Mark Weisser

Vice President Lee Fowler

Secretary Laurie Mock

Treasurer Linda Brinkley
Anita Wagner

Concessions Shawn Weisser
Tracy Pauley

Festival Melissa Vaught

CONGRATULATIONS and Good Luck to all.
New Uniforms !!!

Thanks for your input! The uniform committee received opinions from almost half of the band before last Thursday's committee meeting. The favorite jacket was overwhelmingly style 9 with the two toned front. The reversible sash will have the 9B design on one side and the 9D "Maroons" on the other. The favorite hat is the one on 9D. The two designs are shown below. Click on either picture to see a larger side by side view.

New Uniform Summary :

Jacket design: Style 9
Sash Designs: 9B & 9B
Hat Style: see 9D
Ms. Lippo will prepare a new drawing of the two designs and specifications for approval. The next step will be to have a sample uniform constructed. That should take about three weeks. In the mean time she plans to get measurements of all present and potential band members and finish all the background paperwork. The sample uniform must be approved (with any changes) before the order can be placed. Once all of the t's are dotted and the i's crossed, it will take between 120 and 150 days for the uniforms to be delivered. If we can complete all of this by April 1, we may not have the new uniforms by the first football game, but they should arrive in time for the first competition.

Virginia Tech Honor Band

Six brave MMB members took the trek to Blacksburg for the Ninth Annual Virginia Tech Honor Band. Click the photo to see more.

Christmas Parade

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor ... well, maybe sleet, but the rain couldn't keep us out of the parade Saturday. Click the photo to see more.

The James River Invitational

One last time into the fray! The MMB closed out marching competition season this weekend with a trip to the James River Invitational. The band managed to edge out cross county rival Rural Retreat for First Place in Class A (out of five bands in the class) and also brought home the coveted Band of the Day award for the third time this season. Check out the Awards Page for details.

2005 VBODA Ratings Festival

Superior

Hot off the presses: The Mighty Maroon Band participated in the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Marching Festival at Pulaski County High School. No frills, no fuss, no muss (whatever a muss is!?), you just hit the field and are judged on the total performance of the band. Congratulations to the gang for bringing home the highest rating of SUPERIOR. And not just Superior, but straight 1's across the board from all of the judges. Tons of hard work went into this accomplishment. Being recognized like this by this panel is quite a feat.

And we did it in front of our principals, Mr. Crockett of Scott Middle School (a.k.a "The Short Bus Driver") and Mr. McMurray of GWHS! We were pleasantly surprised to see Mr. McMurray at the field before the show (just what we needed, a little MORE pressure!), but we were sure glad to have him witness first hand what our little band is capable of accomplishing. He was so impressed he bought the whole band official VBODA T-shirts! If he can inspire that kind of performance, we're gonna clean him off a seat on the bus to James River next week!!

This is just half of the big prize. If the MMB can couple this with a Suprior rating at the concert band ratings in the Spring, they will become only the second band in GW history to earn the title Virginia Honor Band.

Patrick County Cellebration of Pride

After a long and exciting bus trip, we finally made it to Stuart for the competition (we need to find more competitions on STRAIGHT roads!). Check out how the band fared on the Awards Page

We Made it ...

... with a little help from our friends. 19 of 20 bands braved the threatening weather to come out for what had to be the largest and best George Wythe Band Festival ever! We had a slight drizzle early in the morning, but it was smooth sailing (with patches of blue skies, if you looked hard enough) after 9:00. We couldn't have done it without the help of several Band and Booster alumni. You jus can't find experience like that just anywhere.
There were lotsa great performances all day long. See the results of the day and photos of each band on the Festival page (Click the button on the LEFT). Also Counts Photo has posted the individual photos from the day. We had a good debriefing at the last Booster meeting with no major complaints or concerns voiced from the crew. There were several good ideas to try next year (GOSH, we're already working on NEXT YEAR?!!). So it goes. We've had so much fun with the Festival for the first 27 years, why not join us next year on the second Saturday of October for the 28^th Annual George Wythe Band Festival; Saturday, October 14, 2006.

Class A Champs: Fort Chiswell

The Husky Vanguard Invitational

The Mighty Maroon Band traveled to West Jefferson, NC for the competition on Saturday. It was in a dogfight in Class A, but they managed to pull out another Class Champoinship and a second Band of the Day Award. Check out the Awards Page for details.

The Clinch River Band Festival

The Mighty Maroon Band traveled to Tazewell for the first competition of the year. First time jitters didn't seem to bother anyone as the band swept Class A and brought home the Band of the Day Award. Check out the Awards Page for details.

Fun at Grayson Co

Some of the members of the Grayson County band came over to visit during the recent football game. They didn't think I would actually post their picture on the web page. I just can't pass up a challenege like that! Thanks for dropping by.

BAND CAMP is OVER. It's SHOWTIME!

Count up the casualties, doctor the sunburn, and don't wake them up till day after tomorrow afternoon. The band is back from band camp. The gang spent a solid week working on putting the competition show on the field for the first time. Veteran's and newbies alike spent long hours tweaking and adjusting until Thursday night (a day ahead of schedule) they put the whole show on display. According to Mr. Spence, this year's show, Latin Sounds, is the most demanding and complex one yet since he has been at the helm. A full 26 moves more than last year he was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the band put it together. Don't let them sleep past Sunday though, because there's still a lot of work to go before the first performance on August 27 on the road at Tazewell.
Mr. Spence bubbling over with excitement about this year's band.

Chautauqua Parade
This was the first time out for one of the largest classes of new band members in some time. Sprinkle in some seasoned veterans and an alumnus or two and the gang looked and sounded Great! Well, all but that tall kid with the beard playing trumpet. We'll work on him later. Check out some parade picks on the >>>Picture Page.

The 2005 Official T-Shirt

If you have any questions or comments about the band, you can send them to our new email address at
!!

President	Mark Weisser
Vice President	Lee Fowler
Secretary	Laurie Mock
Treasurer	Linda Brinkley Anita Wagner
Concessions	Shawn Weisser Tracy Pauley
Festival	Melissa Vaught

Thanks for your input! The uniform committee received opinions from almost half of the band before last Thursday's committee meeting. The favorite jacket was overwhelmingly style 9 with the two toned front. The reversible sash will have the 9B design on one side and the 9D "Maroons" on the other. The favorite hat is the one on 9D. The two designs are shown below. Click on either picture to see a larger side by side view.
	New Uniform Summary : Jacket design: Style 9 Sash Designs: 9B & 9B Hat Style: see 9D Ms. Lippo will prepare a new drawing of the two designs and specifications for approval. The next step will be to have a sample uniform constructed. That should take about three weeks. In the mean time she plans to get measurements of all present and potential band members and finish all the background paperwork. The sample uniform must be approved (with any changes) before the order can be placed. Once all of the t's are dotted and the i's crossed, it will take between 120 and 150 days for the uniforms to be delivered. If we can complete all of this by April 1, we may not have the new uniforms by the first football game, but they should arrive in time for the first competition.