THE PRIDE OF THE DUTCHMEN BANDt

Entry #12 - February 19, 2008

It takes an old man a while to figure everything out!  After some conversations with tech service at our web hosting site, I finally understand how to get everything up and running smoothly on the site.  As you can see, we have made some big changes and I know that you will like them.  We need to include some more content but that will be forthcoming.  Things to look for on this site include:

• An alumni page where viewers can sign a guest book and let us know what they are doing.
• More media including music clips from the marching, jazz and concert bands as well as some video highlights from previous years
• More information for parents and students including detailed handbooks for both groups.
• Information from the directors concerning upcoming concerts and events.

Thanks for staying with us.  We promise that you will not be disappointed.

Entry #11 - February17, 2008

After some consultation with parents, alumni and students - the new and improved POD web site is up and running.  This web takes much work - but it is sure seems the best way to get information out to everyone.  I will try to spend some time making this the best source of information for the students, staff, parents and fans of the POD.

Entry #10 - January 2008

Happy New Year from the POD!  It's hard to look forward to a new year without looking back on the one that has just passed and reminisce a bit.  2007 was another good year for the band. 

The Jazz Band earned another trip to the State Jazz Championship.  The concert season finished in May with the Symphonic Band earning another Division I rating.  Tulip Festival gave us 6 parades with nice weather and - of course - the Alumni Band finished off the Saturday night parade with a bang.

August came and with it another marching band season.  I think that this year's camp was as good as any that I can remember.  The band started off the year with a level of enthusiasm that I have not seen and continued that effort all the way through our home show.  The POD had another GREAT season!

We finished 2007 with our traditional Holiday Concert.  It is a great way to put a cap on a year - performing beautiful music in a beautiful setting.

What will 2008 bring?  It is a trip year and the announcement for our destination will be coming in a month.  The Jazz Band is getting ready for their contest season and they have been busy working three mornings a week perfecting their songs.  The Pep Band is in full swing with another basketball season in full swing and the Concert Band and Symphonic Band have four concerts scheduled in the next three months!  Yes, we will be busy!  All the while we are planning the 2008 Contest Marching Band Field Show.   Keep checking the web page because the updates will be frequent.

Entry #9 - November 3, 2007

We are in the beginning stages of the concert/jazz/honor band/drumline/pep band season.  One of the things that I enjoy the most about this job is the change of "seasons".  The beginning of each new season brings new challenges and a new aspect of music in to the band program. 

• Marching band is a very physical and emotional time of the year.  Going out day after day and week after week trying to reach audiences on a highly emotional and entertaining level is both exciting and stressful.
• Concert/Symphonic band brings the beauty of music creation into our lives on a daily basis.
• Jazz band combines the joy and thrill of great performance/competition opportunities with the fun of performing music that is truly unique and challenging.
• Pep Band is - well - Pep Band.  It is always fun to be around kids that enjoy playing as much as those that play in the Pep Band.
• Drumline provides the foundation of study and performance that is necessary to keep the tradition of the Pride of the Dutchmen active.

Entry #8 - October 10, 2007

Many people around here are getting VERY excited about the 2007 Dutchmen Field Championship!  We have been trying to "downplay it" in the local media because we are afraid that we will not have enough seating for everyone.  Northwestern College installed new bleachers and seating a year ago and we thought that these stands would be large enough to hold any crowd that we could get at our show - but right now I'm not so sure!  We have great bands coming and they are WELL SUPPORTED by their parents and fans so it might be standing room only by 7:00pm.

We are trying something new this year - every paid admission will receive a DFC button as both a souvenir and means for keeping track of who is sitting in the home stands.  NO ONE will be allowed to sit in the home bleachers without the paid admission button.  All band members will receive wrist bands when their buses park in the lot.  The wrist bands will get the kids back into the stadium but it will not allow them to sit in the home side stands.  The visitor stands will be packed with band members!  We are estimating that between 1700 and 2000 band members will be performing and that 3000 fans will be cheering from the stands.

The "crazies" on our committee have developed a few new parent interactive contests to be held during judges breaks.  I know that there will be a real drumming contest and hopefully we can experience the grace and beauty of father's with flags like we did last year.  For those of you who were not at our show last year - be prepared to laugh until your sides hurt.

Our lineup for this year will the most competitive that we have hosted.  The 2A and 4A shows are really promising to be close.  Check out the schedule of competing bands on the DFC page.  It will be close!  I feel confident that our judging panel will call it accurately and that the crowd will be thoroughly entertained.

Entry #7 - October 8, 2007

How did you finish on Saturday?  The question is posed in many ways after every show.  The answer that the questioner is looking for is always different than the one that I give them.  "Well, here is how we finished - 160 band members played the last chord of Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, leaned into the audience and did a horns to the box while making a glorious sound.  4,000 people immediately jumped to their feet after being moved musically and emotionally and cheered and clapped and whooped and whistled.  The band did a horns down and then trooped the stands better than any marching organization this side of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps.  That is how we finished the 2007 season!"   I know that I didn't answer the question.  They want to know if we won or lost.  I suppose that they assume this is some kind of athletic event.  So........

• The POD took 2nd place in Class 3A - that is the highest that we have ever finished in 3A.  (Remember, we are a 2A band competing up a class)
• We reached our stated goal of making top five in the afternoon!  We finished 4th in the afternoon out of outstanding field of 29 bands!
• We took the field at 9:00pm on Saturday night, performed a great show and remained in 4th place overall scoring our highest point total ever at Festival of Bands!
• I heard comments on judges tapes that I have never heard before - "This is a fine front ensemble", "What a professional guard!"

Parents and many fans walk away from the show shaking their heads and wondering why we didn't finish top 3 or 1st for that matter.  Well, the judges didn't see it that way and that is how they figure placing.  I'm not going to argue about the judges at this show because I think that overall they hired a pretty good crew.  We do some things that make it a bit harder for our kids to really score high.

1. We march a 120 set show.  We move all of the time.  We always play when we move.  It's our philosophy of marching band and we will not change.  We usually score lower in the area of Visual Execution because of the demands that we put on the kids.  An additional staff member to really fix footwork would be nice but that is probably not going to happen.
2. We play a music book that is very challenging.  Putting Claire de Lune on the field was a risk.  The risk paid off on Saturday night.  The stands were quiet!  You could have heard a pin drop when the band was playing.  I actually heard traffic on Russell Street it was so quiet in the stands.  It was a musical moment.  But, it exposes every player in the band and every error is noted by the judges.
3. We compete up a class.  When you look at scores, it would probably be a safe bet that we would have "won our class" at every show if we had chosen to stay in our assigned group.  I have always found the biggest challenges to be the best challenges.  Why do something when you can pretty much predict the outcome?  I think that next year we will declare the band in the LARGEST class that they have at every contest we attend.  Why not?  We all know that we can and do compete at any level.

A few short years ago we were 10 points behind the top bands at Sioux Falls.  It seemed like a very large challenge. On Saturday night we finished 1.5 points out of first.  We competed against the best bands in the area and - we competed for first place.  Whenever you get mentioned with Marshall, Bellevue West, Waseca, Brandon Valley and Millard West you feel very good.  They are great programs with great traditions.

We are hosting the Dutchmen Field Championship on Saturday.  It will be THE big show that day and we are fortunate to have the best bands in the area attending.  Check out the DFC page for more info.

I get lots of e-mails - thankfully - from former students wanting to know how the band is doing.  Occasionally I will get an e-mail like this one:

Mr. Connell,
  
  I just wanted to pass on some praise that I heard about the POD band this past
weekend in Sioux Falls.  My co-worker here at Okoboji GM Toyota went to watch her
sister in the Spirit Lake marching band and was telling me about her experience.
She said that after Spirit Lake marched they sat and watched a few more bands
perform~ but she wanted to tell me that the POD ABSOLUTELY blew her away!  She
said that there were no words for her to use while watching them perform.  The
movement and sound were unexplainable to her.  And this was in the afternoon
performance!  I can only imagine how amazing the night performance was! 
  
 It brought me back to a performance that we had there 10 years ago.  The afternoon
performance was disappointing, so we decided to give it our all in the evening
performance.  And the tears that fell and the pride felt after we were done that
evening are still remembered.  So I thank you for your dedication all these years,
and for giving us alumni so much pride (even ten years later) to be a part of
something that is more amazing then words.  I can only imagine the pride felt in
the present day students~ and I congratulate you on yet another amazing year.
  
  Thank you for the memories~
  Dana (Doppenberg) Kauffman~ class of 97

It's nice to be remembered and it's nice to remember why I'm here  :)
 

Entry #6 - October 1, 2007

It is very hard to put into words how I felt at 9:00pm on Saturday night.  I asked the members of the POD for a perfect show and they almost did it!  Our prelim performance was the best one that we have thrown down at Star Fest in all of the years that we have been attending the contest.  The kids were very focused and performed at their highest level of the year in the afternoon - and then they came back at 8:40 in the evening and surpassed themselves.  I could tell in the warm-up arc that everyone was focused and ready for the evening.  The band came on to the field to a huge roar from the "home fans" and just marched and played their hearts out!  I was ecstatic.   I could see in their eyes that they knew that they did something special.  When the awards were announced the band earned top Colorguard, Field Conductors, Music Execution and 3rd place overall.  While we were not real happy with the 3rd place finish, we understood going in that the judging at Sioux City has been pretty sketchy for a few years now and we were not real concerned with the scores.  The POD improved their score by 2.6 points which was the biggest jump for any band in the evening finals.  We finished first in one caption and second in two others. 

We only have ONE complaint about the evening - What is going on with the "Spirit of StarFest Award"?  The Dutch had the largest number of fans, the loudest fans and the most supportive fans at the show. Period.  The idea that they gave the award to someone else seems ludicrous to me!  Oh, well..............

We are preparing for our last week of competition for the 2007 season.  The kids love this show and they love to perform it.  It is coming to a close much to soon for all of us.  The Pride of the Dutchmen Marching Band will be ready for the Festival of Bands.  That is a promise to all of you!

Entry #5 - September 24, 2007

The POD rocks!  What a great start to the season.  The band performed so well at Waseca that even I was speechless.  The members of the Pride of the Dutchmen Band were wonderful.  Congratulations go out to everyone in the band for their fine performances including:  Brass Captain Jack Bonnecroy, Woodwind Captain Anna Bartlett and the entire brass and woodwind sections for winning the Hornline Award.  Mary Hulstein and Guard Captain Paige Blythe for winning the Guard Award.  Field Conductor Dan Sikkema and Assistant Field Conductors Melissa List and Hannah McGarvey for winning the Drum Major Award.  We finished second (many people have asked me how that could happen?) and set a strong performance standard for the rest of the season.  We took 3 of the 6 captions and did well in the other three so it looks like we will have a good chance of improving and performing better in the future.

It's homecoming week at MOC-Floyd Valley and I'm sure that the band members have much on their mind BESIDE marching band and that's ok too.  We'll have them ready for StarFest in Sioux City on Saturday.  We look forward to seeing you there!

I have attached an e-mail that I received today from Vivian Reeves.  Vivian is a parent of two POD alumni and a great supporter of the band.

Hi Steve--
    I'm taking a guess at your email address based on other teachers' addresses at
the school...hope this finds you!
    We have a cousin who lives in Waseca and happens to belong to the church the
band "camped" at last weekend.  I got this note from her this morning and wanted
to pass it on to you and the band with our thanks and congratulations for
representing our school and community so well!

Vivien Reeves


The Pastor knows I am from Northwest Iowa and that I have Dutch ancestry and that I
worked in the Orange City hospital for 4 years during my college summers.  

At prayer meeting tonight I learned an interesting tidbit from him.   The Orange
City band must have contacted our church to ask to use it as a "home base" while
here........ Christ Community Church.   There were apparently 195 people involved.  
Permission was given to them based on the knowledge of the ethic of the Dutch
community, a small rural community and the Dutch Reformed tradition that would
probably be prevalent throughout the group.   The Pastor said he predicted that the
group would leave the church cleaner than they found it.   

And his said his prediction was true!!!  They did indeed leave the church in
sparkling condition!   Kudos to the group!!!!

We were battling a few flies and bugs today because that many people going in and
out gives the little critters opportunity to enter... but that was not a major
problem by any means.   Gave us a little something to deal with!  :-)  

I was so proud (as if I was still a part of NW Iowa) when the Pastor shared his
observation!

God is good......... all the time!

Dorothy

Entry #4 - September 14, 2007

The band is one week away from the first contest of the season.  I think that we were ready a week ago!  If there had been a contest in the part of the state this weekend we would have gone for sure.  Rarely have I been surrounded by students that work so hard OR students that I have worked this hard.  From a time standpoint we have spent a less time in rehearsal.  The individual commitment of the band members has made up for it.  Dusk to Dawn is an interesting show based on an interesting concept.  The music is beautiful and the 120 or so sets of drill really visually enhance what is happening on the field.

We made a decision to move up a class (again!) this year.  We have the numbers and we seem to be able to compete at the higher and larger band level so we will continue to do it.  It might mean fewer 1st place trophies but it really is more enjoyable to compete with AAA and AAAA bands.

Take a moment to check out the Marching Band page for a complete schedule and an itinerary for the Waseca Marching Classic.

Entry #3 - September 1, 2007

Where did the band go? 

The POD website has been "lost" for over three months.  Computer problems seem to plague the webmaster.  The computer that held all of the website files crashed and burned and it has taken much time and energy to get things going again.  We hope that the problems are solved and that we can continue to update the site at least weekly.

Entry #2 - June 4, 2007

Well, what had to be the busiest month of the year has come and gone!  May was, as always, a hectic month with a flurry of performances, capped by some wonderful reunions and some very sad farewell's.   We were provided with beautiful weather for this year's Tulip Festival and the bands took advantage of it. 

I really enjoyed seeing all of the former POD's marching in this year's Alumni Band.  According to my "rough" calculations there were over 110 members marching (well - some were marching).  It is always a thrill for me and the members of the community to see the Alumni Band at the end of the Saturday Tulip Festival parade.  What a great ending to the Tulip Festival parades!

I also want to say THANK YOU to the POD members of the Class of 2007.  You all know how I feel about you because I have told you many times.  Thank you for making my job so much fun!  From the beaches of Hawaii, to the class room, to the floor of the Metrodome - you have been great leaders and members of the band.  Thank you for BUILDING on the tradition of the Pride of the Dutchmen.

This is it for reliving the past.  It's on to a new season.  I'll keep you up to date.

Entry #1 - May 2007

    The concert season came to an end with the Symphonic Band's wonderful performance in LeMars at the IHSMA Large Group Contest on May 4.  The band performed very well and earned the program's 7th straight Division I rating.  Congratulations go out to all of the members of the Symphonic Band as well as to Laura Haverdink and Pam Anderson for earning Division I ratings with the String Orchestra, Women's Chorus and Concert Choir.  I'm so proud to be associated with these fine conductors!  They love their students and work very hard to create a musical learning environment.  I'm always a little saddened as the concert season ends.  I look back over the year and remember all of the students that auditioned for All-State in October, Northwest Iowa Honor Band in November, our trip to All-State in November, and Small Group Contest in March - it just seems to go by so fast.  Well, it was a very good year for the music department and my congratulations go out to everyone that participated this year.

    We are completing our first year in our new facility and I'm still pinching myself to see if it's true that we have these surroundings.  The facility has been everything that we hoped that it would and MORE.  The teaching and learning environment in second to none.  During Tulip Festival, I will opening the music facility up for any alumni that would like a tour the Center for the Performing Arts.  My plan is to do this on Friday, May 18 at 9:30am.  Please pass the word around to your family and friends that might be interested.

    We might even have Tulips this year!

SJC

    Contact:    Steve Connell, Director, The Pride of the Dutchmen Band

                                MOC-Floyd Valley Senior High School, 615 8th Street SE

                                Orange City, Iowa, 51041    e-mail: sconnell@moc-fv.k12.ia.us

                                Telephone:    712-737-4871  ext. 237