Posted on

Nashua band gets a II rating, err, …, it’s a I!

  • Drum majors lead the Nashua-Plainfield Marching band at the state marching band contest Saturday, Oct. 6. Submitted photo

  • Luke Cerwinske and Lucas Pierce play during the Nashua-Plainfield Marching Band performance at the Iowa state high school marching band competition Oct. 6 in Dubuque. Photo submitted

  • The Nashua-Plainfield Marching Band competes at the Iowa state high school marching band competition Oct. 6 in Dubuque. Photo submitted

By Bob Fenske and Jennifer Lantz, Of the Reporter

As the bus pulled out of Dubuque Saturday, Oct. 6, the Nashua-Plainfield Marching Band members were still trying to figure out what happened.

“I thought it was really good,” said drum major Drew Moine, “but then when we found out that we got a II (rating). I’m not going to lie, it was really disappointing. I was in shock. To me, and I know I’m biased, it was a I.”

Well, it was.

It turned out that one of the judges had simply added up his scores wrong, and longtime Nashua-Plainfield Band Director Scott Stroud discovered the error and called back to Dubuque to notify officials.

Band members, especially the 19 seniors, celebrated, and why not? It marked the fourth consecutive year that Nashua-Plainfield had garnered a Division I rating at the state marching band contest.

“I am very proud of the work the students put into this show and it paid off,” Stroud said. “They did not let the cold, rainy weather distract them from their goal of a Division I rating. They stayed focused and their Husky Pride showed through brightly.”

The I rating capped a day that started with the band members’ arrival at the school at 4:20 a.m.

“Thank God, we’ve been through early mornings before,” Moine said, “but yeah, that’s early.”

Some, like Alyssa Laube, napped on the two-hour drive to Dubuque, but band members also caught a break the previous day when Nashua-Plainfield’s home football game with Central Springs was moved up to 5 p.m. because of weather.

“Oh my gosh, we love 5 o’clock football games,” Stroud said and added with a laugh, “and from a band perspective, we think every football game should start at 5.”

That home game gave the Marching Huskies a chance to run through their show one more time, albeit without their band uniforms.

“There was no way we were going to risk getting rained on and then trying to get them dried out for Saturday,” Stroud said, “but having a home football game the night before state is always a big advantage.”

Band members received their music from the “Little Shop of Horrors” show last spring and first gathered for band camp in early August to begin putting the show together.

Stroud said his band’s 19 seniors provided excellent leadership, setting the tone for the season.

“They’ve been excellent leaders all year long, and I think it showed on Saturday, but then again, I think it’s showed all fall,” he said.

And Stroud lauded his band’s drum majors.

“They are the leaders of the band. They have to command the band and conduct the band,” he said. “Once they cross that line, I can’t do anything for them. I can’t conduct, I can’t talk to them, and yes, there’s no timeouts in band to get them back on the same page.”

Laube said marching band is really a team activity.

“I feel like you learn to work with people better, because you realize it takes everyone to make it work,” she said. “We don’t yell at each other — at least not very often — but we really try to raise each other up so the whole band can be good.”

And on Saturday, it was good — very good.

At state marching band contests, judges rate each band on adjudicating marching and maneuvering execution, marching and maneuvering general effect, music execution, music general effect and percussion execution. Each judge can give a band a rating between I and V.

“I think there’s a lot of pride that goes into being in band here,” Moine said. “We have pretty high expectations.”

Some of Nashua-Plainfield’s success can be seen in its sheer numbers. With 53 members, it has one of the largest Class 1A marching bands in the state.

“Our school keeps getting smaller, but our band keeps getting bigger,” Stroud said. “It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to be in band, and our kids aren’t afraid of putting in that work.”

And on Saturday, despite an initial problem with the scoring sheet, that hard work paid off.

“This is just the way we wanted to end it,” Moine said, “I don’t know what else to say except that I’m really happy and really proud of our whole band. We got our goal, we got our I.”

Social Share

LATEST NEWS