Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Band Banquet a success

Good crowd, good food, good awards, good speaker and a good time. The theme was Mardi Gras. Students enjoyed the beads, hats and noise makers as they celebrated a wonderful year of band. The inside of the program read as follows:

-Four States Marching Contest: First Division

-Ouachita Valley Invitational: First Division and Best in Class Drum Major, Color Guard, Percussion, Soloist and Band

-Region III Marching Assessment: First Division

-Four years in a row earning the ASBOA Sweepstake Award

-All of the above: awesome

-Getting your picture in the state newspaper so the entire state can see how good you are: priceless

Junior Band members who earned their jackets included China Schee, Brandon Williams and Josh Babineaux. Seniors who earned their blankets included Monica Reeves, Amber Dempsey, Andre Anderson, Ryan Gosney, Daniel Schee and Zach Martin.

Student choice awards, noted on by the students, were given at the Band Banquet. The winners are as follows:

Most friendly: Daniel Schee and Melanie Clark

Most loquacious (talkative): Lee Flowers, Staci Johnson and Ryan Gosney

Biggest Flirts: Ryan Gosney, Lacy Hill, Staci Johnson and Rachel Pierce

Most likely to be the President of the U.S.: Leah Bates

Best Woodwind: Kayla Sanford and Leah Bates

Best Brass: Daniel Schee

Best Percussion: Andre Anderson

Best Marcher: Zach Martin

Best Leader: Amber Dempsey

Best sight reader: Daniel Schee and Kayla Sanford

Most organized: Monica Reeves, Danielle Pruitt and Kristen McClure

Most improved: Jared Emison, Danielle Pruitt

Outstanding rookie, eighth grade: Alex Rodriguez

Outstanding rookie, ninth grade: Kayla Sanford

Directors Awards:

Most improved: Brandon Williams

Best Marcher: Zach Martin

Leadership: Amber Dempsey and Christi Purdy

Outstanding rookie: Alex Rodriguez and Leah Bates

Outstanding musician: Kayla Sanford

John Philip Sousa Award: Daniel Schee

Plaques were also awarded to the directors by Tina Martin, Band Booster president, who also gave certificates to the Band Booster officers. She was also awarded a plaque for serving as president. All students earned a patch for their jackets, and the Wall of Fame Award was given to Mark Sanford.

Guest speaker was Jesse Leyva, director of bands from Henderson State University.

In other Band news ...

Band members from the sixth, seventh and eighth grade recently attended a solo and ensemble contest in Redwater, Texas. Of the 57 Band members who participated, 52 earned a superior rating, four earned an excellent rating and one member earned a good rating.