Carbon School District Press Release
In an effort to re-establish a marching band at Carbon High School, students and band leaders have been making a big effort in the drive to acquire uniforms so that they can compete in state band competitions and possibly beyond. At the Carbon School District Board Meeting on Feb. 10 the board made their dream come true by funding $49,000 for new uniforms.
In the past the school has had a marching band, but a number of years ago the group was discontinued.
The effort to re-establish the band last year came when Tanna Jenson and Chris Sweeney worked with some students to begin the process. The assembled group of students actually performed during some football game halftimes last fall on the Dinos home field, but did it without uniforms. Still the emotions of seeing the band perform were stirred and since then the students and leaders have been working to establish the band as one that could represent the school in the best way.
“When I was hired, I was actually asked if I would ever be willing to start a marching band, so I guess it started about two years ago when I took the job at the high school,” said Jenson in an email last week. “I was also approached by other administration, parents, and students at the beginning of the year. About halfway through the year I got talking to Chris Sweeney about his experiences in high school and college marching band. It was at that point that we really decided to do it and started planning.”
Jenson and Sweeney approached the board about purchasing uniforms during the January board meeting, but at the time the board felt it needed more time to think about the situation. The cost of each individual uniform is about $490 and buying all the band members uniforms at one time seemed like an enormous sum. They were also concerned about other activities where students often have to pay for their own uniforms and equipment. The pair along with students in the band said they were willing to do some fund raising and in the end that effort along with other factors led to the board approval for the purchase.
But getting a marching band started again, without much current tradition is not an easy task.
“A lot of what we’ve been doing is just getting the kids exposed to (the concept of) marching band,” stated Jenson. “They are used to parade bands, but they’ve never really seen field shows before. We took a group of kids up to a show over the summer called ‘Corps Encore’. It is a professional drum and bugle corps show that travels around every summer. The kids loved it and it got them even more excited to start a marching band.”
The group also went to see some competitions in which other Utah high school bands were involved, something Jenson and Sweeney want to have the students participate in.
“We took the majority of the kids who were interested to a few different Utah marching band competitions so they could see some high school bands,” said Jenson.
That move apparently really got the students on board to create a marching band.
Marching band excellence at Carbon High is not unknown and at one time was a huge deal. In June of 1933 high school students from Carbon High took a trip to the National High School Band Championships in Evanston, Ill. After having placed first in the state’s competition, the band was full of vim and vigor and went to the nationals with high hopes. In the 1930s and 40s band competitions between high schools was at its height, with these contests rivaling athletics in the minds of many people around the country.
On June 10, 1933, the Carbon High Marching Band won the national marching band championship. There was no national broadcast, even though by that time radio had become quite sophisticated. The news of the band’s triumph came through a telegram that arrived only a few minutes after the winning announcement was made in Illinois.
In 1965 the Carbon High Marching Band was invited to participate in the 1966 Rose Parade on New Years Day. It was one of only four high school bands from Utah that were invited to the big parade between 1950 and 1976. The others included Tooele, American Fork and Kearns High Schools. But Carbon was the first and it was an honor that those who participated still remember well.
“It was a cool experience,” said Mike Milovich who was a sophomore that played the clarinet on that band. “What many people don’t remember is that we were named the number one band in the parade that year and they came to the school and presented us with a trophy afterward.”
Milovich said that at the time their need for uniforms was great too. What they had been wearing were old uniforms and the Elks Club stood up and paid for new uniforms so they could go to the parade. The band, their parents and others raised enough money to send the band to California. And besides the Rose Parade that same band also went the next year to the Lions Club Parade in Chicago and then later went and performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
Now with the band uniforms on their way, Jenson and Sweeney hope for an equally great experience for the students who participate in the future.
“Now that we’ve gotten approval for the marching band uniforms, we plan to go and compete in some of these Utah competitions,” stated Jenson. “We’d like to become one of the more competitive smaller schools in the marching band world. It’s going to take awhile to build the program, but we are constantly recruiting and gaining more interest. I’m hoping as it becomes a tradition at the high school it will be something that younger kids see and can’t wait to be a part of.”