Kutztown to Join OJR Cavalcade Saturday to Honor, Richard Wells, Former Director of Both Programs

From 1961 to 1968, Richard Wells, an Owen J. Roberts alumnus, was the band director for his alma mater.

Then he was named Associate Professor of the music department at Kutztown University and, in 1997, after 29 years of teaching, he retired and was named professor emeritus.

This Saturday, both of Wells' alma maters will join together into on giant band to close the 47th Annual Owen J. Roberts Cavalcade of Bands with a performance of "America the Beuatiful." 

And Wells will be there to lead them.

The cavalcade begins at 5:55 p.m. in Wildcat Stadium on the campus of Owen J. Roberts High School. 

Kutztown, like OJR, is a large ensemble with a great band tradition. The audience can look forward to a spectacular performance composed of winds, brass, percussion, and color guard members who bring with them a wide variety of talents and experiences, according to Todd Mengel, the current OJR band director.

"The idea is to make this a very special night for Mr. Wells and honor him for his service to both schools," Mengel wrote in an email. "We will also be presenting Mr. Wells with a plaque and doing a dedication to him that night." 

Wells is credited with establishing the jazz studies program at KU and he continues to direct the alumni jazz ensembles.

The large ensemble rehearsal space at Kutztown University was named for Wells in 2013 as part of a $20 million renovation and expansion of Schaeffer Auditorium. KU alumni, students, faculty and staff raised more than $500,000 to honor Wells with the naming rights.

At the cavalcade show, Owen J. Roberts and Kutztown University will honor Wells’ 36 years as a music educator. 

"He has influenced scores of students to aspire to excellence in music performance," wrote Mengel. "A resident of the Owen J. Roberts School District, Mr. Wells remains loyal to the ideals and benefits of music and education and may be seen at both high school and college events."

The 2017 Cavalcade of Music event will operate as a “showcase” event rather than a competition. Owen J. Roberts Marching Band has recently become a member of the Lancaster County Marching Band Coalition which gives high school bands adjudicated (judged) opportunities to receive professional feedback rather than rankings or numerical scores. 

Part of the energy of the event comes from the fact that all spectators, including students from other performing bands, are seated on the home sideline, so that everyone can listen, observe, and enjoy the performances as they were intended...from the front. This method of engagement allows performers the ability to relax and have fun while providing a peer learning opportunity for student spectators.

In lieu of an awards ceremony, the audience can be prepared for a super, grand finale of music and visual energy.

Founded in 1934, the Kutztown University Marching Unit is comprised of 150 students under the direction of Professor Dan Neuenschwander. 

The marching unit is open to any KU student, regardless of their field of study.

The event is open to the public and tickets are available at the gate. Ticket prices are $10/adult, $8/senior and $5/students (grades K- College). 

Concession stands will offer food and drinks for purchase. Gates open at 5 p.m. and the first band will perform at 6 p.m. A list of performing bands is available at ojrbandmpo.com.

A Cavalcading We Will Go

Photo by Evan Brandt

Drum Majors from all 12 high school marching bands that performed at the Owen J. Roberts Cavalcade Saturday line up at the end of the night to receive their trophies.

The weather cleared nicely Saturday for the 2014 Owen J. Roberts High School Marching Band Cavalcade, although by the end of the night, the chill had settled in and many in the stands were hard to recognize, wrapped in hoods, blankets and gloves.



Fifteen different bands performed and 11 of them were in competition.

The Spring-Ford Middle School Band and the Owen J. Roberts Middle School Band both performed in exhibition only.

Sadly for you, dear reader, that was about the time the battery on my iPhone gave out and my back-up plan collapsed as well.



I had taken along my son's iPod (without his knowledge or permission I confess) with the idea that I could capture the middle school bands on that, then take my iPhone to the car to charge during intermission in order to get the full performances of the two other local bands - Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts, which, as hosts, was the third band playing in exhibition.

But it turns out the iPod just didn't have what it takes batter-wise and I could not even capture all of Spring-Ford's performance, much less Owen J. Roberts, which followed.



So the good news is, that gave me extra time to charge the iPhone. The bad news was, it still wasn't enough.

The good/good news was, the iPod had enough charge to capture some of the performance of the Kutztown University Marching Band, the fourth band to play in exhibition.



That allowed me to capture some very spirited performances which were designed especially for the high school marching bands, which sit in the visitor side of the stadium after their performance and often only see the back of the other bands.

As is often the case, the high-energy performances was well-received by the appreciative audience who know how much hard work goes into making a good marching band show.



After that came the traditional gathering of the drum majors from each of the performing bands and the announcement of the scores, and the handing out of the trophies.

Locally, Pottstown was the only band to take first place.

Photo by Evan Brandt

The trophies await awarding at Saturday's OJR Cavalcade.

However, it should be noted that Pottstown, which had performed its classic rock-themed halftime show earlier in the day at the Pottstown Vs. Boyertown football game, won its division by virtue of being the only competitor in the division.

Phoenixville, whose show explores the thin line between genius and madness, as best I could tell, scored second in the American division among three competitors.

Boyertown, which has a Hansel and Gretel show this year, took third place in the Patriot Division from among five competitors.

Photo by Evan Brandt

The stands were quite full at Hank Bernat Stadium Saturday.

Here are all the results and the scores:

Independence Division

-- East Stroudsburg North: First Place, with a score of 76.9, which also won the high auxiliary and high percussion awards
-- Cinnaminson: Second Place, with a score of 74.6

Yankee Division

-- Pottstown: First Place, with a score of 73.55, which also won the high auxiliary and high percussion awards.

American Division

-- Sun Valley: First Place, with a score of 79.95, which also won the high percussion award.

Photo by Evan Brandt

Natalie Fuertsch and Izzy Gunson
both 8th graders in OJR MS, band keep warm

-- Phoenixville: Second Place, with a score of 78.15, which also won the high auxiliary award.
-- Great Valley: Third Place, with a score of 77.3.

Patriot Division

-- Nazareth: First Place, with a score of 85.35, which also won the high auxiliary award and the overall high music and overall high score awards.
-- Downingtown West: Second Place, with a score of 82.4.
-- Boyertown: Third Place, with a score of 82.
-- Upper Darby: Fourth Place, with a score of 81.45, which also won the high percussion award.
-- Neshaminy, Fifth Place, with a score of 80.6.

Below you will find the Tweets from the cavalcade, as well as the YouTube videos of the full performances of the local bands from schools covered by The Mercury -- Pottstown, Phoenixville, Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts.

Because the Tout videos will not play here, and open a new link, I have dispensed with including them in the Storify and simple embedded them above, as you no doubt have noticed.

I remind those unfamiliar with Storify, the program I use to compile my Tweets, that you need to click on the blue "Read Next Page" bar at the end to make sure you don't miss anything.

And the Band Played On

Photo by Evan Brandt

The Pottstown High School Marching Band, center, at the Ephrata Cavalcade.

Blogger's Note: So we're a little late with this one, but being as I am a band parent I wanted to avoid the appearance of too much favoritism and, as a result, lost track of this until I went to clean up my e-mail on New Year's Eve. (Yes, exciting life I have.)

So all apologies to the Band, you guys had a great season. Below was sent in by the school district.

The 2013 edition of the Pottstown High School Marching Band, under the direction of Michael Vought, opened its cavalcade season by participating in the 54th Annual Boyertown Cavalcade of Bands. 

Competing in divisions, defined by the number of band members, Pottstown took a third place in the Liberty Division (69-79 members) competing against Unionville, Pottsgrove, and Souderton. 

Here is a Tout video clip of the end of the performance at the Boyertown cavalcade:

They received a score of 77.1 and narrowly missed placing second by one point. The parent members of the “Pit Crew” received the Tractor Award recognizing them as the outstanding support group. Members include: Paul Kolbmann, John Mutter, Jay Lafferty, Shane Lafferty, Tammy Vontor, Phil Vontor, Quanzella Butler, Neil Fuerman, Joe Campbell, Lonnie Kratzer, Kevin Owens, and Portia Smith.

This year’s marching band field show was entitled “Rock Heroes” and featured hits of the rock era including: “We Will Rock You,” “I Love Rock and Roll,” “Jukebox Hero,” “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Any Way You Want It,” and “Wanted: Dead or Alive.”

Homecoming was a rainy performance.

The band officers include: President, Jake Wunderlich; Vice President, Christian Gonzalez; Secretary, Katie Kolbmann; Treasurer, Chapel Renish. Junior Representative, Marlee DeBlase; Sophomore Representative, Justin Beasley; and Freshman Representative, Austin Scavello. 

The Color Guard Captains are Julie Eckert-Cooper and Alexis Lafferty. 

Drum Majors are Randy Mercado, Hailey Shankle, and Sara Pargeon.

“Our Rock Heroes show has proven to be a favorite of our audiences and we are proud to be able to represent our school district," Vought said. 

Photo by Evan Brandt

A not-so-focused close-up of the band at the Ephrata Cavalcade.

Vought’s staff includes: Show Designer, Dennis Pringle; Drumline Instructor, Larry Marshall; Brass and Marching Instructor, Ben Hayes; Color Guard Instructor, Nancy Mest; Color Guard Designers Felicia Weinfurter and Holly Auman. 

“We are looking forward to presenting high quality entertainment at all of our football games and hope that our music helps create enthusiasm, excitement, and motivation for our football team,” added Vought.

“Our performance has improved throughout the cavalcade season as is evidenced by higher scores at each event we attended,” he said.

The band competed in the Owen J. Roberts Cavalcade and improved its score to 78.8 points, just missing third place by .35 of a point.

Here is a Tout video clip from the OJR performance featuring the tribute to Journey:

They had their best score at the Ephrata Cavalcade scoring 80.55 just missing first place by 1.5 points.

Here is a Tout video clip from the Ephrata performance:

And let's not forget that the marching band represented Pottstown to a national TV audience when they marched in the "Show Us Your Shoes" parade on the occasion of the Miss America Pageant returning to its roots in Atlantic City:


Also recall that the marching made pays tribute to Pottstown at both the July 4th and Halloween parades down High Street:


“We have a longstanding tradition of an outstanding music program at Pottstown. It is a source of pride for our school and community. The 2013 edition of the Pottstown Marching Band gives us another reason to say Proud to be from Pottstown,” said Vought.

Have a great 2014 season! 

(It's only eight months until practice resumes....)