After a year’s layoff, the Westbrook High School marching band is poised for a comeback. Musicians, parents and faculty members are preparing for the first band camp since the marching band was shut down due to low turnout last year.
Last year, the marching band never got off the ground after the band director determined there were not enough musicians to field a band. For a high school with a rich tradition of music, especially when it came to the marching band, it was a disappointing blow.
Former marching band members have been recruiting their fellow students since the end of last year hoping to attract enough interest to bring the band back. Now, one year after the decision to cancel the band season, members are gearing up for next week’s band camp with the hopes of continuing the band’s proud tradition.
“I’m very excited,” said junior color guard member Diana Quinlan. “We’re trying to recruit a lot of people so we can get our band back.”
According to senior trumpet player Evan Chase, at least 20 musicians have pledged to come out this year and recruiting efforts are continuing.
“If we can get enough kids to join, we’re definitely going to have a marching band,” said Chase’s mother, Sue Chase, a member of the band boosters.
New Westbrook High music teacher Kyle Smith is expected to direct the marching band if enough students join the band.
The fate of the marching band is still uncertain because the number of kids who have expressed interest in joining is still low, said Assistant Superintendent Jan Breton. But, Breton said the school department is planning to explore all its options to get a marching band back. Those possibilities include collaborating with other schools if Westbrook doesn’t get enough participation, said Breton.
“I know they’re going to try to do whatever they can,” said Breton, who added that other schools are also struggling to fill the ranks of their marching bands.
According to Evan Chase, participation in the marching band dropped dramatically after his freshman year, the last year former band director George Bookataub headed the music department at Westbrook High School. Chase said the band numbered about 100 his freshman year, and that number dropped to about 50 the next year when new director Scott Trach took over.
Chase said last year about a dozen musicians came out for the band camp, but most of them were woodwinds, leaving the band without the right combination of instruments. Chase said Trach took a vote among the band members whether they wanted to continue. Chase said he was under the impression that all the musicians wanted to continue with the band, but Trach decided against moving forward after discussing it with his staff.
For senior drum major Michelle Labbe, the drop off in participation came as a result of the change in leadership of the band from long-time director Bookataub to Trach.
“Some people didn’t want to come back because of our new instructor,” said Labbe. “A lot of them didn’t like the way (Trach) did things and didn’t want to come back.”
Quinlan said some of the drop off might have had to do with band members being unsure about a new director after having been used to the old ways when Bookataub was in charge. “A lot of it was people weren’t sure about the director we had,” she said.
Sue Chase agreed with Labbe and Quinlan, saying she has noticed other school’s bands getting smaller over the last few years, but she believed the decline in Westbrook was also influenced by the leadership in the music department there.
“I think the number of kids dropped because of a lack of interest or a difference of opinion about the way the program was being run,” she said.
Trach headed the music department for two years. He resigned at the end of this school year, citing personal reasons. In a May 9 letter sent to parents of music students, Trach explained his extended family had gone through significant changes in the last two years and, as a result, he would be considering other options for employment this coming school year.
In a telephone interview this week, Trach declined to comment on other people’s opinions of how he ran the music program. “If that’s someone’s opinion, they’re entitled to their opinion,” he said. “I wish them the best of luck. I enjoyed my time in Westbrook.”
Regardless of what happened last year, the once and possibly future band members are excited about the possibility of competing on again. Labbe said they’ve already got more people interested in participating this year than signed up last year and, while nothing is definite, she thinks they’ll have enough.
Quinlan said she spent last year playing in the marching band at Old Orchard Beach High School. In Maine, students can play for other schools if their own schools don’t offer a marching band. While she enjoyed herself, she said it was very different from Westbrook and she missed knowing people and knowing what to expect.
Quinlan’s mother, Sue Quinlan, said she would hate to have to see her daughter and the other kids go other another school again this year. “I’m hoping we have a band. It’s a new band director, a new staff. I think it’s an ideal time to start again,” she said.
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