Corner Column

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 11/11/21

by Phil Major

With apologies to all the folks promoting this area for its lakes and fishing, railroad history, beautiful woods and much more, I have to break some news to you.

This is band country.

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Corner Column

From left, the bands from Atlanta, Redwater, White Oak, Winnsboro and Mineola gather together after the finals retreat at the UIL state marching band championships Nov. 3 in San Antonio.
From left, the bands from Atlanta, Redwater, White Oak, Winnsboro and Mineola gather together after the finals retreat at the UIL state marching band championships Nov. 3 in San Antonio.
(Monitor photo by Sam Major)
Posted

With apologies to all the folks promoting this area for its lakes and fishing, railroad history, beautiful woods and much more, I have to break some news to you.

This is band country.

Specifically, high school marching bands.

It has been our privilege to watch high school marching bands from Mineola, Winnsboro and Quitman perform and compete over the past few weeks, and what they are accomplishing is nothing short of amazing.

And it’s not just Wood County, but an area primarily to the north and east of here that is producing some of the best bands in the state.

To go along with Mineola’s third straight state marching championship and Winnsboro’s fifth-place finish, bands in White Oak, Carlisle and Lindale captured their respective classes in the military-style marching championships.

Five of the top 10 bands in Mineola’s class come from this region (and four of the top five finalists) – with Queen City, Atlanta and Redwater. Two other top state bands, Howe and Commerce, performed here during football district play.

It’s apparent that success breeds success, as witnessed by the improvements marked by the Quitman and Winnsboro bands this year. Quitman advanced to the area finals and just missed advancing to state by two places, while Winnsboro advanced, made the state finals and placed a respectable fifth, ahead of some quality programs that regularly advance to this level.

It’s exciting to see the development of these programs.

As the father of a two-time all-state percussionist, I’m a little biased about the benefits of music education. I won’t bore you with the science and all the statistics, but they regularly show that kids who are involved in music also fare well academically. 

And as Mineola band director Chris Brannan points out, music provides students a path to a higher education, even if they do not pursue musical careers. Between a music scholarship and an academic scholarship they can get most of their college paid for.

My nephew is a great example. He was a high school drum major, played in the band at a major university (coincidentally the same fight song and similar school color as Mineola’s) and now makes a great living as an actuarial. I’m sure there’s a correlation between music and numbers in there somewhere.

And if you still haven’t seen that awesome Mineola show, you can still catch a scaled-down version at Friday’s playoff game in Bullard. The band dads are getting a break from hauling and setting up that equipment all over the state.

I can’t wait to see the next round of marching championships in 2023.