Merging two high school band traditions into one in Anderson Community Schools may not be an easy task. But Madison County’s reputation as the Band Capital of Indiana began in the first place at Anderson High School, and the one responsible was George F. Vaught.
I was there when it happened. A year before Highland and two years before Madison Heights opened their doors, Mr. Vaught took over the AHS band program. With his personality, leadership and enthusiasm, he brought together a core of high school musicians and instilled a can-do attitude.
The first challenge was a football game visit from the Indianapolis Tech band. Tech was then the state’s largest school, and the band swaggered onto Denny Field at the standard military cadence of about 120 beats a minute.
Then it was our turn. We had been practicing at about 160 beats a minute, and when we joined them for the National Anthem, the Anderson crowd went wild. Inexperienced though we may have been in competition marching, our cadence came across as much more spirited than that of Tech’s band.
It got attention right away. We were selected, along with State Fair champion Jasper, to march in the Washington, D.C., Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. That would be the first of many high-profile appearances this city’s bands have made over the years around the country.
Traveling by train, we missed several days of school. But the historic and governmental sites we took in during the trip were an education in themselves.
The next summer was the band’s first State Fair Marching Contest appearance. We tied for fifth place with a show that would be considered primitive by today’s standards. The next summer would see us garner a second-place finish. The best was yet to come.
The summer after I graduated, AHS won the first of its three consecutive State Fair titles. Mr. Vaught had added classics-on-the-march to the equation, and it made such a major impression that every school with contest ambitions jumped on the bandwagon.
Highland and Madison Heights showed intention to become part of the tradition. And Mr. Vaught was only happy to lend assistance as they built their programs. The effort was a success as both of the newer schools began notching their own State Fair titles.
As Highland gained its stellar reputation with the full-regalia Scottish tradition, the Marching Scots dropped their State Fair appearances for several years to concentrate on the fall Indiana State School Music Association field marching competition. Eventually the Scots returned to the State Fair circuit.
As attrition, budgets and academic counterattractions have drained local resources for band competition, putting together a winning band at the new AHS could be a formidable task. But leaders and musicians have only to look at the George Vaught years to see what can be accomplished by hard work and unity of spirit.
Jim Bailey’s reflections on Anderson’s past appear on Sunday. His regular column appears on Wednesday. He can be reached by e-mail at jameshenrybailey @earthlink.net.
