The Greenwood band dad kept hearing the different theories behind the traditions the band observed year after year.
Greenwood’s high school marching band routinely warms up to a song from the “Wizard of Oz,” and band parents and others disagreed on where the tradition came from.
Jon Heilman decided he wanted to find out the definitive history of that tradition and dozens of others that the band keeps.
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“I got hooked on the marching band when my son started and you would hear all kinds of stories on the history, but no one was certain of things,” Heilman said.
He spent hundreds of hours over several years digging into the history of the Greenwood band, starting from its inception in 1936. Heilman scoured newspaper archives, school records and interviewed former directors and alumni to find out the accurate stories from the rich history of the band. Blog posts with his research are posted on the band’s website.
Now he has helped the school win a national award for the work.
Greenwood Community High School was given the Advocacy in Action Award for Outstanding Volunteer Opportunity from Music for All, Inc. The award is meant to reward music programs, schools, and communities across the United States that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide access to music education for all students, according to a news release from the organization.
Heilman started being around the marching band when his son began marching, and his daughter is a current member of the band. He kept hearing different theories for the traditions his children would observe as members of the Marching Woodmen.
He looked around the school and on the internet for something that would tell him how the traditions started. He found nothing.
So, he decided to do the research and make what he was looking for.
“We are a tiny band in a tiny town; how did we get to where we are almost leading the state in state wins?” he said.
Heilman started at the beginning from when band at the school first formed. He scoured newspapers.com, an online library of most newspapers in America, and started interviewing former band directors.
One former band director met Heilman at the school, where he showed Heilman multiple file cabinets with tidbits over the years from the band. Heilman is still working on sorting all of the information out.
“It was a huge project to take these file cabinet drawers home and start to identify the decades things came from and the year,” he said.
And he interviewed band directors and alumni who told them their experiences, shedding light on other aspects of the band. Everything he learned is compiled on blog posts on the band’s website.
After a few blog posts starting from the first year of the band, he knew he had to finish the project and take the band’s history current. The project is still ongoing.
“Once I got to a certain point, I was like, ‘I have to keep going. I have to finish it,’” he said.
Traditions are a huge part of the Greenwood band department and it is important that students have a way to be able to see where the band started and where it came from, said John Morse, director of bands at Greenwood Community High School.
Heilman’s project moves beyond a simple listing of the band’s history, he worked to do the research that was needed to get the information, which is why Morse nominated the project for the award, he said.
“It is really powerful for the students to look back and see where that came from,” Morse said. “It is powerful for them to say, ‘Yeah, I am a part of that.”
The project has also helped renew interest in the band from alumni who have told Heilman they look at the posts from their years in the band and want to find ways to connect through attending competitions or volunteering, Heilman said.
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Here is a look at an Aug. 1, 2016 blog post on ghsband.org written by Jon Heilman, who was instrumental in winning the Advocacy in Action Award for Outstanding Volunteer Opportunity from Music for All, Inc., for his work in documenting the band’s history:
The Greenwood High School music program began 80 years ago. It has endured tragedies, celebrated triumphs and continues to thrive. As of this writing, the Greenwood Marching Woodmen have 13 ISSMA State Finals wins and the most top-five finishes of any school in the state (37).
How did a small Class B school develop such a consistently excellent music program? What is the story? These are some of the questions this history series will explore.
We will journey back in time to the very beginning. We will learn about the people who made it happen. We will chronicle the events and we will display photos from decades past.
In addition to the development of the band program, we will explore the growth and development of the town of Greenwood from rural farming community to a bustling modern city.
Undoubtedly, a major factor in Greenwood’s success is the combination of band directors, students and parents. Directors provide the lead and the passion for the program.
Director John Morse explains, “My passion for teaching music stems from all that music has given me during my life. Music has given me my place in this world. It has taught me endless lessons on music, art, passion, dedication, professionalism, leadership, perseverance, commitment and love just to name a few. It is from these blessings I have received that gave me the desire to guide others in the journey that music takes us on.”
The best directors want to share their love of music with others and see them develop and grow as musicians. That is a common factor all of Greenwood’s 17 head band directors have shared. Retired Greenwood director Jon Sutton, “The opportunity to share my passion for music with young people brings a joy to me that far exceeds any other compensation I could receive. To watch students achieve each small task placed before them and watch their confidence grow because of that achievement brings joy to me every day. As the students improve their skill and confidence level and eventually develop the ability to convey emotion through their music, they achieve an understanding and maturity that many students outside the arts never experience.”
It has been stated that the lessons a student takes away from band will serve them well in every aspect of their life. “Through the unique activity of “Band” we, teachers, are able to connect with students in ways that allow us to teach more than music,” said Jon Sutton. “I always get great satisfaction from helping students turn into outstanding young men and women.
Through the band activity we teach work ethic, team work, caring for other people, dealing with adversity, ethics in general, and leadership skills. Hearing from a student that graduated 10, 20, 30 years ago who thanks you for providing the tools that helped them be successful is the greatest 1976reward a band director can receive.” Director Morse agrees, saying, “I love watching students grow up with music as a part of their lives. I have the joy of watching students grow through performance in music and dance and learn many important life skills along the way. I also love getting to teach a large age range of students. I am very lucky to have students from beginning band in middle school through their high school graduation. Watching them develop into exemplary performers, scholars and leaders is truly a gift.”
The history of the Marching Woodmen is about leadership, discipline, teamwork, friendship, family, and the music that unites all of them. This series will chronicle that history with archival materials, photos, news clippings and personal recollections. But, it will also evolve through the feedback from readers who are encouraged to add their memories through the comments section, act as fact-checkers and even submit stories and photos to make the history more complete. This is intended to be an interactive history. Let’s explore!
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