This Saturday, schools all over Iowa will compete at State Marching Band Contest at various sites. I am a second generation survivor of marching band, as well as the proud parent of a band student.

Last weekend, North High School in Sioux City hosted their 10th Annual Starfest Marching Band competition. Schools from Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota competed in three different classes. Le Mars was well represented by LCS and Gehlen. My wife and I went along with the band as chaperones and helpers. It was a great day, and with the exception of a sunburned scalp, everything went great. It's a funny thing going bald, you really never know just how really thin your hair is until you experience extremes of heat or cold. Those flakes I'm leaving behind this week are dead skin cells, not dandruff, thank you very much.

If you want to have a good afternoon and see some really great bands, you should consider attending Starfest next year, or driving to Sheldon on Saturday to State. The instructors and students have been working on their music and formations since before school started, polishing their performances at parades and half time shows and it culminates for many Saturday.

I have great respect for teachers, but their has to be a special place in heaven for music instructors. I recall the misery I put my band instructors through learning the alto sax, then switching to the baritone saxophone -- the "bari" as it was (and maybe still is) called. Marching band practices back in the day were done during band period only and the instructors used graph paper to map out formations and spent countless hours getting us to march correctly ("remember to skip if you get out of step") and after all that there was the music to learn, as well as the national anthem and the school fight song. I still prefer the John Philip Sousa arrangement of the "Star Spangled Banner" but I'm an old fogey.

I can only imagine the celebration our instructors had when marching season ended.

This was the second year my wife and I did the chaperoning at Starfest and one of the benefits is you get to see all the bands for free. Several things become painfully apparent to me watching the competition. First and foremost, Le Mars is fortunate to have good band programs at both schools. When you watch shows performed by schools our size and larger with elaborate props, brought on to the field by parent volunteers driving golf carts that pull trailers full of percussion and other show related items onto the field, the importance of booster organizations is driven home.

Our schools do a lot with the money we give them. Outside of the coaches and instructors and members of the booster clubs, I seriously doubt that any of us realize how poorly equipped our athletes and musicians would be without the contributions of time and money from parents and other interested parties. Having quality athletic and music programs is an expensive proposition, and I fear that many of us simply believe that new uniforms, new instruments, new facilities simply appear from thin air.

We should be grateful for the contributions of the boosters, and I'm sure they would gladly accept more hands and more money.

Things have changed in the marching band world in the three decades that I have been out of uniform. Choreographed flag corps use several different flag combinations, fake rifles and sabres to provide more visual impact to the performances. The music and formations are more sophisticated. Some schools even have band members singing and dancing during their shows. Drumlines beat out complex cadences while walking sideways like crabs.

It's wild, man.

As I watched show after show, I wondered what it will be like 30 years from now. The one thing that I'm sure will need to remain constant, besides getting and retaining good instructors, is the support of the community. If anything, the athletic and music departments will need booster clubs more than ever in the years to come as funds become more and more scarce.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.