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They all knew the melody: Rural schools
are finding it increasingly difficult to keep quality marching band
programs going in the face of tight budgets.


      What they didn't know was the harmony: Could two high schools
combine their marching bands when they've been long-time rivals and
prided themselves on their distinct traditions?


      Or, as Yellow Medicine East music instructor Nicole Boelter
laughingly put it: "We did our own things in our own quirky
ways."


      Now they do it as the 212 Regiment Marching Band.


      The Montevideo and YME high schools joined their marching band
programs in May only to discover more harmony than either expected.


      "A really nice sound," said Montevideo music and band director
Ronald Stary of the first time he heard the music produced by the
93 newly joined students.


      Boelter said they were just as happy to see how easily the
students made friends and put aside longtime rivalries. No small
matter considering that even the flag bearers came as arch rivals
from the two schools' highly competitive dance line teams, Stary
pointed out.


      The 212 Marching Band rushed to the streets for the summer
parade season only a few weeks after being created. Stary and
Boelter said they heard from many who were surprised that a band so
recently combined could produce the sound it did.


      The greatest compliment was just heard earlier this month: The
band is invited to perform for the 2010 Memorial Day Parade in
Washington, D.C.

      The 212 Regiment Marching Band is believed to be one of only a
handful of paired high school marching bands in the state. There
are others, but the more common trend seems to be for high school
marching bands to end on a flat note when budget cuts become the
theme song.


      Tim Diem, director of the University of Minnesota marching band,
said he is not aware of any statistics on the matter. But he said
the word-of-mouth around the state is that the number of marching
bands is on the decline. It is part of what he calls a worrisome
decline in the offerings of music education in general.


      Music education is expensive, and marching band is among the
more costly of the opportunities that schools can offer, Stary
said.


      Yet the idea to join the two rival programs came not from number
crunchers in the two Minnesota River valley schools. It came
largely from the students.


      Stary said his son Adam initially brought it up to him. He and
Boelter began talking. They gathered student leaders from the two
schools. The students met several different times to hash over the
issues and come up with a name.


      "212 Regiment" won everyone's favor. "It just rung," said
Stary.


      The merger probably saved marching band as an offering for YME
students, according to Boelter.


      But she and Stary said the more important motivation for joining
the two is that it maintains a quality program for all of the
students.


      Well aware of the costs and challenges they faced, both
instructors said they initially were hoping to do no more than
launch the joint program in May. They would have settled for
T-shirts as uniforms if necessary, said Stary.


      Not the students, who had far bigger aspirations. They wanted
uniforms. The instructors scoured the Internet for bargains and
scored a real deal downstream in Mankato. They purchased their
sharp, red, white and black uniforms at a cost of $10 per student
as compared to the $200 to $300 new sets would cost.

      Parents pitched in to help sew and hem the uniforms in time for
the marching season. Stary said one mother would drive her band
member to practices and sewed on patches while she waited.


      The instructors said parents and friends of music groups in both
districts are just as passionate about supporting the venture as
are the students. They are looking forward to the coming year and
hope the success and excitement may entice more students to be part
of marching band.


      As for the two instructors, they too found it easy to combine
efforts, even though both definitely brought different sets of
talents to the band. By their own admissions, Stary is the more
creative and Boelter the more organized of the two.


      One tune carried the day. "We have the same heart for it,"
said Boelter
      

Gallery

They all knew the melody: Rural schools
are finding it increasingly difficult to keep quality marching band
programs going in the face of tight budgets.


Rival high school marching bands combine to survive

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