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Divide and conquer: Board members each do their part to help Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival play on
The Owatonna High School Marching Band performs exhibition at the 2016 Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival. Now in its 11th year, the parade brings in roughly a dozen schools from across the state to show off their routines. (Press le photo)
Board members each do their part to help Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival play on Divide and conquer:
By BRIDGET KRANZ bkranz@owatonna.com
“I’m president,” explained Leslea Partridge, of her role with the Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival, “and I’m in charge of all things related to food — and other ancillary duties as may be assigned.”
Laughing, she added, “Our titles don’t necessarily say what our job duties are.” Fellow organizer John Degner, who’s in charge of fundraising for the event, nodded in agreement. On the seven-member board, everyone has at least one area of the marching band competition that they take the lead on, but — as Degner noted — something always comes up. When it’s showtime for the festival in June, and nearly 1,400 participants arrive in town simultaneously, Partridge said it’s important to trust that these individual responsibilities have been looked after. “Our jobs have to dovetail,” she noted. “During the day, somebody’s working with
Under a tent close to the judges’ table, Partridge has also coordinated with corporate sponsor Hy-Vee to have over 1,000 sandwiches and bags of chips waiting for the high school performers once they’re done marching the parade route and getting graded on their routine.
After coordinating the food delivery, Partridge then relies on a team of volunteers from the Music Boosters of Owatonna to help set up and serve the participants’ lunch, just as she relies on the women at First Baptist to provide a meal for the judges.
“That’s a piece I don’t have to worry about it. I just have to say, ‘Are you on board?’ And they say, ‘Yep, we got it,’” Partridge explained.
Welcoming visitors
Now in its 11th year, the competition lled up its dozen slots within minutes of opening registration to schools on Dec. 1. When it comes to how the festival has grown so popular, both Partridge and Degner credit the number of volunteers and the effort that the whole Owatonna community puts into making the guests feel at home. Leslea Partridge, left, has been on the board of the Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival since its inaugural run in 2010. In addition to acting as president, she is also in charge of coordinating food for donors, participants and judges, and other tasks as they arise. A more recent addition, John Degner heads up fundraising for the event, checking in with sponsors and patrons throughout the year to see who’s still on board and try to get new donors involved. (Bridget Kranz/People’s Press)
In addition to sharing a meal, there are also volunteers passing out water, people walking with the marchers to ensure proper pacing and a number of band hosts that stay with visiting ensembles from the moment they get to town to the moment they leave. “That’s one of the things that has made our festival extra special,” noted Partridge. “We try to have two hosts per band. If a kid forgets their instrument or they need a new reed, that host has contacts that we’ve set up for getting another instrument or getting a piece of equipment repaired right that minute. If there’s an emergency, that host is the one that asks questions and helps calm [participants’] nerves.” Checking in with last year’s donors Before the sandwiches are served or the hosts meet with their charges for the day, Partridge, Degner and the entire board will have already been working for over nine months getting everything in place for the big day. As overseer of fundraising for the event, Degner has the important job of checking in to see if last year’s sponsors and patrons are still on board, while also thinking outside of the box to try and get new funders involved. “I’m working heavily with Tri M Graphics and the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism right now for the corporate sponsorship mailings,” he noted. “Then, in April we’ll start with the patrons — the general public that has supported us.”
Both Degner and Partridge explained that, even after 10 years, it’s important to take initiative and start checking in early on funders from the previous year. Having granted approval for the use of Harry Wenger’s name in the festival’s title, the Wenger Foundation continues to be a signi cant donor to the competition — and one that the board is always sure to get in touch with by early fall. “We get on that right away, because they only meet at certain times of year and they make their contribution decisions at a certain point. You have to get to them early,” said Partridge.
“They also expect us on our end to get patrons and business sponsors, because they want to see that this is a community thing. Their own business, Wenger Corporation, has become a sponsor of the festival as well.”
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Dassel-Cokato band members take a knee during their 2017 performance of “Night on Bald Mountain.” Festival organizers typically try to assign two parade hosts for each visiting ensemble. These community volunteers help welcome students to Owatonna, and are able to quickly contact the right people in the event of a broken instrument, missing reed or emergency. (Press le photo)
Degner added that the company typically donates a piece of equipment or similar inkind gift for one of the bands in the festival. With music departments often running tight on money, Degner added that this can often make a signi cant impact on a program. The festival also offers stipends as awards for participants based on performance — something they also have to secure funding for as soon as possible in the annual planning process. Planning for continuation … and contingencies As board members prepare year to year, often starting in September, they’re able to rely on annual checklists and chronological guides to help them stay on track throughout the planning process. Partridge, who was a board member when the event started in 2010, attributed these organizational foundations to the leadership of former festival director Kim Cosens. “As we started guring out all the things that had to be done, we started making ow charts and lists of job responsibilities. That has been a key piece in order for us to be able to continue what we’re doing as a board,” explained Partridge. “We’ve seen festivals go by the wayside because they haven’t put plans in place for continuation and how to do that.” Now, the current president is the only remaining original board member. After nearly a decade of service helping organize the festival, Degner said it was time for many to step down. He added that he got involved in part because his children went through the band program in the Owatonna Public Schools. Partridge had similar reasons for coming on board. “I never thought I’d be a band parent geek, because I was an orchestra person,” she laughed. Degner added that he had been in choir. As Degner was getting trained on, he relied on another guideline aimed at continuity that had been put into the agreement when the board was founded. “If I’m going to end my time on the board, I have to announce that I’m going to be done at our July meeting after this year’s festival. Then, we would need to nd somebody to replace me and the next year, I’d do my work with that replacement shadowing me,” explained Partridge. “Then the following year, I’d shadow that replacement as they do what I did.”
Effectively, this means that old board members give two years’ notice and new board members get two years of training before starting on their own. While Partridge said a lot of what has to be done might be common sense, it’s still a complex process with a lot of moving parts — going by intuition alone, she noted, a ball would almost surely be dropped.
Even with the best laid plans, Partridge added that it’s always important to have contingencies in place. With the marching band festival, back-up plans have also been passed down year-to-year. For example, the president already has the United Methodist Church rented out the day of the competition for the patron brunch.
If all goes according to plan, the community donors will be able to eat under a tent near the judges’ zone. However, if there’s a storm either before or during the event, it’ll be easy enough to get in touch with Hy-Vee and ask them to move the catering order into the church.
While Partridge noted that weather has never caused the festival to be cancelled, it has led to a couple close calls. One year, it was storming until 6 a.m., with the marchers scheduled to arrive just hours later. Another year, the thunder rolled in just as the Owatonna High School ensemble nished the parade route.
When there was lightning before the event, Partridge noted that the brunch still had to be moved indoors because it would have been impossible for people to safely set up the tent. Although she and her team organize and host the festival, she added that it’s ultimately the judges’ call whether or not to cancel the event. With over 1,000 participants arriving in Owatonna for the festival, organizers rely on community volunteers and each other to have the number of necessary moving parts in place. Hy-Vee provides lunch for marchers and patrons, while church groups help out with speciality brunches and other refreshments along the parade route. Pictured here, a member of the Owatonna High School Color Guard performs during the 2017 Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival. (Press le photo)
“That’s the way the judges do it, it’s always their decision. They come from a judges’ organization called TriState Judging,” she explained. “They arrange which judges are going to come here. We don’t have to do anything about that.”
Once all participating bands have made their way down the parade route, running from near Trinity Lutheran Church into the heart of downtown, participants change out of their uniforms, have lunch in Owatonna and are ready to hit the road. With the marchers starting at 11 a.m., Partridge challenged anyone passing by to look around Central Park at around 3 p.m. on the day of the festival.
“Watch what’s going on at 3 p.m. that day,” she said. “Nothing. I would say usually by 3 or 3:30 p.m. at the latest, all you’ll see is garbage cans in Central Park and maybe a few people sitting on the benches.” “Everybody takes responsibility for their area, and they do it. That’s why it’s been a very pleasurable experience to be on this board for 11-plus years,” she explained. “It’s a really fun board.”
She added that, although the group has seven members right now, it could comfortably get up to 10 organizers. Laughing, she and Degner noted that they could always nd something for someone to do. While she noted that it takes a lot of volunteers and a dedicated board to make the Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival happen year-to-year, she also added that the history of the city has contributed to making the event a success.
“Owatonna has a tradition of excellence in music. I saw it when I was growing up here,” said Partridge. “Part of that is what makes this work here in our town. We’re going to do music and we’re going to do it well.”
A few months after one year’s festival is done, it’s time for the board to again start preparations for the next event. When asked what’s kept her involved for over a decade, Partridge explained that a large part of it has been her fellow organizers.
