McDermott hopes to host band contest in the future

Creston Community School District Superintendent Steve McDermott hopes to work toward hosting a marching-band competition someday, he told the school board during Monday’s meeting.

Marching Band Director Mike Peters had reported earlier in the meeting numbers are increasing in the music program.

“I got a chance to go up to Valleyfest a couple of weeks ago to watch the band,” McDermott said. “If you haven’t been up there, you need to sometime. It’s neat. It’s just awesome entertainment. It’s the best of the best, for sure. I’d sure like to have one of those contests here someday.”

But, there are several hurdles the school district must clear before it can host such an event.

“What other sort of organization and facilities do we need in order to have an event such as a Valleyfest?” Board President Brad James asked.

Perhaps the biggest facility upgrade necessary is a change to artificial turf on the football field.

“Other than that, I think we just need to make sure our concession areas are upgraded like we talked,” McDermott said. “The visitor’s side, especially, is shot. I think the home side is functional but could certainly be upgraded and improved to take on a mass.”

Other facility upgrades McDermott mentioned include new bleachers on the visitors’ side of the field, as well as potentially adding another set of bleachers on the home side of the field.

The visitors’ bleachers are on the district’s long-term plan already, as they have deteriorated into poor condition.

“This is certainly doable,” McDermott said. “It’s an undertaking, but my goodness, we’ve got the program going. ... The time to strike is when the iron is hot, because things are working well and it’s popular. I’d like to keep working that way if we could.”

Booming program

Participation in the marching-band program and music program as a whole, is up right now compared to previous years.

“There’s an enthusiasm right now not just from my area but from all areas,” Peters said. “I’ve got young people coming in and they’re enthusiastic coming in. The community has been great about being enthusiastic about our program. We’re having success and kids are going to want to be on board. It makes it a lot easier to promote your product when you’re having success.”

That success is one of the reasons McDermott hopes to one day host a marching band contest in Creston.

“My first thought is our program has been so successful for years that I think our community and our students deserve to have a contest of this size,” he said.

The Creston marching band earned its 28th-consecutive Division I rating Saturday at the Iowa High School Music Association state marching contest at Treynor High School.

On Oct. 1, the Panther marching band placed second in 3A for both parade and field competition and third place in the overall scores out of 22 bands, regardless of school size, at the 61st-annual Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree in Clarinda. Creston was the top Iowa band at the contest.

“I’ve had a lot of good marching programs in the past,” Peters said. “This year, I had judges calling me after performances saying, ‘I really enjoyed your show.’ I’ve never had people going out of their way saying how much they enjoyed my show.”

Potential contest

While Creston is still far from hosting a marching-band contest, the discussion about potential facility upgrades opened up the possibility.

“I think it would just be a great event for Creston to host and would also provide some good economic development here in the community to bring, not the size of crowd RAGBRAI brought to town, but something similar in terms of visitors for a whole weekend,” McDermott said. “Those contests I’ve attended in the past at Valleyfest and other places, they’ve been terrific events. My question is, ‘Why not here in Creston?’”

Peters said holding a contest in Creston would be a benefit not only to his program but to other programs in the area.

“It kind of puts a stamp of legitimacy on this whole process,” Peters said. “To host one here, it feels like I’m helping my colleagues. We’d like to have something more educational, where directors can bring their bands, perform, get judged and right after you perform, one of the judges can give you a clinic. There’s a lot of educational value to this. I truly believe that.”

McDermott said making facility improvements to host a band contest could open the door to holding even larger events, as well.

“If we were in a position someday to go ahead and host such a contest or large clinic, who knows, we may be able to begin to host state competitions and that sort of thing,” he said. “There are other places that, due to the facilities, get to host state band contests and events we’d sure like to have here in town.”