UHS band gets welcome befitting champs

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Members of the Unionville High School Marching Band display their Gator Bowl winnings on Sunday, Jan. 3.

After nearly 15 hours on a bus — the culmination of a winning, whirlwind trip to Jacksonville, Fla. — the members of the Unionville High Marching Band had earned the right to catch some shut-eye.

Members of the Unionville High Marching Band show off their trophies from the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.
Members of the Unionville High Marching Band show off their trophies from the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

But at 9:40 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 3, those who had drifted off to sleep got an abrupt wake-up call. The sound of sirens and the glare of flashing lights greeted the Unionville musicians as their two buses pulled onto Route 82 from Route 1.

Steve Jennings, one of the parent chaperones and a music teacher at Pocopson Elementary, said he had to make a quick announcement over the loudspeaker to assure the students that there was no need for alarm: The emergency vehicles had arrived to give the band a rousing, memorable welcome home.

Jennings, who was joined on the trip by his wife, Eileen, said they had received advance word that some of the parents were going to try to orchestrate a reception befitting the band’s trophy-worthy performances at the TaxSlayer GatorBowl. Jennings said when he heard the first siren wail, he knew the parents had accomplished their goal – and then some.

Parents and relatives line up with signs, balloons, flowers, and noisemakers to greet the band as it returns from Florida.
Parents and relatives line up with signs, balloons, flowers, and noisemakers to greet the band as it returns from Florida.

The two buses and the band’s equipment trailer pulled into the high school parking lot escorted by half a dozen fire trucks and emergency vehicles from the Longwood and Po-Mar-Lin companies. Waiting excitedly were dozens of parents and relatives, who had formed an impromptu band that included a couple musical instruments, pots, and assorted makeshift noisemakers.

Oblivious to the cold — or perhaps to ward it off — the welcome-home committee raised the decibel level and wildly waved flowers, hands, balloons, signs and cellphones as the students got closer. Minutes later, hugs were plentiful as families reunited. Then shortly after the luggage was unloaded, the students hoisted trophies into the air as Band Director Scott Litzenberg held the school’s ceremonial check for $10,000.

Litzenberg said he couldn’t have been prouder. With only 69 players, the band was the smallest competitor at the Gator Bowl, and it came out on top in Class A. It also swept its division awards, winning high percussion, high color guard, high drum major, high music, high visual, and high effect. In addition, it snagged first overall in a field of seven bands, the honor that resulted in the $10,000 check for the school and enabled the band to perform solo in a pregame show (it also participated in a group half-time presentation).

When the 2015-2016 band assembled for the first time this past summer for a week of drills, Litzenberg said he had no idea it would end the season on such a triumphant note. “They exceeded my expectations,” he said. “They really stepped up.”

UHS Band Director Scott Litzenberg and his wife, Mary, who heads the color guard, pose with the students' awards.
UHS Band Director Scott Litzenberg and his wife, Mary, who heads the color guard, pose with the students' awards.

Bob Fortunato, whose son Jordan is the trumpet section leader, agreed, which prompted him to recall another notable achievement by a group of area young people. When the Kennett Kings — the Eastern Regional Senior League Baseball champs comprised of students from Kennett and Unionville high schools — returned home after a second-place finish in the World Series in August 2013, they were met by an entourage of first responders.

“I thought the band deserved something special as well,” said Fortunato, whose wife, Marsha, served as the band’s nursing chaperone. So he made phone calls to both fire companies, who arranged to provide a celebratory escort.

Steve and Eileen Jennings enjoyed the perspective from inside one of the buses. They have two daughters in the band — Casey, a sophomore who plays mellophone, and Abby, a seventh-grader baritone player. Eileen Jennings said her younger daughter filled in during band camp and ended up getting a permanent spot with the high school group.

Chaperoning the trip was a pleasure, the Jennings said.

“The kids worked very hard, but they also had a lot of fun,” said Eileen Jennings. “They really represented the school and the community well.”

To view the band's pregame show, click here.

 

 

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