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Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa Theme - "76 Trombones"
Northwood-Kensett Marching Band by Mary Pieper
When Krista Reeder began teaching band at Northwood-Kensett in 2007, the high school marching band wasn't competing anywhere except the North Iowa Band Festival.
During her first year with the district she took the students to marching band competitions just to watch.
During her second year, Reeder took the Northwood-Kensett Marching Band to the Waseca Marching Classic in Minnesota, as well as Algona Band Day and the Iowa High School Marching Band Competition.
They have continued to go to competitions each year, and their hard work is paying off.
During last year's Band Festival, they placed first in their class (1A) for only the third time in 30 years. "It will certainly be nice to bring it home again," Reeder said, looking ahead to this year's event.
It would be a great going-away present for Reeder, who is leaving Northwood-Kensett at the end of the school year. She plans to be a stay-at-home mom and open a music lesson studio out of her home.
"The kids really grew from this event," she said.
After fundraising for a year and a half the students got new band uniforms, which they debuted at last year's Band Festival. Senior Logan Benson choreographed this year's Band Festival routine to "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas. He did it as his senior project, with help from Hanna Gentz, another senior in the band. "Last year we kind of whipped it (the Band Festival routine) together in a short amount of time and got first place," Benson said. That got him to thinking about what they accomplish if they took more time with their routine. The win "had a big impact on the whole program," he said.
"Carry on Wayward Son" was the song the marching band played at the Northwood-Kensett football halftime show the first year Reeder was at the school, so it is nice that the band is playing it for Band Festival the year she leaves, she said. Senior Ethan Grahn, who was chosen as the Northwood-Kensett Band King, said what he enjoys about Band Festival is "seeing how people react to seeing what we have set up."
"Seeing the crowd clap is always nice," he said.
Globe Gazette
by Mary Pieper
Rosalie Weber of Cedar Falls came to the parade with her husband, Jim, and friend Pam Dowie of Waterloo. It was the first time at the parade for all of them.
Pam said Rosalie "read about this and put it on her calendar." "I've never seen 20 bands in a parade in my life," Rosalie said.
Ryan Hulshizer of Northwood, who has been coming to the parade since he was a kid, brought his wife, Katie, and their two children, Gabriel, 19 months, and Reese, 11 months.
Ryan said Gabriel likes the bands, as well as anything on wheels, including the motorcycles and fire trucks. "It's a wonderful tradition to continue in Mason City," Ryan said.
Although the number of bands participating in the parade has declined over the years [mostly due to school closings and consolidations], "the quality has not," he said.
Three generations of the Kopps family of Mason City came to the parade. Paula Kopps and her daughter-in-law, Lacey Kopps, sat by the sidewalk with Lacey's son, Xander, age 6 months.
"He loves the bands," Paula said. "He's so happy," Lacey said. "It doesn't matter what age they are. They love it even if they don't know what's going on."
Good Shepherd Care Center, which is located near the parade route, always has a prime spot on Pennsylvania Avenue reserved for its residents. "They look forward to it like you wouldn't believe," said Sinva Opheim, activities director at Good Shepherd. Carnival Continues - The Band Festival carnival continues at East Park in Mason City Sunday and Monday, opening at noon each day.
Globe Gazette
by Laura Bird
MASON CITY -- This year's North Iowa Band Festival King and Queen both admitted that they were shocked when they were named top royalty Saturday afternoon.
"I'm really happy and grateful for it," said Kendra Miller, a recent Central Springs High School graduate. "I didn't expect it at all. There are so many good people here."
"I'm shocked and I'm honored," said Brandon Truong, a recent Forest City High School graduate. Truong said he was glad to win it this year for his retiring band director, Dave Rutt.
"Being able to take that home for him is more than I can ask," he said. Both said they enjoyed riding in the parade. "It was so much fun," Miller said.
Northwood-Kensett High School band king Ethan Grahn decided to have fun with the parade and still play the tuba in the car he was riding in.
Globe Gazette
by Mary Pieper
This year the goal was to have 76 trombone players because this is the 76th year of the festival and the theme was "76 Trombones," a song from the Meredith Willson musical "The Music Man." "Seventy-six is kind of a pipe dream," trombone fanfare coordinator Kevin Schultz said before the parade.
However, the number of trombone players has been growing every year, he said. This year about 40 trombonist participated, including students in middle school band.
Some of the adult trombonists hadn't played their instruments in a long time. Nate de Vries, pastor at Rolling Acres Christian Reformed Church in Mason City, said he hasn't played the trombone in 30 years.
When some friends tried to recruit him for the trombone fanfare, he initially refused, saying he doesn't even own a trombone anymore. Then they found an old trombone and had it refurbished.
"I started practicing this thing Thursday night," he said. "Our dog was in agony."
Globe Gazette
MASON CITY -- It's a product most everyone is familiar with. No, it's more than that. It's a product most everyone has sampled or consumed on a regular basis. Bill Cosby made it famous in television commercials. And many people can't help themselves when they speak of it by singing the letters of its name: Jell-O. In North Iowa, there's one more important fact about Jell-0. For 27 years it has been a big contributor to the local economy. One of the biggest economic development successes in Mason City occurred when Kraft-General Foods opened a plant in Mason City. Now known as Kraft Foods Inc., the company has been producing Jell-O Refrigerated Pudding in Mason City since 1987 and is one of the city's largest employers. Next came Jell-O Refrigerated Gelatin Snacks in 1991, Jell-O Refrigerated Cheesecake Snacks in 1996, sugar-free reduced calorie snacks in 2004 and Sundae Topper pudding snacks in 2005, among others.
The company has been an active corporate citizen as well, participating in many community activities. But its product will always be one that's just as easy to spell as to say it: J-E-L-L-O.
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 for the top band at this year's North Iowa Band Festival. Members are presented the award by Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Robin Anderson.
Band Festival award winners announced Saturday afternoon:
Marching Bands:
Floats:
Photographs courtesy of The Globe Gazette
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Globe Gazette
Reeder, a Lake Mills High School and Waldorf College graduate, teaches instrumental music in grades 5-12 at Northwood-Kensett.
This year the marching band has 52 students. She said the Forest City High School Marching Band Invitational is their favorite event. They have gone to this event, which features a clinic and an exhibition for participating bands, for the past two years. The clinicians are very patient, according to Reeder.
MASON CITY -- Spectators at the 76th North Iowa Band Festival Parade Saturday included first-timers and people who have been coming to the parade for many years.
MASON CITY -- Trombone players from a variety of backgrounds played the fanfare at the beginning of Saturday's North Iowa Band Festival Parade.
The trombone fanfare is a tradition going back to the early 1990s.
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