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Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa May 24 - 26, 2012 Theme: "Right Here in River City"
Globe Gazette
“Band Festival is one of the most exciting events of the year,” Patricia Tomson said. "We love to see all the people it brings to Mason City to celebrate music.”
O. Jay Tomson served as president and board member for many banking organizations, including as Class A Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He is a past Board of Regents member for both Wartburg College and St. Olaf College. Patricia Tomson holds a master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa and has worked as a counselor for abused children and family members. She has been an active leader at YMCA organizations her entire life and is a recipient of the Mason City YMCA Willis Patton Leadership Award. The North Iowa Band Festival Committee has selected “Right Here In River City” as the theme for the 74th annual festival to celebrate all that Mason City has accomplished in the past year. In addition, the theme pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the movie premiere for “The Music Man,” which was held in Mason City in connection with the 1962 Band Festival.
The “Friends of the Festival” campaign is under way. Tax-free donations are used to support the free family entertainment offered throughout band festival weekend. Contributions should be directed to The North Iowa Band Festival Foundation in care of the Mason City Chamber of Commerce, 9 N. Federal Ave., Mason City, IA 50401. Visit www.nibandfest.com for updated information on the festival.
Globe Gazette
By Mary Pieper
The Klempnauer Award, named for Dan Klempnauer, a longtime festival volunteer, recognizes an “unsung hero who works behind the scenes.” For 10 years, Underwood played a key role in the adoption of “green” practices into the operation of the festival. She implemented a recycling program for the food vendors in East Park.
Globe Gazette
By Mary Pieper
“It’s a good day because everyone’s happy,” said Deb Nordskog, of Leland. “There’s always lots of smiles.”
Two of Nordskog’s grandchildren marched with the Ventura High School Band in the parade. In the past she came to watch her children march in the parade. Her son, Knut Lien, was the Forest City High School band king in 2001. Nordskog always watches the parade from the corner of Third Street Northeast and North Pennsylvania. She likes it because it’s at the start of the parade route, the Boy Scouts concession stand is located on that corner and “there’s a bathroom right there,” she said. The parade started with the traditional trombone fanfare, followed by the VFW Honor/Color Guard.
As always, the first band in the parade was the Mason City High School Band, playing “Seventy-six Trombones.” The rain held off during the parade except for a few sprinkles. The sun even came out for awhile.
Some of the biggest cheers were for the military entries, including the Honor Flight Winnebago participants who rode on a flatbed trailer and waved small American flags. The next flight for North Iowa veterans to Washington, D.C., is Aug. 7. The parade also featured classic cars, gymnasts, a martial arts demonstration and people distributing to the crowd everything from plastic flying discs to stuffed animals as well as candy. Nick Jones, of Osage, said his favorite part of the parade is the old cars. “I’ve been coming to the Band Festival since I was a baby,” he said, noting that’s “32 years worth” of Band Festivals.
Rick Sletten, also of Osage, whose daughter, Rebekah, was marching with the Osage High School Band, watched the parade with his 10-year-old son, Noah. Noah said his favorite part of the parade is “getting stuff.”
“He got a teddy bear already,” his father said. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Band Festival, which featured the press premiere of the movie version of “The Music Man.” That year’s parade was led by Meredith Willson. Linda Fouste, of Mason City, who was watching Saturday’s parade, also was in the crowd for the 1962 parade. She was a senior at Mason City High School at the time.
“It was just the top,” she said. Theresa Staudt, of Clear Lake, bought reserved seating on the hill at the corner of State Street and North Pennsylvania Avenue during a fundraiser for Stebens Children’s Theatre.
“I’m the luckiest person at the parade,” she said. “I call it royalty seating.” Her guests were Amy Follmuth, of Mason City, and Follmuth’s son, Michael Rowe, 11.
Follmuth said both she and Staudt participated in the Stu Nevermann Memorial Run earlier in the day, so they were happy to have chairs to sit in rather than standing to watch the parade.
Mary and Louie Toulouse, of Emmons, Minn., brought their 2-year-old grandson, Teddy, to the parade. “He’s never been to a parade before,” Mary said. “He’s seeming to like the bands and every hot rod.”
Tom Strong, of Mason City, who was working at the Boy Scout concession stand, said he likes “just the feeling of the surrounding communities getting together” during the Band Festival. “It’s old home America,” he said.
MASON CITY — Osage’s Sawyer Small and Ventura’s Kaitlyn Chizek and were crowned North Iowa Band Festival King and Queen Saturday in East Park in Mason City, during the 2012 event, which features high school bands from across the area. Along with Small, the Osage Marching Band took second place honors in the Class 2A category at the annual event, with Lake Mills taking top honors
Chizek is a senior at Ventura High School and Small is a graduate of Osage High School. Chizek said being chosen as queen is "really exciting." She carried the Ventura High School Band's banner in the band festival parade when she was in eighth grade, so she has participated in the parade for the past five years. "I love being with our band," she said. The Ventura band doesn't march all year until the band festival, so "this is our one chance to shine and we love it," Chizek said. Small said being crowned king "feels very good." He said he enjoys "just being able to march in the band and being part of our drumline." Instead of riding in a convertible in the parade, Small chose to march with the rest of the Osage band.
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Photographs courtesy of The Globe Gazette
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MASON CITY — O. Jay and Patricia Tomson will be the grand marshals of this year’s North Iowa Band Festival, to be held May 24-28.
The Tomsons are the owners of First Citizens National Bank, which serves 10 communities in North Iowa. For many years, the Tomsons have been supporters of the festival through their sponsorships by First Citizens National Bank.
Margo Underwood is being honored with the Klempnauer Award for her role in making the North Iowa Band Festival more friendly to the environment. 
MASON CITY — People of all ages crowded along Pennsylvania Avenue and State Street Saturday to watch the 74th annual North Iowa Band Festival Parade.
Globe Gazette
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