Northrop High School - Bear Tracks Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

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' ' Si Ji y . -...MiiMnnHin iHi, :, .i»J ,; MMm...MMi,h ,,,. . As the crowd watches intently, the Mighty Surrounded by members of the BOP, Director Aided by a fellow band member. Senior .Jon Marching Bruins perform at the ' State compet. ' - Barry Ashton peers onto the football field after a Brandt, a tenor sa.xophone player. solos. Photo tion at Terre Haute Photo by B.W. Kilgore. halftime performance Photo By -Jeft De ille. by Meye Hug. Band 29

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Motif Of Dedication Is A Winning One For Band Atop a North American Van Lines trailer, Band Director Barry Ashton inspects his troops. Two hundred and sixty soldiers in civilian clothing stand poised after finishing their last full practice before battle. Slowly all begin to leave, then Ashton yells for ev- eryone to stay. First, a poem is read and words of encouragement follow. But inevita- bly, there must be warnings. If we get a penalty, someone will die. threatens Barry, with a chuckle in his voice. A hearty laugh flows through the crowd, but every member of the Big Orange Pride knows that a penal- ty would kill their chance. The last of 300 pillows were propped up behind tired backs as the seven yellow buses pulled out of Northrop. Talk scattered around the buses, though not much about the four hour journey ahead. The State com- petition lived in their minds, but everyone ' s stomach took over. Pop, candy, cookies, and Little Debbie pies went from hand to hand. Backed up by various ghetto blasters , card and backgammon games went on for a while, until dark. Then, sleep set in until supper at Lancaster ' s cafeteria about 8:30. Next stop, Howard Johnson ' s for the night. Only one word for the night: rowdy! The civilian soldiers let their nervouness and an- ticipation turn into energy. Most sleep little more than two hours until . . Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, interrupted everyone ' s slumber for five minutes straight. It was 4:00 A.M. breakfast time! Honey Creek Square parking lot in Terre Haute came alive at 6:27 A.M. Flags doing jumping jacks, pompons stretching out, and musicians marching in place — anything to keep warm. As the various drum and percus- sion equipment rolled out of the trailer, Ashton yelled for everyone to get in place for practice. Northrop ' s army drilled up and down half the lot, striving for the precision that count- less Saturdays, hours after school, sweat, and tired muscles were dedicated to. For the seniors, State would be the last competition. Clowning around in front of Arlington Elemen- tary students — and the camera — seemed to be just the thing for Seniors Mike Hubbard and Scott Lahey . Photo by Steve Hug. For the rest, it would be another chance to do their best. Frost on the tympanys, white breath, Ben-Gay rubbed into freezing fingers; cold hurts musical quality as well as personal performance. Clarinet player Mandy Bon- ner knows, Your fingers freeze and you can ' t move them at all. You ' re going, ' Come on, move, move! ' At 7:30, the buses pulled out on their way to the Indiana State University stadium. Sophomore Jan Martin admitted, I ' m not nervous yet, I will be right when we get on the field. she continued, I want to win, but we can ' t have everything. I ' ll take one step at a time. The first step, to do the best preliminary show possible. A gigantic concrete block of bleachers loomed up on the right side of the ISU stadi- um, two-thirds full of screaming parents and other fans. From the middle section came the cry, Go Big Orange over and over out of a tide of orange jackets with orange and white pom-pom heads. The Big Orange Pride, the first band to perform, sol- emnly took the field as the supportive tide screamed wildly. Wait. After doing their best, that was all 300 people could do. Wait to find out if they would be marching in the battle or watching it. Making the finals, important to everyone concerned, but most of all to the performers. Sarah Kidd said, We deserve it since Ash- ton ' s been yelling at us so much. Barry Ashton yelled a lot. However, not all of it dealt with bad performances. He yelled to motivate and make them better. Ashton won ' t lie to his band, Some of the kids say, ' Well, you don ' t tell us we ' re good, ' and I ' ll say When you ' re good, I ' ll tell you you ' re good. ' He told them they were good after the preliminary show. He also told them they deserved to see the only other Class A band that matched the Big Orange Pride in size, Ben Davis. Showing the good sportsman- ship they ' re known for, they sat on the visi- tor bleachers and clapped heartily as their rival took the field. Then, back to the hotel. The afternoon went quickly, just enough time to listen to the radio, pack bags, and stock up for the ride home from the hallway candy machines. Everything, except the musicians ' black shoes and socks, had to be packed and on the buses by 2:30. It was time to find out whether they would need the change of shoes. Indiana State ' s stadium looked like a meeting of the United Nations. Delegations of two or three representing each of the Class A bands stood like statues before a table filled with division trophies. I didn ' t think we ' d make the finals when we got that draw. , reflected Mr. Ashton, concerning the morning performance as the first band. But they overcame the the bad draw, mak- ing it in the finals for the fifth time in the last six years. In front of the seven school buses parked on the stadium grass, hums the elated band. Hugs, congratulations, and sighs of relief passed through the group. Just becoming fifth finalist by one point wasn ' t too encour- aging, but it left a chance. After spending two and a half hours eat- ing supper at Duffs cafeteria, the Big Or- ange Pride had to dress in the buses at the stadium lights blared down on a field of perfect astro-turf in the dark, cold, tense night. Loss of time allowed for nothing but warm-up. The usual practice that the band was so accustomed to would not be support- ing them now. However, they were support- ing themselves. Sophomore Jeff Wunrow forecast, If everyone gets his head on straight and gets it together, we ' ll do fine. Junior pompon Natalie Cox put the feeling simply, I just want to dance my heart out tonight. They fall in and march silently to the entrance. Each one files on to the field, h ead held high, mind on the show. About 15,000 people shake the stands as Northrop begins 28 — Marching Band

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Grinning bri)adly, Director Barry Ashton poses in the midst of the many trophies won through his 11 years at Northrop. Photo by Ted Roberts. Senior John Rigdon performs during the drum solo at the beginning of Look What You Find- I ' hoto by Steve Hug. 30 — Band