Cuyahoga Falls High School - Cuyahogan Yearbook (Cuyahoga Falls, OH)

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Pride and Tradition “The Pride demands dedication, hard work and respect from the band members and student body. I admire all those qualities of the band and wanted to be part of it,” stated Kathryn Prather, a second year band member. Most people knew that the band had been called “The Pride” for quite some time but they did not realize that the nickname “The Pride” came from tradition. “The band sticks to tradition,” said Chris Demarco, the band’s second year director, by keeping the same uniforms, using the same fast march entrance, re- maining a show band — a band that entertains and brings forth many emo- tions in the crowds — and by not incor- porating flags or making major style changes in the continued previous tradi- tion. Furthermore, the band brought back older routines used in previous years such as “Stars and Stripes,” “Tigerlines,” and “Script Falls.” Even though the band stayed with tradition, they did incorporate something new. This was the first year that the freshmen joined the band. While this move caused doubt among some in the community, it apparently succeeded. As DeMarco noted, “Some said it couldn’t be done, but they are doing a fantastic job.” TOP: Karen Hurd, a two year band member, demonstrates “The Pride” of the band and fine mar- ching techniques. LEFT: Here the band marches at practice making use of Chris Demarco’s computer technology. Marching Band 25

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RIGHT: “The screams and applause when we came oul of the tunnel at the first game made the long summer practice seem worthwhile,” said Brian Gregory, far right. BELOW: “Even though the band is really exciting, it takes a lot of hard work and the only pay off is to see the crowd cheering after you’ve done your show,” said Joanie Leiter, second from the left. FAR RIGHT: “At times I dreaded tak- ing four weeks out of my summer for practice. To get up early and do all that work in 90 degree heat isn’t exactly great. But when you’re on the field and the crowd goes crazy and starts cheering for ‘The Pride,’you realize all the effort you put into it was more than worth it,” said Wendy Hause. RIGHT: Besides marching, the band enjoys being a cheering squad for the football team. 24 Marching Band

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A. Tandy Band ? Few spectators watching the band per- form realize that a computer was responsi- ble for what they saw. For the first time, this year, Mr. Demarco used a Tandy 1000 computer to choreograph the band’s routines. Demarco, the band’s director, breaks a song into sections of eight beats and charts it on the computer. The pro- grammed computer positions the band squads and moves them to the beat of the music. Therefore, he can see the performance on the computer before he even teaches it to the band. Demarco said it takes approximately five hours to choreograph a song on the computer and one week to teach the band how to perform it. The first band at Cuyahoga Falls High School was created in September of 1922 by Mr. Layton — a former principal of the school. That year the band was only 24 members strong — all male and they had no uniforms. Mr. Schabaugh was the very first band director and he directed from 1922 to 1925. In 1925, after raising $1,000, the band was able to pur- chase new instruments and military style uniforms. Over the next few years, there were many band direc- tors. Mr. Cruikshaink followed Schabaugh and in turn came Mr. Chadwick, Mr. Duckwall, Mrs. Long, and finally, R.O. Reynolds in 1946. At this time the band had grown to 48 members. In 1959, Robert Feldbush joined Reynolds as assistant band director. During this time the band marched in a military style and basically made designs as they played music. Be- tween 1961-1970 significant changes took place. In 1961, the band received new uniforms with new hats and converters. It is the style still worn today. Mr. Feldbush said,“This made a big change in appearance ... it made people look bigger.” In addition, the marching style was changed from a military style to a show band with more running steps. The band marched at its first pro- fessional football game in 1967 for the Cleveland Browns. Since then, the band performed at many other football games as well as other major public attractions. In 1985, Chris Demarco replaced Feldbush as band director and is now directing the 113 member unit. TOP: Here six of the 24 original band of 1922 pose ABOVE: The 1948 marching band, under the direction of with the band director, Mr. Schabaugh (right). R.O. Reynolds, shows off their new military style uniforms. 26 Marching Band