George Washington High School Band

Marching Eagles Band Directors – 1974 to the Present

Thomas Huhn, 1974-1981

            Hired in 1974, Thomas Huhn came to Danville from a small town near Buffalo, New York, and he was responsible for turning the G.W Marching Eagles into more than just a football halftime show band that marched in a few parades a year. Under his leadership, the Marching Eagles began traveling to other cities to compete against those high school bands.

            Huhn used his first year at G.W to restructure the band program, eventually discontinuing some sections of the band because they didn’t fit the military or drum & bugle corps image then being adopted by high school bands. Perhaps the first section to be dropped was the “Kiltie Corps,” in about 1976. The “Kilties” were little more than a pom-pom squad and did not fit the military image. The majorettes, or baton twirlers, were reduced in number [from 8 girls to 5], while the flag corps was enlarged to include 24 girls. Next to be discontinued were the “letter girls,” a group of 4 girls who each carried a letter placard that bore one of the letters to spell out “GWHS”. They presented the name of the school in place of a long cloth banner carried by 2-4 band members. The majorettes were also discontinued later. Unlike the fate of the “Kilties,” which were discontinued because of “image,” Huhn discontinued the letter girls and majorettes because of a lack of interest – each year, fewer girls tried out to participate in those groups.

            During Huhn’s tenure as Director of Bands at GW, the Marching Eagles went through several dramatic stages. They were transformed first from a non-competitive band that did not travel far from Danville to one that participated in competitions beyond a 100-150 mile radius from the city. In their first competitive year, 1975-76, they won few awards – including entering the Virginia State Fair Band Competition but winning no awards. Only a year later, though, Huhn not only took the Marching Eagles back to the State Fair competition but brought them home winners of 1^st place!! The Marching Eagles then won 1^st place honors in Richmond again in 1979.

            Other major band accomplishments under Huhn’s leadership include traveling to one major regional/national band competition every spring, and establishing the Marching Eagles as host band of the Old Dominion Dixie Class Band Festival held at GW every September. GW’s participation in spring competitions began with the Desoto Band Festival in Bradenton, Florida, in 1978, where they could only manage a 4^th place finish. That 4^th place finish has since proved to be their lowest ranking ever in a spring competition. Under Huhn, the band did not compete one spring, but otherwise placed in the top 3-4 bands every year between 1978-1981. In the spring of 1981, Huhn took the Marching Eagles to St. Louis for their spring competition trip – and brought them home as CHAMPIONS. At that contest, they not only won 1^st place in their class but also won the title of GRAND CHAMPIONS, placing them ahead of all other bands participating in the St. Louis contest.

            After the victory in St. Louis, Huhn decided there was nothing greater for the Marching Eagles to strive for under his leadership and stepped down as Director of Bands. After leaving GW, Huhn went to work for a company that helped bands raise money. He missed band directing so much, though, that after only one year in fund-raising, he accepted the position of band director at Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. He remained as band director at Indian River High School until the early ‘90s, when health difficulties forced him to give up all the stress. After recovering from emergency heart surgery, he returned to teaching, although not to band directing. He teaches at the middle school level in Chesapeake, and travels around the region to judge band competitions.

Thomas New, 1981-1982

            Thomas New, a native of Pennsylvania, was hired to succeed Thomas Huhn as Director of Bands at GW. Immediately before coming to GW, New was employed as Director of Bands at Laurel Park High School, near Martinsville, in Henry County, Virginia.

            About the best that can be said of New’s short time as GW band director is that he worked “cautiously”. He took the band to competitions during the fall season and the Marching Eagles won their share of awards, but there were not the major changes in the band program that Huhn had accomplished. New did not change or drop any of the band sections that Huhn had established. The band continued to consist of brass, woodwind and percussion players, flag and rifle squads [led by “sabre commanders”] and the drum majors.

            Under New’s leadership, the Old Dominion Dixie Classic went on as usual, but the band did not compete during its trip in the spring of 1982 – only the 2^nd time in its history as a competitive band. This long afterward, however, no details are readily available about “why” the band did not compete that spring.

            Circumstances forced Thomas New to step down as GW Director of Bands after only the one year, and he eventually took a job with Leeds Music Company. Although proof is not readily available at this time, it is believed that New has since died as the result of illness.

Mark Stempel, 1982-1985

            Mark Stempel, a New York native, was the person hired in July 1982 to succeed Thomas New as Director of Bands at GW. A recent Master’s Degree graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University at that time, Stempel had worked as flag instructor for two Richmond-area schools while at VCU and had previously been employed full-time as band instructor at Harpersville Central School, Harpersville, New York. He also had the distinction of being the youngest director at GW up to that time.

            Under Stempel’s guidance, more was done to spark the music program than to change the band’s make-up. According to a newspaper article published early in his time at GW, Stempel’s plan was to build an outstanding band program. He believed that a city Danville’s size should be able to maintain a top-notch band.

            During Stempel’s three years at GW, the Marching Eagles did develop the greatest consistency in the contests they entered. Whatever the ultimate cause, the Marching Eagles began winning more trophies in the competitions they entered. Also, more of those trophies were for 1^st and 2^nd place rather than the previous 3^rd place at one show, 1^st place at the next one, and 4^th at the one after. Among the Marching Eagles’ accomplishments during Stempel’s term as band director was winning no less than 1^st place in their class at every spring competition they entered, one of which was a competition held in Toronto, Canada, in 1984. The Marching Eagles came home from that event as Grand Champions.

            Circumstances forced Stempel’s departure after only 3 years as Director of Bands at GW.

Harold Ford, 1985-1988

            Selected as Mark Stempel’s successor as Director of Bands at GW was Harold Ford, who came to Danville from Lynchburg, where he had been band director at E. C. Glass High School. The band continued its winning ways under Ford, earning consistently high awards for their marching, symphonic and concert band performances. Ford chose to make some changes within the band program, but away from the performance field, that caused some grumbling among the students – although nothing had a lasting effect.

            Every spring [usually in late April], the Marching Eagles continued going on competition trips and, regardless of location or who they competed against, they won no less than 2^nd place in their competition class at any time.

            In 1988, Ford stepped down as Director of Bands at GW after learning of a new school opening in Florida that needed a band director. As he noted at the time, he did not want to leave GW so soon, but felt the position in Florida was too good to pass up.

Reginald Purvis, 1988-Present

            As the 5^th director for the GW Marching Eagles since the band became competitive, Reginald Purvis was the person picked as Harold Ford’s successor. Purvis came to Danville in 1986 as band director at Langston Junior High School, serving also as Ford’s assistant director at GW from 1986-1988. Coming to Danville from the Lynchburg area, Purvis has the distinction of being the youngest of the Eagles’ directors and holding the position the longest time of any recent director. The only person to possibly have held the position longer would have to be Thomas Huhn’s predecessor – who left the post by mid 1974.

            Under Purvis’ leadership, the GW Marching Eagles have maintained perhaps the greatest consistency in competitions that they’ve had at any time. The students enjoy performing and know that if they do their best, everyone is happy. They understand that if they break rules, they’ll face punishment, but if they obey the rules and treat others with proper respect, they’ll be treated with respect in turn.

            During Purvis’ tenure as Director of Bands, the Marching Eagles have consistently ranked highly in competitions regardless of location. The band has gone to a competition every spring, including [as of 1997] Florida (3 times); Toronto, Canada (2 times); South Carolina (two different locations, 1 time each); and Missouri, Georgia and Massachusetts (once each). During that period, the band placed as low as 3^rd in their class only ONCE. They earned Grand Champion honors at least 6 times during that period and won 1^st place in their class the other times.

            The band’s most outstanding accomplishments – not only under Purvis’ leadership but at any time in their competitive history is too difficult to pin down. In 1989, the Marching Eagles competed in Toronto, bringing home Grand Champion honors. Their point score there was so high that they won a trophy called the “Copa de Ora,” or “Cup of Gold” [5 feet 10 inches high!!] acknowledging them as the #1 band among more than 175 school bands participating in that year’s competitions sponsored by a company from Richmond, Virginia. Representatives of Fiesta-val [the host company] brought the “Copa de Ora” to Danville in May ‘89 to present it to the band at an assembly held at GW. The second of their outstanding achievements was being selected as THE high school band representing Virginia in the 1989 July 4^th Parade in Washington, D.C. Bands were there representing each US President and the GW Marching Eagles were there representing President George Washington. Since Washington was the first president, that meant the Marching Eagles were the FIRST band in the parade.

            More recently, Purvis took the Marching Eagles to New York City in March, 2000, to participate in the 239^th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade [and they later learned they had been named GRAND CHAMPIONS of that event], and then to Chicago to march in the Jingle Elf Parade on Thanksgiving Day, 2001 [and that parade gave the Marching Eagles their first TV time outside their home territory].

            Since Purvis took over as Director of Bands at GW, there has also been a big transformation in the structure of the Old Dominion Dixie Classic Band Festival, the annual competition sponsored by the GWHS Band Boosters. When organized in the late ‘70s, the Dixie Classic was a single-class contest that attracted only small numbers of bands. Small bands had to compete directly with much larger bands for trophies and cash awards. In the early ‘90s, though, the Classic changed from 1 to 3 classes so bands competed only against others of similar size. As a result, more small local bands began participating and the competition structure had to be changed again – this time from 3 classes to 4 because there was such a wide range of band sizes. Perhaps because of that change the Classic’s 20^th year, in 1997, was its most profitable up to that time.