“We had the cops called out last year.”
Kevin Couch’s laughter drifted over the notes played by the band marching back and forth across the parking lot behind him. The band director glanced over to check on the band currently being led by his two drum majors - seniors Sage Hightower and Keegan McCaul - before explaining that a concerned neighbor had called in a noise complaint when they were practicing on the football field.
“The police department came in and told the administration, and they were all laughing about it,” he said. “They were like, ‘This is loud rock and roll music and it’s just too loud!’” It was unlikely the marching band would receive noise complaints that Wednesday morning as they rehearsed marching while playing their instruments in the parking lot of Stroud High School. However, the pride was evident as the band director oversaw the students’ progress.
Couch said when he started two years ago, there were about eight or nine kids in the band. This year, they have 38. He said his students were excited about the upcoming season and really “charged up.”
A fitting description with their halftime show “Shine,” which was produced by Luke McMillan and had drill design by Chris Koehn, a band director in Bartlesville. Ben Spriter is also helping out as color guard coordinator.
Couch said they went through a month of pouring over their choices before he put a few together and let the kids decide.
“I think that’s important because when they have a buy-in, it helps them to really be more successful with it,” he said.
The band is looking to improve on last year and build up its skills. They competed in St. Louis and won best overall. Couch said they are looking to do some really great things this year.
They have three competitions on the dockets, with the first being Konowa Band Day as a warm-up. It’s been going on for 60 years, and Couch called it a tradition in the area. They’ll also be competing at the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association Marching Contest - a first for Stroud - and then the OSSAA regionals. This is on top of playing at all the football games and other school and community events.
“I don’t ever have any kind of discipline issues at all with these kids. They show up, they all are ready to work,” Couch said. “The goal is just to keep improving and to continue to strive and see where we go with it.”
Continuing to foster a love for music is a goal of the husband-wife duo taking over the band at North Rock Creek High School. David and Heather Bellows are the new directors this year and have already hit the ground running. Their band camp started on Aug. 1 and ended Aug. 7. They have a total of 60 students this year - 18 are freshmen, and the rest are returning. They plan to participate in three competitions, as well as a parade competition and their usual schedule of games.
The Bellows said this year’s halftime show is “Everything in Its Time,” which will encompass many aspects of time, including clocks, timepieces, and the sounds of bell towers. The underlying theme is that there is a time for everything in life—peace, joy, sadness, and so on.
“It’s coming together nicely, and it’s really exciting to watch it all come together,” they said.
Once the theme had been decided, the directors said they brainstormed ideas for props, color guard uniforms, and flags that would help communicate it. They also contacted wellknown drill writer Marty Ortega from Westmoore High School to write the sets for the show.
They said marching band teaches so many things.
“It teaches students to work together for a common goal. It teaches students to work through adversity, build relationships, and it teaches discipline,” the Bellows said. “Marching band is a wonderful way to get students involved in something positive. And it’s fun!”
David has been a band director for 28 years, while Heather has for 26 years. The two said they had been looking for a band director position together for a while when they came across the position at NRC.
“We had heard wonderful things about the district, the administration, and the students. We also knew that the previous high school director did a great job with the program and would be leaving us in very good hands,” they said.
The couple added that they wanted to provide as many opportunities for their students to thrive and grow as musicians as possible.