Small school, big band sound

ARCADIA, Neb. — “Band! Atten — SHUN!”

Each Arcadia band member's feet loudly locked together as they stood, heads up, eyes forward, instruments perfectly upright.

“Don't move a muscle. Don't move at all,” said Randall Warner, the band's director, as he walked back and forth inspecting the ranks. “If a fly's walking on your face, it don't matter.”

Within a few seconds, Warner called for the sharp snare-drum roll-off, and the band stepped off — each member marching crisply in time with the cadence.

It's that type of militaristic precision and attention to detail that should set Arcadia High School apart from many small-school marching bands at this Saturday's Harvest of Harmony parade in Grand Island.

It's a source of pride for the school, with 41 of its 61 students in grades seven through 12 in the band.

“It feels really like we have more respect, being more disciplined than a lot of other bands,” said senior Sierra Sillivan.

That extends beyond the school to the town of about 350 people itself. Arcadia is most definitely a “band town,” Warner said, and his students agree.

At the head of the program is Warner, who taught at Arcadia from 2000 to 2006 before leaving for Burwell. During that time, he helped build a program based on the goals of trust, respect and consistent excellence in both marching and concert band.

His signature quotation, “There is no greater compliment than to be worthy of someone's trust,” remained on the band room blackboard, unerased for years.

After a year at Burwell and two years out of teaching, Warner returned this school year. Arcadia's program slipped in the meantime, Warner and several students said, but the band's signature sharpness is on its way back.

The quotation, erased after Warner left, has been made into a sign posted prominently on the band room's wall.

Several students said they see Warner as more of a father (or grandfather) figure than a band director.

“He doesn't teach just band,” Sillivan said. “He actually teaches a lot more about character.”

Warner credits the school's administration and board for making band a high priority — it's required for fifth- and sixth-graders.

He also praised the students themselves for their dedication and enthusiasm for carrying on the town's band tradition.

“These kids have never let me down,” Warner said. “Every time I ask them to do something, they do it.”

Saturday's parade is the culmination of the band's parade marching season, which begins each year shortly after school begins with the parades at North Loup Popcorn Days and the Arcadia Fall Festival.

Those early parades — in late August and on Labor Day weekend, respectively — give the band a jump-start to the marching season that can be especially helpful when much of the band is often absent for volleyball or football games, Warner said.

But Harvest of Harmony provides the band's largest audience all year and an opportunity to represent the Arcadia community.

That's an aspect of performing that Warner preaches often, and that his students don't take lightly.

“It's a chance for us to show off not only the band, but how good the school is,” said junior Nick Gabriel. “We want to represent our town well. There's a lot of pride there.”

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