Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • September 2012
19
Elsa’s Procession
, and Sousa’s
Pride of the Wolverines
.
We were real successful…..and won the outstanding
band at Buccaneer.”
Hereford was selected the TMEA Honor Band
during the summer of 1967.
Gollehon says, “We hit the ground running” to
prepare for the upcoming February concert. “There
was lots of help from Dr. Gary Garner at West Texas
State, the woodwind quintet at Amarillo College, and
the faculty at West Texas State University.
“We gave a pretty good performance, we thought.
We were proud of it.”
Gollehon continues, “The community in Hereford
at that time was a great place to be. We had lots of
outstanding doctors, lawyers, CEOs, and successful
farmers. I got to teach their children.
“It was a unique time in Hereford. A unique time
for me. It was very enjoyable. I shall never forget it.”
Gary Garner recalls the 1968 TMEA Convention as
a notable year for the then WTSU Music Department.
Concerts during that TMEA included the Hereford
Honor Band, the West Texas State University Band,
and the Springlake-Earth High School Honor Band,
Dean Foshee, Director. Both those honor bands were
directed by WT products.
Gary Zook recently recalled his time as director of
the 1970 Canyon High School Band:
“Forty-three years is a long time, and my memory
isn’t what it once was, but I can remember the 1970
Honor Band Concert and the school year leading up to
it as if it were yesterday. What a year!
“I didn’t have a brilliant, well-organized teaching
program in Canyon. What I did have was a bunch
of great (and smart) kids who were willing to work
hard and put up with my idiosyncrasies, plus a
community that thought band was important. I also
had unbelievable support from Dr. John Green at West
Texas State along with support and untiring help from
Dr. Gary Garner, Don Baird, and others from WT. And
oh yes, my wife Virginia, who has remained my biggest
fan and supporter for fifty-five years.
“My assistant and Jr. High director at the time was
Gary Laramore, who worked long hours helping to
prepare the band for the concert and offering me some
much-needed advice.
“One other small thing that might have helped me
along the way was the sense of competition I had with
my old friend Ben Gollehon from Hereford.
“As I look back on it all now, winning the honor
band was perhaps the greatest experience of my band-
directing career. If I have one regret, it is that I never
showed enough appreciation to all those who helped
me achieve the honor, especially the kids!”
West Texas State Universi ty/West Texas
A&M Universi ty
No doubt, the presence of “WT” has had a
tremendous impact on the development of Panhandle
bands. In 1963, the wind faculty was expanded to
three. More faculty was added over the years, creating
a full stable of very capable specialists. Most of the
faculty was involved in teaching privately to area band
students which, of course, was a great benefit to the
students’ home band programs.
The WT Band Camp has been a long time source of
excellent instruction and incredible musical experiences
for students far and wide. A review of guest conductors
over the years reads as a “Who’s Who” in the band world.
Included are William Revelli, Frederick Fennell, Harry
Begian, Don McGinnis, Frank Wickes, Clarence Sawhill,
Ralph Laycock, H. Robert Reynolds, Fred Ebbs, and
James Matthews. Dr. Gary Garner has been a mainstay,
conducting the camp Honor Band for one of the weeks
of camp. Current WT Director Don Lefevre currently
conducts the Honor Band for a week of camp as well.
Panhandle Band History: A Ref lect ion