| MHS Band 1983-84 Members: 21 Flute Clarinet Saxophone F Horn Trumpet Trombone Tuba Percussion DEPARTING: Julia Adams (11), Julie Coe (11), Susan Coe (10), Lisa Cornelison (10), Paula Gadd (10), Lisa Harnack (11), Randy Hensley (10), Ross Howard (12), Tamara Murphy (12), Alan Perkins (10), Mike Ramsdell (10), Brooks Scudder (11), Dan Smathers (10), Susan Torbett (10), Brent Wells (11), Jill Williams (11) NEW ADDITIONS: Joe Ballew (9), Aaron Francis (9), Keith Hartman (9), William Hill (9), Stephen Jett (8), Jimmy Kwak (9), Martin Leiter (9), Maria Ramsdell (8), Sarah Warner (9), Tanya Witt (9) Sousa Award * Kelli Grubbs was second chair for the fall semester but was displaced when Jimmy Kwak challenged her in the spring semester. ** David Faughn left in the spring semester. *** Aaron Francis switched to percussion in the spring semester. |
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Two transfer students to Model High School, Tanya Witt and Sarah Warner, instantly made their presence known in the band by capturing first chair clarinet and flute, respectively.
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Band Tunes Performed This Year: DECEMBER 1983 FEBRUARY 23, 1984 MAY 3, 1984 | |
 Mr. Stephens in a private after school lesson, fall 1983 |  Mr. Stephens in band class, fall 1983 |
 Keith Hartman, Jimmy Kwak and Shay Quillen at Pep Band. Taken from the 1984 yearbook. | A new band uniform, of sorts, made its debut in the fall of 1983 -- the band sweater, a red V-neck garment, with "Model High Band" and the patriot logo in white over the left breast. Intended to be worn at pep band (as seen in these photos), the reception was rather lukewarm, and by the end of the basketball season the sweaters were forgotten. |  Joe Ballew, Keith Hartman and Aaron Francis at Pep Band |
The band hosted some visitors from the north: The Danbury High School Band from Lakeside, Ohio (near Sandusky) journeyed to Richmond for a joint concert in February of 1984. Returning the favor, members of the MHS band visited Ohio in June of 1984, marching with the DHS band at Cedar Point Amusement Park.
Rehearsal with the DHS Band
 Mr. Stephens and Danbury High School Band Director Richard Price |  Program from the February 23, 1984 MHS-DHS Concert |
The Observer article about the MHS-DHS concert
Mr. Stephens drew from the middle school band more than ever in order to flesh out the ranks, as middle schoolers were recruited for pep band, and both major concerts of the school year featured combined performances by the middle school and high school bands.
The combined high school and middle school bands for the May 1984 concert
 Mr. Schubert returns at the May 1984 concert | The Spring 1984 Concert brought a surprise guest: previous band director Ken Schubert returned to conduct "Sinfonia" and "Blue Tango" (coincidentally, the same piece was performed by the band in the fall semester of Mr. Schubert's last year) with a combined middle/high school band.
Mr. Stephens initiated the Sousa Award, recognizing senior leadership and musical achievement. To no one's surprise, the award went to David Wickersham. |  Lone senior David Wickersham presents a parting gift of appreciation to Mr. Stephens |
| Jimmy Kwak turned his obsessive talents towards photography, and began collecting photos of the band and eventually produced a scrapbook of the 1983-84 year, the first "Band Yearbook." He would proceed to do the same thing the following year, making the years of 1983-84 and 1984-85 some of the most documented years of the Model High School Band.
|  Members of the Model High School Band in Sandusky, Ohio, June 1984 |
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Mr. Stephens' sophomore year began with the greatest net loss of band members in his career. In spite of ten new members, the band was pared down to 21 members and, in some instances, only two performers of an instrument. For the first time in band history, the high school band had to draw on two eighth grade members from the middle school band! In fact, with the exception of the trombone and tuba sections, it was a whole new band than the previous year. It was the symbolic end of the previous band era, and the true beginning of Mr. Stephens' own high school band.
