Band gets A for effort at State B tournament
A one, and a two, and a three.
A little Lawrence Welk music?
Or how about rewinding time to Saturday night at the Natatorium Park dance pavilion?
Hey, there’s always the Almira/Coulee-Hartline pep band, whose ages mostly fall into the post-baby boomer range and whose playlist covers “Green Onions” to “Singing the Blues.”
“We’re working on ‘Make Me Smile,’ ” one band member said before taking his spot in the Spokane Arena at the WIAA State B tournament on Wednesday, “but Kim has to get her lips built up.”
And he wasn’t talking about collagen injections.
Kim is 42-year-old trumpet player Kim Jorgensen, a 1980 Coulee/Hartline graduate and a member of the school’s band. Her dad, 70-year-old trumpeter Dale Wile of Sandpoint, also sits in when time permits.
Most of the group is appearing at the State B tournament this week. They were guaranteed a Friday show after the A/C-H girls basketball team’s decisive win over King’s West, 70-51, on the opening day of the four-day event.
“This is our Carnegie Hall,” said trombone player Russ Dingman.
The band, 18 members at full strength, was formed in September after a budget cut eliminated the high school’s music programs.
Though many small schools have neither the funds nor enough students to form pep and marching bands, Russ’ wife, Julie Dingman from the Coulee/Hartline Class of ‘86, was not about to let the music be muted.
Most band members played in the band when they were in high school. For the past two years, Julie and a few friends already were pitching in and playing with about five students. This year it’s an all-adult machine, dropped notes and all.
“But we don’t like to call it an adult band,” said 36-year-old Dingman, a flutist. “It’s an all-community band because we’ll take anyone who wants to play for us.”
Indeed. At Wednesday’s game, the band’s roster included student Marcus Dingman, Julie and Russ’ son, who was celebrating his 16th birthday by playing trumpet. Also present was Chynna Wallin, a 13-year-old clarinet player.
Russ Dingman, from the Hartline Class of ‘76, also was talked into joining the band this year. He’ll celebrate his 47th birthday today playing trombone.
“I go up to people and ask them, ‘What horn did you play in high school?’ ” said Julie Dingman, the passionate leader of the band.
Added flutist JoAnn Eagle: “I see her two times a week. I had to join.”
Dingman didn’t stop with the horn and woodwind section. She also recruited 55-year-old drummer Marv Edgemon.
Edgemon remembers playing drums for the Coulee City Rams when they lost in the championship game in 1963. He’s been back to the B tournament too many times to count.
“I’ve played semiprofessional, but I didn’t think I’d be doing this again,” Edgemon said. “I can’t remember when I said yes. I must have been drunk, but I don’t drink.”
The band will play again today at 5:30 p.m. when A/C-H meets Sunnyside Christian.
Dingman and the other musicians, who drove 95 miles back home Wednesday, plan to do a little tweaking before tonight. During the football and basketball seasons they practiced once a week and finish when, as Eagle said, “We quit arguing.”
However, this week, with the Arena buzzing with B fans, it’s statewide business.
” ‘Cantina Band’ was rough,” Dingman said about the songs they played Wednesday. “It flopped. But the rest went pretty well.”