Panther band and choir room all packed and ready to move to the new building
by Gretchen Sporleder-Orr
WALSENBURG — Thanks to the dedication and hard work of members of the Huerfano Winds community wind ensemble and of the Huerfano RE-1 Education Foundation, all things band and choir are packed up and ready for the move from the old John Mall High School building to the new Walsenburg Jr. Sr. High School right next door.
The effort was needed because the district is still advertising for a high school band and choir director.
MVPs for the effort were Winds member and trumpeter Kathy Carpenter and Carol Granillo Trujillo, president of the Huerfano Re-1 Education Foundation.
Carpenter collected and repaired all instruments belonging to the district. Only two horns were found to be incomplete or unrepairable. She also catalogued 396 sets of advanced level music which were donated to AVWPE, Inc. the music lending library run by Trevor La Cost in Lamar, CO. Trujillo then entered the entire list of donated music on a spreadsheet which was shared with the district, and with the lending library, so that RE-1’s future band directors will be able to borrow them back as needed. http://www.lending-library.com Carpenter also delivered the music to Lamar.
Trujillo also organized, sized and packed up all the band and choir uniforms, and also put the info on a spreadsheet. Gauntlets, shakos and plumes were all numbered, organized, and carefully packed for the move.
Carpenter and Trujillo also packed up materials suitable for use by the Peakview Schools band director, Jeffrey Brown-Hill.
Winds members Mary Jo Tesitor (tenor sax) and Gretchen Orr (French horn) took point on emptying the file cabinets and organizing the thousands of sheets of music, some of which dated back to the early 1900s. They separated the pieces suitable for smaller ensembles and choir to be be moved to the new building for immediate use by the music program, and packed up the large ensemble and more advanced music to be sent to the lending library.
The volunteers worked on Mondays and Wednesdays for three to four hours a day, for a full eleven weeks beginning in early October until completing the job last week.
Students and alumni assisting in the effort were former band members Layla Martinez, Marissa Martinez, Toni Martinez, Victor Torrez, and Gabe Vigil, along with current choir and drama student Nicole Lague.
Two current high school weightlifters also helped with the heavy lifting of getting the boxes of music into Carpenter’s car for transport to Lamar.
