Marching band returns triumphant

The Blue Pony buses carrying the Havre High School band rolled into town Wednesday to a city proudly waiting to welcome them back.

The band represented Montana in the National Independence Day Parade in Washington.

Police, firefighters and parents waited at the Holiday Village Mall after 10 a.m. to join and escort the buses to the school.

The honking procession, with the coach buses in between and a police vehicle on both ends, stretched about 15 cars long. Some people stood on the side of the road, waving and taking pictures with their cellphone cameras as the motorcade went by.

The crowd grew after the buses arrived at the school.

Despite the steady rain, parents and family members patiently waited for the students to exit the buses. When they eventually did, people clapped and cheered.

Superintendent Andy Carlson and Board of Trustees Chair Aileen Couch were waiting for the students to enter through the wide-open doors to the back stage of the theater of the school. Carlson had bought ice cream - Dilly Bars - for the students and set them on a table by the entrance.

"It was amazing," Carlson said of the band's performance in the nation's capital.

He said nothing like this has ever happened to any Havre school.

Carlson beams when talking about the band.

Scott and Julie Strobel were in the hall outside the band room, waiting for their daughter Holly Strobel to join them. The hall was bustling with chattering students and being littered with instrument cases.

The Strobels said Holly had kept in touch with them during her trip via text messages. When asked if they were concerned about her during the hiatus, Scott Strobel shook his head and said he was not worried and Julie Strobel said she had been nervous.

Holly Strobel walked up to her parents and hugged them.

"It was amazing," she said of her experience.

She said her favorite part of the trip was seeing Emmy Award-winner Tom Bergeron host the Capitol Independence Day celebratory event. Her least favorite part was the east coast humidity.

Band director David Johnke was in his office, having spent over an hour talking to a long line of students and parents. He said he was tired and had been waiting to go to the bathroom for a long time.

Johnke said the band was in Washington to showcase how great Montana is, and the goal was achieved. He said bystanders began "rubbernecking" and watching the band before they even started marching, during warmups.

"I hate to brag, but I will brag. The kids are good, and you know they're good," he said.

When he came to Havre 11 years ago, Johnke said one of his longterm goals was to put Havre on the map, and he believes that's what has happened.

Johnke will be leaving and moving to Flathead County Monday, where he hopes to do great things with the Flathead High School band in the years to come.

He said the reality that he is leaving very soon hit him in the Holiday Village Mall parking lot, just over an hour before the interview. By the time the bus pulled into the school parking lot, it was difficult to "keep it together" as he addressed the students one last time, he said.

"What a way to end on a high note," he said. "Oh yeah, I cried."