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HISTORY
The
DeKalb County Fighting Tiger Band
was organized October 2, 1959, with Donald Behm as its first
director.
Fowler Stanton
came to DCHS as the director in 1968 and remained until his first
retirement in 1976. (Mr. Stanton took a job in the mid to late 1990's as
director of the Gordonsville High School band.)
Larry Baskin served as director for the 1976-77
school year.
Doug Rogers served as director for the first
semester of the 1978-79 school year and was replaced by Randy Rhody
during the second semester. Mr. Rhody was a graduate of DCHS and was in
the band program under the direction of Mr. Stanton. He resigned at the
end of the 1984-85 school year.
Karl Proctor served as director for the 1985-86
school year.
As the 1986-87 school year began, Randy
Rhody was back at the helm for the Fighting Tiger Band.
In 1996, Kelly Jo Birmingham was added
as DCHS Choral Director/Assistant Band Director, making her the first
female associated with the band in a Director's position.
Mr. Rhody again resigned in August 1997 and was
replaced by one of his former students, Shannon Pirtle.
In 2000, Mrs.
Birmingham resigned
her Assistant Band Director position to Bruce Cook, but remained
actively involved in teaching the Percussion section. She maintained
strong connections with the band until 2004.
David Earl
joined the band as Assistant Director
during the 2001-02 school year, replacing Mr. Cook. Mr. Earl also held
down the general music responsibilities at Northside
Elementary School.
In 2002, Josh Trent replaced Mr. Earl as
Assistant Director and Northside Elementary School Music Director.
Mr. Pirtle resigned at the end of the 2002-03
school year and was replaced by Trevor Baxter.
Mr. Trent resigned at the end of the 2003-04
school year and was replaced by Chuck Gilbert as Co-Director with
Mr. Baxter.
In 2005, Mr. Gilbert was chosen to lead the
Fighting Tiger Band when Mr. Baxter resigned to pursue other interests. Joshua
Davis joined the band as Assistant Director.
In 2006, Mr. Davis resigned to pursue a career
playing music in the military. The band went without an assistant for the
2006-2007 season.
In 2007, Mr. Gilbert was offered an opportunity
to lead the band in his hometown in Hickman
County, Tennessee. He
was replaced by the first female director in DeKalb County's history,
Kristin Reagh. Also added to the line-up as Choral Director/Assistant
Band Director was Rebecca Purdue.
DeKalb
County's High School Band has a very winning tradition. Over the years,
The Fighting Tiger Band has won Literally Hundreds of
awards. Many of them 1st place awards. Most of the trophies are on
display inside the
DeKalb County Band Room. Just to look at all the awards the band
has won is a testament to the hard work and dedication that the students
and directors have put into this program. |
