User:Emph0218/Bands of America

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Adding the Patrick John Hughes Award information

The Patrick John Hughes award is a national parent and booster award. This award recognizes the support, involvement, and contributions of a parent and booster every year at the Grand National Championships. Patrick Henry Hughes, son of Patrick John Hughes, was born without eyes, without the ability to straighten his arms and legs, and had two steel rods attached to his spine for a scoliosis correction. Despite all his physical issues, Hughes excelled musically. He joined the marching and pep bands at the University of Louisville School of Music. Unable to participate alone, his father, Patrick John Hughes, attended every event, maneuvering his son around the field and through the formations. In 2007, Patrick John Hughes was the first recipient of this award named in his honor. Since then, it has been given to a different parent and booster that is deemed fit.

The criterion for receiving this award is as follows

·      Value of service

·      Level of involvement with the music program

·      Strength of the letter of support

·      Results achieved by nominee

·      Power of story to motivate others

·      Creativity of the nomination entry

·      Audio/video support materials

The recipients since 2007 are as follows

·      2007 – Patrick John Hughes, Atherton High School, Louisville, KY

·      2008 – Dan Adams, American Fork High School, American Fork, UT

·      2009 – Jim and Ginny Klopfenstein, Morton High School, Morton, IL

·      2010 – Charlie Broach, Franklin High School, Franklin, TN

·      2011 – Tom Barnett, Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis, IN

·      2012 – PJ Littleton, Hillsboro Middle School, Franklin, TN

·      2013 – Dick Zentner, Norwin High School, North Huntingdon, PA

·      2014 – Tom Meyer, Blue Springs High School, Blue Springs, MO

·      2015 – Derek Greer, Owasso High School, Owasso, OK

·      2016 – Robert Edwards, Fort Mill High School, Fort Mill, SC

·      2017 – Greg Hooper, McEachern High School, McEachern, GA

·      2018 – Randy Barnett, Blue Springs High School, Blue Springs, MO

·      2019 – Ann Leever, Millard North High School, Omaha, NE

·      2020 – Bill Montgomery, Bellbrook High School, Bellbrook, OH

·      2021 – Tom Shrump, Norwin High School, North Huntingdon, PA

COVID-19

COVID-19 has negatively affected marching bands across the country. Most of the events occurring in 2020, including Grand National Championships, were cancelled or switched to online events. Just under 60% performed virtually. While many organizations were hybrid or fully remote for the season, almost 5% did nothing. 82% of ensembles lost members due to COVID-19. Most marching bands are not supported financially and raise their own money through fundraising. While unable to do this during COVID-19, many organizations struggled and continue to struggle after. Of the 73% that suffered financially, 40% were devastated.

Commonly Asked Questions

Under classification and adjudication:

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Participating bands are assigned to competitive classes based on their school’s enrollment (grades 10 through 12). Classes are used to determine preliminary placement and awards and are not announced to the judges or audience with the intention to not influence scoring. The top twelve highest-scoring bands regardless of class advance to the finals performance. Class champions who do not advance to finals are invited to perform in exhibitions

Under adjudication:

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… Each adjudicator is assigned a specific category, or caption. '''Judges are assigned a specific area in which he or she focuses - the press box or on the field. Bands will receive a recorded evaluation and scoresheet from each judge.''' The system has a strong emphasis on the Music General Effect…