By Allison Canter

First in a three part look at ACHS's Vanguard.
Ashe County High School has a great deal to be proud of, including academics, athletics and much more.

An-other group the school and county can take pride in is the Ashe County High School Band. The band, di-rected by Scott Turnmyre, has traveled near and far, bringing home "Superior" titles and top finishes.

The marching band performed their 2008 field show at the home varsity football games, entertaining the crowds as well as accumulating more practice time for competitions.

According to Turnmyre, the 10th Annual Husky Vanguard Invitational Festival of Bands was hosted at the high school in October. The Huskies welcomed 12 bands total from both North Carolina and Virginia to par-ticipate in the event.

The Patrick County High School Celebration of Pride was held Oct. 11 and included a performance by the Husky band, where they claimed an honor rating of Superior.

The group has participated in six holiday parades this year, coming away with high honors. The parades and honors included: Nov. 15, West Jefferson Christmas Parade; Nov. 22, Concord Christmas Parade, won third place band; Nov. 26, Salisbury Christmas Parade, won first place and will be the Honor Band for the 2009 pa-rade; Nov. 27, Carolinas Thanksgiving Day Parade, Charlotte, won first place in Class AA and second place band overall; Nov. 29, Blowing Rock Christmas Parade; and Dec. 13, Kannapolis Christmas Parade, won first place band and will be the Honor Band for the 2009 parade.

"I have been very pleased with the progress our band and Flag Corps members have made this season," said Turnmyre. "We have a fine group of students who are second to none in the classroom and in the marching band and concert venues. They continually give of their own time to rehearse and perform outside of the regular school day. I cannot express the emotion that I feel when I see and hear our group perform."

The marching band has been to several college bowl games since Ashe County High School was formed. Those include the 2002 Nokia Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, La. ; the 2004 FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami, Fla.; the 2006 Toyota Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.; the 2006 Auto Zone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.; and the 2008 BCS National Championship Bowl in New Orleans, La.

Turnmyre said that at the bowl games, the band participated in field show competitions with the other par-ticipating bands. Ashe County received honor ratings of Superior and numerous first place captain awards in all the bowl games. The band also performed in parades at the Liberty Bowl and Orange Bowl and performed in both pre-game and half-time shows as part of a mass band performance.

"This is my 27th year of teaching band, and I still get the same feeling when I see the band enter the field," Turnmyre said. "It's a feeling of accomplishment and pride that cannot be expressed in words. These stu-dents are outstanding in every way."

This three-part series will honor the Ashe County High School Bands for all their awards and the pride they bring to their director, school and community. Next week look for the second installment of this series as we look at the different sections of the band and their plans for upcoming competitions and events.