About Cavalcade
The Southeastern Washington cavalcade of bands was begun in 1981,
jointly by the band directors of Pasco and Kennewick high schools, Randy
Hubbs and John Owen.
They
desired to have a marching band field competition show where band
students from high schools across the Pacific Northwest could showcase
their talents and compete amongst each other. The two band and
instrumental music boosters from both high schools formulated from their
memberships the first cavalcade executive board. That board consisted
of: Max Andrus, Larry Gerhardstein, Beverly Coffland, Marlene
Gerhardstein, Nancy Vannice, and Jackie Larsen.
In the fall of 1982, the first competition was held in Edgar Brown
stadium in Pasco, Washington. There were 12 bands that competed. They
were:
Wenatchee, Shadle Park, Hermiston, Payette, Hanford, Ferris, Clarkston,
Richland, Rogers, Central Valley, University, and Mead. Pasco and
Kennewick performed for judges comments only. The Cavalcade of Bands
continues today under the direction of Brent Steinert and Randy Bjur.
In October, 1997, the Cavalcade was held in the Neil F. Lampson stadium
in Kennewick, while Edgar Brown went through major renovations. From
that time until the present the Cavalcade has been held on alternate
fields in Kennewick and Pasco.
One important person in Cavalcade history has been Bill Dickey. He
started with Cavalcade back in 1982 (at the beginning) when his daughter
was a junior at Pasco High School. He believed in Cavalcade’s mission of
music education so much that he stayed with Cavalcade even after his
daughter graduated Bill served as the Corresponding Secretary and was
the ‘voice of Cavalcade’ with his announcer duties. We are sad to say
that Bill passed away in January 2006, he will be truly missed.