At 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 1st, Marching Virginians came from every direction to the Marching Virginians Center, a place known lovingly as the MVC. In a normal year, Bandquet would be held in the Custom Catering Center in February, but as we all know, this year has been anything but normal. In order to be as safe as possible, arrivals were staggered by section. The final group arrived at 5:50 p.m., and the event started promptly at 6 p.m. Before Bandquet, otherwise known as the End of Year Meeting, the Marching Virginians hadn’t been together for nearly six months, so it was wonderful to get to see everyone together again.
The Season in Review, which started at 6 p.m., included remarks from Karen Small, the 2020 Executive Officer, as well as from Chad and Dr. Polly. This section of the event also included a slideshow presentation from the 2020 Online Content Officer, Lexi Hackman. The Season in Review as a whole summed up an unusual season for everyone, from having to wear two masks to play our instruments, to social distancing on the field, to playing in the baseball stadium, to playing our instruments in bags. This season will, without a doubt, never be forgotten.
At 6:30 on the dot, the Awards Presentation portion of the event began! To start, Noelle Baxter, the 2020 Personnel Officer, awarded the Four Year Mugs to all of the deserving seniors, who devoted four years of their time to playing in the Marching Virginians. Also unlike other years, the Four Year Mugs were available for Bandquet! After another slideshow presentation from Lexie, this time featuring the graduating seniors, Karen presented the Outstanding Rank Member awards to one member of each rank in the band. Next, Dr. Polly and Chad presented the Outstanding Spirit Award to Macey Cohn, a sophomore in the saxophone section who was previously a manager during the 2019-2020 marching season.
Macey Cohn (second from left) along with the rest of the manager section at last year’s Bandquet; Source: Noelle Baxter
Next was the The Ryan Clark “Stackin’ Up Service” Award, presented in honor of the Marching Virginian who was lost on April 16th, 2007. This award was given to Karen Small, who put in countless hours of hard work behind the scenes during the season as the Executive Officer.
Karen Small while volunteering to play in the Drum Major band on April 16; Source: Nayha Pochiraju
Next, Dr. Polly and Chad presented the Jackie Bruhn Outstanding Rookie Award, which is presented in honor of Jackie Bruhn, a freshman member of the MVs who was tragically lost in a car accident in 2010. After presenting the award to AJ Joseph, a freshman in the saxophone section, Dr. Polly and Chad presented the Outstanding Band Member award to Kensley Bullins, a senior in the saxophone section.
Kensley Bullins playing the saxophone during the home game against Liberty University in November; Source: Lexie Hackman
Following this, Ashlyn McDonald, 2020 Drum Major and member of Tau Beta Sigma, presented the Tau Beta Sigma “For Greater Band” Awards. Katie Gill, who was a Rank Captain in the flag section for the 2020 season and a Co-Captain for the coming season, won the Visual Award. Beau Wong, who was the Section Leader of the clarinet section for the 2020 season, was given the Instrumental Award. After receiving the microphone back from Ashlyn, Dr. Polly presented the Director's Awards to Ben Sheppard and Joseph Tolley. Ben was a senior in the trumpet section this year, and served as the band’s very first Official Weather Forecaster. The 2020 season was Joseph Tolley’s eighth with the Marching Virginians, and his fifth season serving as the section leader of the trombone section. In addition to holding the record for most consecutive seasons marched, Joseph also arranged a few pieces for the MVs, including pop songs like “Where Have You Been,” “Break My Heart,” “Clarity”, and “Megalovania,” among many others.
Ben Sheppard monitoring the latest weather conditions during a balmy September practice; Source: Krista Timney
The final award of the evening was the James R. Sochinski “Spirit of Tech” Award, given to Anna Bohlmann. In addition to being a senior in the clarinet section, Anna served the band as the Librarian (2018) and Service Officer (2019 - 2020).
After the awards were all presented, the MVs were treated to the MV Blooper Reel, presented again by our Online Content Officer, Lexie Hackman. To close the ceremony and the 2020 season, Karen Small gave a few closing remarks to sum up the strangest season of our lives. After the official event ended, many MVs stuck around to take masked, socially distanced pictures with friends to commemorate the season and its absurdity.
As the 2020-2021 Bandquet drew to a close, the sun began to set behind the mountains, and we all got to enjoy one last sunset at the MVC before heading our separate ways for the summer. When we join together again in the fall, we can only hope that the season will be a little more normal, and that the Marching Virginians will get to take the field in Lane Stadium sometime again soon.
Even Stack got dressed up for Bandquet; Source: Emery Poulsen