Did you know that the Piccolo section has their own tradition of Rank Superlatives? Each member gets their own sash with their award. Featured from left to right: Leah Childers, Jada Braxton, and Audrey Jones.
It’s that time of year! This is the time where we reflect on the season, give thanks to special members, and say goodbye to seniors. Let’s take one last look at our season in review: Bandquet 2021-2022 Edition!
First, we would like to give thanks to Beau Wong, who took professional pictures for The Marching Virginians. He even took the time to create a “yearbook,” which depicted the 2021-2022 season of the MVs. Thank you Beau for helping make this season a great one; we hope to see you come back soon!
Beau Wong (middle) created the wonderful yearbook that we use today! Thanks Beau! Source; Kerin Gorrasi
Mv show summary
Unc chapel hill: led zeppelin
Middle tennessee: military appreciation
richmond university: shenandoah
notre dame: james bond
pitt: homecoming
syracuse: dance
duke: pregame
The Clarinets sure know how to have some fun! We love our Nets! Source; Gracie Maslyn.
After the band looked through the yearbook, food was served, and Lauren Chuderewicz, the current Executive Officer, opened Bandquet with welcoming remarks and thanked all who were in attendance. Chad Reep, Assistant Director of The Marching Virginians, took to the podium and thanked the band, alumni, managers, leadership, and faculty for investing their time and energy into the spirit of tech. He laughed about broken buses, tornado warnings, and even quoted The Office:
Polly Middleton and Chad Reep, Director and Assistant Director for The Marching Virginians; Source: Lauren Chuderewicz.
“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them.” - Andy Bernard, The Office
He emphasized the importance of taking advantage of this moment, because those 4 years will fly by faster than you think. He was incredibly grateful for the new memories, and he was incredibly glad that the seniors were able to have a more normal ending season. After all, this was the first full season since the pandemic hit, and it was full of uncertainties. Throughout the season, we never knew when COVID-19 would hit Virginia Tech again, and how that would affect our band program. Luckily, this season continued as normal. Finally, he thanked the Director, Polly, for working together on The Marching Virginians.
Polly Middleton then took the podium and spoke about how important it is to have leadership, managers, alumni, officers, and volunteers come together in order to make it a great season. She joked about all of the subway lunches, and made sure to recognize managers for their dedication to the MVs. Thank you Managers, we couldn’t exist without your diligent support! We were incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful season after COVID-19, and we have to thank all of the members of the band, faculty, and volunteers.
The Virginia Tech Drumline! Thank you all for keeping the heartbeat of Tech alive. Source; Josh Hicks.
Hokies for the hungry
Afterwards, we had our first award, which was to two sections who had donated the most cans overall (Clarinets) or by person ratio (Horns). They received a Hokies For The Hungry keychain! This was a huge accomplishment, because this was the largest Hokies For The Hungry success in Virginia Tech history. We had tens of thousands of dollars of donations, and on top of that, the band itself raised over 17,000 cans! Go band!
Here are our two lovely Twirlers, along with our past Drum Major/current Student Staff Assistant, Ashlyn McDonald! From left to right: Meredith Smith, Ashlyn McDonald, and Rylee Fynaardt. Source; Ashlyn McDonald.
Senior recognition
After that concluded, the Senior Slideshow was presented by Nayha Pochiraju and Emery Poulsen, our Online Content Officers for the 2021-2022 season. Thank you both for creating content all year long! The senior slideshow consisted of Elmo pictures, yes, you heard that right! When you come to band camp, we take a picture of you with our MV Elmo! So, we showcase your final year’s picture versus your incoming picture. It was really cool to see how people changed over the course of college!
Senior recognition was read by Emery Poulsen, and Alumni pins were awarded to seniors by Robert White, the MVAA President (Marching Virginian Alumni Association). Thank you so much seniors, we could not have had this season without you and the leadership that you bring to your sections. It has been an honor to be able to have them with us, and we will always miss them. However, now they are an alumni, and can attend during MV Alumni Day! So, we hope to see you back in Blacksburg soon.
Smiles all around for Bandquet, we’re so grateful for this past season and the next ones to come!
Outstanding rank members
The list of outstanding rank members was read by Lauren Chuderewicz, which is where one member of each rank is honored for their work and dedication to the band. Their respective rank captains choose this person based on their legacy throughout the season.
Awards
The Outstanding Spirit Award is voted by the band. This recognition for outstanding spirit is awarded to the person who best exemplifies the spirit of a Marching Virginian. This person truly has a fantastic attitude, and we all know the positive impact they have on this band. It was exciting to see how many votes so many of you got, but the recipient of this award had the overwhelming majority and I think we would all agree has all of the enthusiasm the Marching Virginians. This year, the recipient of the Outstanding Spirit Award is Caroline Bingham!
Thank you to our Trombone leadership for their service; Source: Jessica Stewart.
Next, we had our award dedicated to Ryan “Stack” Clark, which is in dedication of service; this award is also selected by the students. Many of you know that we call our Hokie Bird at the MVC “Stack”, but you may not know that he was named after one of our members who was killed in the shooting on campus in 2007. Stack was a model band member who was committed to not only serving the band, but making service an important part of The Marching Virginians. This person has truly demonstrated their commitment to service, and has worked to make sure this season was a special one. They have worked more behind the scenes than you can imagine, and there isn’t a more fitting recipient for this year’s Ryan Clark “Stackin’ Up Service” Award than our Executive Officer, Lauren Chuderewicz!
Another award selected by the band, the Jackie Bruhn Outstanding Rookie Award is named for Jackie Bruhn, a trumpet rookie who was killed in a car accident following her first year in the Marching Virginians. Jackie embodied all of the greatest qualities in an MV and we remember her each year as we select a recipient for the Outstanding Rookie Award. This award is for the first-year member who demonstrates the qualities of an exemplary MV—a commitment to spirit, enthusiasm, musical and marching excellence, service, and dedication. The person winning this award today is someone who embodies all of these traits. This year’s Outstanding Rookie Award goes to Gracie Maslyn!
The 2021-2022 Trombone section for The Marching Virginians; Source: Alex Eng.
The For Greater Bands Award are given to outstanding members of the bands in two different categories, instrumental and visual. The instrumental award is given to outstanding musicians who have demonstrated excellence in their college band programs. This year, there were so many good candidates that we expanded this category into three sub sections: the music department, the Highty-Tighties, and The Marching Virginians. In representing the MVs, Tau Beta Sigma awarded Dean McDonough for his musical excellence and Rylee Fynaardt for her visual excellence. Congratulations to the others who won for the music department, HTs, and Valiant Indoor Guard: Alex Solomon (Valiant Indoor Guard), Minh Vu (Music Department), Hunter Lambert (HT).
Our Managers do so much for our band program! Thank you all for your hard work and dedication; Source: Sarah-Faith Mukuna.
The Outstanding Band Member is defined as the person who has demonstrated the qualities of an outstanding Marching Virginian—spirit, enthusiasm, musical and marching excellence, service, and dedication. There were many very well-deserving names on the list of nominees for this award, but the person with the overwhelming majority has truly demonstrated all of those qualities. This person has not only been a dedicated member of the MVs but also an outstanding role model. This year’s Outstanding Band Member goes to clarinet section leader, Dogeun Lee!
The Directors’ Award is selected by Chad and Polly—they look for someone who goes above and beyond as a member of the Marching Virginians. This is someone who serves the band in unique and special ways, and makes all of us better with their contributions. We have so many deserving, qualified, dedicated, and remarkable students, that this award is difficult to determine every year. The Director’s Award went to Caroline Bingham!
Our wonderful Trumpet section at Bandquet! Source; Lauren Chuderewicz.