Tiger band freezes out McQueen

Freezing cold, wet and blustery weather has often been associated with victories by the McQueen Lancers.

But on Saturday the weather was no comfort for the 140-member McQueen marching band as they watched the Douglas Tigers snatch the sweepstakes victory at the Performance of Champions competition hosted by Galena High School.

It may have, in fact, been the weather that hurt the perennial favorite's chances, according to Douglas High School Band Director Bill Zabelsky.

"Their intonation wasn't as good as I've heard them before," Zabelsky said of McQueen. "It was very cold and a little breezy. I told the kids 'cold is our ally.'"

Because cold air is denser and moves more slowly through the instruments, Zabelsky had the band tune a little under pitch.

"We had a shot to do our best," he said. "The kids were really clean."

The Tigers took first place in their division, which included North Valleys, Carson City, Reed and Galena, which was not a full participant.

McQueen was the only entrant in their division.

"By the time we played it was nearly 7 p.m., and the sun had gone down," Zabelsky said. "We kept blowing warm air through the horns before we performed. The drummers and base players had hand warmers on before we went out. One of the judges said 'Wow, your intonation was outstanding.'"

Zabelsky said the Tigers scored 84.05 points to take the sweepstakes, just a fifth of a point ahead of McQueen, which is twice their size.

"I was surprised, but our band deserved this," he said. "We were on the right side of close this time. I'm really proud of everybody, but especially the percussion. They really picked up the slack and worked hard."

Zabelsky's daughters Sarah Holland, who teaches music at Carson Valley Middle School, and Amy Jackson, who teaches at Pau-Wa-Lu helped prepare the band for Saturday.

Zabelsky said the trophy will reside in Douglas until next year's competition.

The band is scheduled to compete again on Oct. 25 at the University of Nevada, Reno.

n Kurt Hildebrand can be reached at khildebrand@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 215.