If you know me, you know that I’m a bit of a smart ass. Most of my comments either bring a chuckle or an eye roll, but one day about twelve years ago, I added action to my words and inadvertently changed my life.
I had first period as planning period for a number of years. I both loved and hated that. Loved it because I’m not a morning person, so it gave me a little extra time to get myself going each day. Hated it because I didn’t have a break the rest of the day, which always seemed to pass in a hectic blur.
Anyway, band also met during first period at that time. Typically, I would pass through the old gym and down into the newer gym where the ice machine was to load my drinking mug with ice for my Diet Coke every morning before I started dealing with students. One day, the flag corps girls were in the old gym attempting to practice and come up with a routine.
I saw them there as I was returning to my classroom, and I could see that they were kind of struggling. I learned how to twirl a baton at an early age and then went on to teach the skill for many years, so I sauntered over to one of the girls (they were all students of mine) and said something like, “Let me show you how it’s done.” Then I took her flag pole and started twirling it around as if it were a baton, showing off and simply being silly, really. I then tossed it high into the air and caught it before passing it back to the girl, who was standing there with her mouth agape. The girls made some comments about how good I was at it, etc. I laughed and went back to my room to prepare for the rest of the day.
Later, the band teacher, Nate Metschke, a wonderful teacher and friend who has since passed away, stopped by my room to tell me that the flag girls had gone running back to the band room to tell him that I was really good with flags and that I should be their coach.
I laughed. He didn’t. I laughed again. He still didn’t. Then I said that I had no experience with flags and that I had just been showing off to be silly for a few minutes. He said that my baton knowledge was still far more knowledge than he had and that he really wanted me to help him. He also had a bunch of videos I could watch to help me learn the flag moves.
By the time he left my room, I’d somehow been talked into being the flag corps coach. Good grief.
In those years, our band competed in field marching, so each year there were three songs the kids would play as they moved in rather intricate formations across and around the football field. It took a LOT of practice. We’d go up to the field right at the start of first period and try to get as much of each pattern learned as possible.
With there being three different songs, I enjoyed having the flag girls use a variety of flags, even switching them out mid-song. Not only did they use flags, but they also had some shiny, silvery hoops and long ribbons. One year, we bought giant flags that had to be mounted on long, thick PVC pipe. It was very impressive to see those huge flags rising high above the band on the field. Unfortunately, one time we competed at Wayne State in strong winds, and one of the large flags essentially got swept away in a gust, and the girl couldn’t hold it, so it came down hard on a tuba player and knocked him over. In retrospect, it’s hilarious since the boy wasn’t hurt.
Eventually, Nate changed from field competition to simply marching competitions in parades. This made it much easier for everyone because the kids only had to learn one song, and I only had to come up with one routine for the flag girls to learn.
By this time, my daughter was in band, and she became a flag corps member — the best one, naturally. She’d learned to twirl baton from me and had even helped me give lessons for many years, so the flag techniques came easily to her. She and the other girls also attended a camp that UNK put on in the summer to learn other things that I didn’t know.
The video at the top of this post is of the band performing at the Nebraska State Fair in 2015 when she was a junior. She is the one with the orange flag. At the end of the routine — almost the end — the girls perform my favorite twirl, the fishhook. It’s the one where they spin it behind their heads and then toss it. You can see that Sam, my daughter, is good at it because she and I would practice that move a lot.
We would practice the routines over and over at home as we made them up prior to teaching the other girls. One day, I was really into the moves and I swung the flag pole around with extra oomph only to connect with my ankle. I’ve never fallen down so quickly. Man, did that hurt! Sam thought it was hilarious — of course.
I coached for eight years, I believe. Nate was diagnosed with cancer. He beat it, but then it came back with a bit of a vengeance. He wanted to lessen his load, so he went without flags in 2018, planning to reinstate them the following year after he beat cancer again.
Nate died on the operating table on Christmas Eve 2018.
Since then, the band has never been the same. We did have flags in my final year of teaching, but the band itself was already greatly weakened because the students didn’t like the new teacher, and they didn’t listen well or compete well under him.
After I left, a different band teacher was hired, but he didn’t incorporate flags, and the band is quite small now. I was at the State Fair this week when the band showed up to march. The kids did all right, but the excellence and flair that was there under the reign of Nate Metschke is long gone. I’m hoping it will return someday, and I hope a flag corps will be part of it.
I never imagined that I would be a flag corps coach, but of all the things I coached, I enjoyed this one the most. I loved walking with the band in the parade at Norfolk and the Harvest of Harmony parade in Grand Island as well as the State Fair. In Norfolk, one year while my daughter was in the corps, it started to rain on us. This wasn’t a light drizzle, but rather a deluge. The water poured down on the band in sheets, and everyone was instantly soaked. I knew it was likely to rain, so I had brought an umbrella, but that only kept my top half somewhat dry.
The kids, though, to their credit, didn’t miss a single step or beat in their marching and playing, and the flag corps girls just went right on twirling their flags despite the rain. It was an amazing sight, and I was so proud of all of them.
As I watched the small band march at the State Fair a few days ago, I recalled that wet afternoon march in Norfolk, and for the first time since leaving teaching, I missed those marching band days with Nate at the helm and me at the rear, marching along with my flag corps girls.
After Nate died, I wrote the following column in his honor and memory. Much of our school’s energy died along with him. He was a great guy. Even if the band someday recovers and becomes great again, it’ll never be the same. He was the best, and I’m glad my mouth got me into the role of being his flag corps coach.
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Tammy Marshall
Flag Corps