Band festival deemed success

By BOBBIE CURD 
bcurd@amnews.com

Members of the Great American Brass Band Festival's steering committee used words such as "awesome" and "fantastic" today to describe this year's festival. 

Katie Jo Kirkpatrick said more than 250 people gathered at the history conference Friday, a 10-percent increase over last year. 

A larger-than-ever crowd also showed up Friday night for the Gallery Hop. 

The committee has worked to grow the festival into more than just a Saturday and Sunday event, and with the help of the Olympia band and the gallery hop, Ramer believes it achieved that goal. 

Artist Paul Sirimongkhon being on hand at the Community Arts Center to sign this year's festival poster proved to be a huge draw, too. 

And on Saturday, volunteers serving the pancake breakfast actually ran out of pancakes, Kirkpatrick said. 

But the faithful were able to enjoy an impromptu performance Saturday night in Cowan Dining Hall by the Olympia band. Ramer said there were many loyal followers that would've been disappointed if they didn't get to experience that. 

"I had gotten a lot of compliments from people enjoying their time. I kept hearing the phrase 'world class' used," Ramer said. "It's so nice to work on something so hard and have it come out exactly like you envisioned it." 

Best picnic tables

The Sousa Award for the Best of Show for the picnic table that stood out above all others Saturday night was exhibited by Dana and John Dixon. The table theme was "Out of Africa."

Other awards went to:

* Lew Kinney of Centerburg, Ohio, who won the Razzmatazz Award for the table that reflected the colorful and whimsical character of the festival as depicted on this year's poster.

* Bill Grimes for the table that best reflected the spirit of the festival, with a theme of "Splendor in the Brass." 

* Lou and David Cheese, who won the Off Centre award for the table that best displayed the most humor in decorations, with a theme of "Say Cheese."

* Jodi and Wigham Arnold, who won the Spielberg Award with a theme of "Cow Pokes."

The judges' picks for tables "that were wonderful" but did not fall into a given category went to:

Martha and John Caywood for "Brass Tunes on the Dunes."

Beto and Bogardus for "Razzamatazz Luau." 

Chris Boyd for "Pirates."

Chuck Keiser for "Academic Excellence."

This story ran in the Advocate on June 12, 2006.