The Waconia High School Marching Band has a tradition of over 35 years of excellence in marching band. The success of the Waconia High School Marching Band is a group effort involving staff, administration, school board, parents and band members. The band represents the communities of New Germany, St. Bonifacius and Waconia - located 25 miles southwest of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.

The History Behind the 'Black and Gold': When selecting new band uniforms in 1972, we made a decision based upon fabric colors to go with a color that would be easily matched regardless of the type of fabric being using. Thus the decision to go with black and gold rather than the school colors or purple and gold. There was a mild negative reaction to the choice of colors, but the excellence of the band performances quickly erased the negative reaction. The 'Marching Chiefs' was also not used, even though it was common at the time for marching bands to assume the same logo as the sports teams. The military design was designed in 1981, and used for the first time in the Florida competition, the Festival of States. The band was the official band representing Minnesota. The uniform currently in use is a modification of the 1981 design.

The Logo: The original logo was designed in 1975 by Ginny Steinhagen, a bass clarinet player in the band in the mid-seventies who was a cymbal player in the drumline during marching band season. The logo used today is an adaptation of that original logo.

The Beginning of the Program: The Waconia band program of 1971 included, of course, the curricular band classes along with a complete lesson program, grades 5 - 12. The marching band program in 1971 included a halftime field show for homecoming. From that beginning came the comprehensive program that included, by 1975, competition events to include concert, field and parade performaces. The focus of the band program, 1971-1985, was the classroom first and the co-curricular activities as added opportunities for the students. During the 70's, many band programs focused on one aspect of the program, i.e. some on marching band, some on jazz, others on only the classroom (concert band). Our focus was to provide the students with opportunities in all aspects of a band program.

Flags Over Minnesota: How was the name Flags Over Minnesota was chosen? Many names were considered, but none seemed appropriate for the event until the conversation revolved around the bicenntential events of 1976. Four flags have flown over Minnesota: France, Spain, England, and the U.S. flags. Thus, the name of the competion: Flags Over Minnesota. Flags Over Minnesota competitions included Concert Band competition, Parade Competition and Field Competion - held on the same day. The Waconia contest began in the morning with Concert Competition held on the auditorium stage, and Parade Competition at 5 p.m., and the Field Competition on the football field at 7 p.m. The day of competition ended with a full retreat featuring all of the bands on the field for the awards ceremony. Bands came to the event from many states, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, California, as well as our bands from Minnesota. There was a time when the parade competition included as many as 20+ bands, with the field competion limited to 12 of the best of these bands.

The Waconia Band Boosters: The Waconia Band Boosters was formed out of a desire of the parents of the band members to provide support in what ever way was needed. Ester Zellman was the first president, with Arlene Matson also an important figure in the formation of the boosters. The organization has been a vital part of the ongoing success of the band program.

Waconia and the Minnesota Vikings: The relationship with the Minnesota Vikings was a special one because of the Vikings Director of Entertainment, Mr. 'Red" McLeod. 'Red' arranged many tunes for the band, was impressed with the quality of the performance of the group, and made it possible for the band to perform numerous times at the 'old' Met Stadium. The site of the Vikings and Kicks hgames. The early performances for Vikings games included a pre-game show, including the National Anthem, as well as the halftime field show. Comments were made by people in charge that the Waconia Marching Band was the one band that held people in their seats during halftime. The band was then invited to be the first high school marching band to perform at the 'new' Metrodome.

The Waconia Performancy Philosophy: Since the early days of the band, we have tried to hold true to the philosophy that every member of the audience paid the same admission price and deserves the same quality performance; at the beginning of the parade, in the judging area, or near the end of the parade. Therefore, we are here to entertain everyone. The judging area is just a small part of our performance stage.

Recent History: The Tradition Continues: During the past marching seasons the band has participated in 325+ competition-performances (plus over 100 exhibition performances); and has been awarded 225 Grand Champion or first-place trophies, 72 second-place trophies and 18 third place trophies.

The band has marched in parades all across the United States and Canada, including parades in Colorado, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania and more. Locally, the band is most known for it's three straight Grand Championship titles at the Vikingland Band Festival in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

In 2003 the band took an 11 day Eastern States Tour including Boston, and New York. In 2004 the band took a 9 day tour of Denver, CO and in 2005 the band traveled to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to participate in the Calgary Stampede . The group was awarded Grand Champion and Best Color Guard Awards in the Calgary Stampede Parade. During the summer of 2005, for the first time in the Waconia High School Marching Bands history the band received Grand Champion at every completion they attended for the 2005 season!

The Waconia High School Marching Band has a membership of 175+ students, drawn from grades 8-12. Marching band is recognized as an extracurricular activity and the season extends from early spring through mid-summer. Rehearsals are not part of the school day, but rather, are held before school, in the evening and on Saturdays. The marching band is one component of a comprehensive instrumental music program at Waconia High School that also includes concert band, jazz ensemble, pep band, and small group performance opportunities. In addition, winter color guard and winter drumline programs are offered.

The Waconia High School Band Program is supported enthusiastically by The Waconia Band Boosters, Inc. that works independently, though in close cooperation with the school district in providing services as well as financial support.