The Reunion Committee of the 1970 Carlisle High School Band would like to thank the donors to the project of restoring and preserving the two historical CHS Band flags.  The newly restored and framed flags will be officially presented to the  Carlisle School District as part of the Carlisle High School Band Concert on Thursday, May 5 (7:00pm) at the “Clyde and Lyn Barr Auditorium” at Carlisle High School.  Please plan to come to the concert to see how beautifully the project has turned out and to attend the reception in the lobby following the concert.  Click here for pictures of the restored flags!

Click here to read the Sentinel article about the 1970 band trip and the flag restoration project.

The work on the flags was done by Carol Reed, local textile conservator, and Pat Craig of “Pat Craig Studios” in Carlisle.  Both will be attending the concert and reception.  The committee would like to express appreciation to Carol and Pat for their wonderful work.

The flag restoration project was initiated by the Reunion Committee of the CHS 1970 Band and made possible by the generous donations of the following band alumni and community members:
Clyde and Lyn Barr
Patti (Williams) and Ray Boldosser
Anita (Monismith) and Ron Bowermaster
Terri (Barr) and Barry Davis
Perry and Sue Heath
Tom and Martha Heiser
Barb Heishman
Don and Tracy Johnson
Alan and Karen Keller
Harold and Jean Kretzing
Marc and Terrell Allen Levin
Donna (Weary) and Ralph Littlefield
Ron and Brenda (Shughart) Long
LouAnn (Weaver) and Donald Milhimes
Ann (Wanner) and Larry Moser
Don and Marjie (Miller) Mowery (in memory of Gus)
Paul and Donna (Cunningham) Myers
Tom and Sharon Nelson
Nancy Neusbaum (in memory of Alan)
Fred and Ruth (Myers) Nickey
Sue (Henry) and Peter Ostrowski
Deb (Salisbury) and John Paulson
Allen and Cindy Roth
Linda (Fenton) and Les Thumma
Beth (Ebener) Sanders
Bob and Beth Smith
Lois Ann Sollenberger
Viki (York) and Greg Wonders
Dyane (Jordan) and David Wright
Bob and Lois Yinger
Linda Young and John Pitman
Mary (Lichty) Zeladonis

Research has been done on both flags and the following information will be displayed on informational plaques with each flag.

1966 Carlisle Senior High School Band Flag:

Clyde Barr, former Carlisle (PA) Senior High School Band director, had this “Carlisle Senior High School Band Flag” designed and created in 1965 to accompany a new band uniform design.  The flag was part of the band’s “Honor Guard”, a group of band members who led the band carrying the flags of the United States, Pennsylvania, and United Nations.  The flag accompanied the marching band in innumerable performances from 1966 through the early 80’s, including in The Netherlands at the World Music Festival in 1970 and 1974, as well as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (New York City), the  Cherry Blossom Festival (Washington, DC), and the Apple Blossom Festival (Winchester, VA).

The flag was designed by Larry Arnold (CHS Class of ’66).  The logo design includes two bison (the school mascot), a lyre (signifying music), a crown (signifying a championship band), a crossed rifle and mace, and a banner with the words “Music is the Universal Language of Mankind”, a quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  The Old English lettering was a new aspect of the CSHS Band logo.

1970 “World Music Contest” Championship Award Flag:

This flag was awarded to the Carlisle (PA) Senior High School Band for its world championship performance at the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, The Netherlands in the summer of 1970.  It is a hand-painted flag showing the Festival logo and wording proclaiming the championship.

The translation for the Dutch wording is:
“hoogste internationale onderscheiding”  =  Highest International Award
“SHOW WEDSTRIJDEN”  =  Show Contest
“WERELD MUZIEK CONCOURS”  =  World Music Contest

The World Music Contest is the most renowned and largest festival for wind ensemble music in the world. Every four years more than 18,000 musicians, belonging to more than 250 amateur, professional and military bands from over 30 countries, take part in contests, concerts and other projects.   According to 2005 statistics, more than 650,000 visitors attend the World Music Contest.  The first contest was held in 1951.

The Carlisle Senior High School Band, under the direction of Clyde M. Barr, competed in three competitions at the festival in 1970, winning gold medals in each.  In the concert competition (“Concert-wedstrijd”), the band received the rating of first prize “with honors”.  In the parade competition (“Mars-wedstrijd”), the band received the rating of first prize.  It was in the “Show Band” competition (“Showwedstr.”), a performance similar to a football half-time show, that the band received first prize with honors and the highest score ever achieved in the competition – 175 1/2 points out of 180, thereby being crowned as the “World Champion Show Band”.  The band also received the “Toledo Sword” from the Spanish Embassy in recognition of its world championship performance.

This flag was carried by the band’s “Honor Guard” in performances from 1970 through the early ’80’s, including the World Music Festival (Kerkrade, the Netherlands) in 1974, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (New York City), the Cherry Blossom Festival (Washington, DC), and the Apple Blossom Festival (Winchester, VA).