THOUSAND OAKS : Band, Color Guard Win Tournament

Thousand Oaks High School’s marching band and color guard have won top honors at the Arcadia Festival of Bands, the first Ventura County high school band to win a silver baton in the regional contest’s 37-year history.

Performing a march written in 1928 by John Philip Sousa protege Henry Fillmore, the 130-member Lancer Band and Color Guard defeated 43 other schools in Arcadia last weekend, winning the Band Sweepstakes and Music Award, the contest’s two highest honors.

Winning the limited-entry tournament after previous close finishes provided an emotional moment for the band’s members and supporters, said Mark Burbrink of the band boosters’ executive committee.

“There were a number of parents and band alumni who cried at the awards ceremony,” Burbrink said. “Thousand Oaks has worked hard to build up their band.”

Band director Bill Hoehne credited the hard work of the band members, who practice 2 1/2 hours a day during the fall semester, for the victory. But Hoehne also identified the band’s “accomplished woodwind section and good brass contingent” as key elements in its success.

“We tend to have a warmer, more blended sound than some of our competitors,” said Hoehne, who is in his fourth year as band director.

By winning the Arcadia competition, the Lancers will take possession of the silver baton until next year’s winner is selected.

A month earlier, the Lancers won the music sweepstakes trophy at the Mt. Carmel Tournament of Bands, Hoehne said.

The Thousand Oaks Lancer Band and Color Guard will participate in the Camarillo Christmas Parade on Dec. 12 and will perform in the annual holiday concert at the First Christian Church in Thousand Oaks on Dec. 18.