Posted: 6/14/05
David Earp grand marshal of Albert Lea parade
Editorís note: David Earp of Caledonia is the 2005 Grand Marshal of the Albert Lea Festival of Bands this Sunday, June 19. The event, which features 21 high school marching bands from Minnesota and Wisconsin, starts at 2 p.m. in downtown Albert Lea. Printed here with permission are excerpts from an article about Earp from the May 15 Albert Lea Tribune.
By Geri McShane
Albert Lea Tribune
David Earp would have become an engineer if it hadnít been for the physics instructor who told him heíd never pass his class without calculus.
As it turned out, the instructor did Earp a big favor. He explored other majors, and since music was a subject he knew something about, he earned a bachelorís degree in general music education.
Earp, who grew up in Albert Lea and graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1954, went on to teach instrumental music in Rapidan Public Schools, Woden-Crystal Lake Community Schools in Crystal Lake, Iowa, and Caledonia Public Schools, retiring in 1992.
Earp has been named this yearís grand marshal for the Albert Lea Festival of Bands, which will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 19, in downtown Albert Lea.
It was Earpís college roommate his freshman year who got him into band. He asked him to fill in on the bass drum in the marching band.
ìHe said, ëYou can do this. Every time your foot goes down, hit the drum,íî Earp recalled. ìAnd I thought, ëHey, this is good stuff.íî
ìIt turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me,î Earp recalled. ìThere was a short saxophone player from Iowa right in front of me.î
That saxophone player, Lavon, would become his wife, but not until Earp was pressed into service to learn bassoon and oboe and ended up sitting right next to her in the regular band.
After graduating from college, he chose to teach in Rapidan because Lavon still had two years of school left. She would earn her nursing degree and later teach at Viterbo College in La Crosse, Wis. Earp was Rapidanís first full-time band director.
They spent five years there, then five years in Iowa before settling in Caledonia to teach for 24 years.
ìWorking with the kids was the best partî of teaching, Earp said. ìThey kept me in high school music.
ìIn band, students are there because they want to be there,î he said. ìTheyíre easier to motivate.î
Earp said he always believed that every student who wanted to play deserved to have a spot in the band.
He easily names three highlights from his years of directing band.
First, he's had a number of students go into music, both as performers and teachers. Some play with local dance bands, others community bands. Some have gone into music repair, music therapy, and even entertainment law.
A second highlight was the parents who thanked Earp for allowing their children to be in band. Some even went so far to say that playing in band kept them from dropping out of school, he said.
Thirdly, even though he's retired, he still gets calls and visits from former students.
Although heís retired, Earp keeps an active hand in music. He served as a church choir director in Caledonia for 30 years, and still judges solo and ensemble contests in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
The Earps are part-time, seasonal employees at Historic Forestville State Park. The couple has three grown children, Jonathan, Michael and Allyson.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com