In 1966, the high school’s concert and marching bands were formed when the Williamstown, Tower City, and Wiconisco High Schools combined to form the Williams Valley School District. The school colors, blue and white with a touch of red, came from the school colors of the merged schools.
The Jr.-Sr. High marching band performed at football games and parades throughout the county. On Memorial Day, the most grueling of marching days, the band would play for THREE community parades. Starting with Wiconisco at 8:00 am the band would wake up the sleepy little community and stay for a part of the ceremony. They then had to get to the 9:30 Williamstown Parade and make it to Tower City by 11:00. After that parade the band was dismissed before the ceremony began (a lone trumpeter would stay to supply Taps) or rather what was left of the band for if it was a hot day several members had dropped out of formation because of heat stroke.
In the 80s, under the direction of Mr. Potlunas, the band began to grow from about 40 members to over 120 including band front. It also underwent a transformation with gradually adding band competitions to their schedule. It was during this time that it took on the name Williams Valley Marching “Pride”. It had grow so much that Mr. P’s early support staff of 4 (an assistant director, percussion advisor, majorette advisor, and front advisor) had added two more assistant directors and a percussion “pit” aide.
During this time band trips were scheduled every 4 years so that every bandmember got to go on at least one trip. The destinations included Washington, D.C., Florida, and Canada. In 1997 the band was invited to march in the Miss America Parade in Atlantic City, NJ.
Both junior and senior high concert bands performed at least two concerts a year: Christmas and Spring. Starting in the 1980s the bands would add a pops concert in mid winter. The sr. high band also provided music for commencement exercises. As the bands grew, the jr. high band split into a 7th grade band and an 8th-9th grade band.
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In 1981 a jazz band was started and became so popular that a junior high jazz band was formed a few years later. A feeder jazz band at the elementary school provided students for the jr. high program. The jazz bands originally performed at the spring concerts. When the Southern Anthracite Jazz Band Festival was resurrected in 1985, both bands performed at the festival. They were also featured at the WV Music Department’s Night of Jazz from 1998 until 2004. The senior high jazz band performed at the Les Brown Historical Marker dedication reception. Director Brad Volek named the band the “Cool Blue”. Occasionally the Cool Blue performed at the Les Brown Big Band Festival.
In the fall of 2011, the Williams Valley Music Department decided to explore the idea of organizing an alumni band. This was done by contacting area alumni to see if there was any interest.
The first WVAB performed at the 2011 WV homecoming. It consisted of 26 instrumentalists and 1 silk. The performed the National Anthem on the field with the high school band at pregame. The alumni also played stand music throughout the game but were allowed to traditionally roam the stadium during the third quarter as long as they were back in the stands for the begining of the fourth quarter.
WVAB’s attendance exploded at the 2012 homcoming when 72 marching alumni took to the field. This time the bandfront was represented by over a dozen majorettes and a dozen silks. The band also had its own main guard.
After the game, it was decided that WVAB would also march in the upcoming Wiliamstown Halloween parade.
The WVAB continued to appear each year at the Homecoming football games with various amounts of alumni participating. After a year of absence because of the 2020 COVID epidemic, they once again took to the field in 2021. Their half-time presentation was dedicated in memory of former Pride director John Potlunas. A record 98 members took to the field to show their love.
Video Archives
1998 TOB https://youtu.be/Jrz-OCqy-Qg?t=1
1994 Nov. Chapters Championship https://www.facebook.com/501948915/videos/389252072865718/
1994 Oct. 5 https://www.facebook.com/501948915/videos/588542795604056/
1993 ACC https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4476240059063671/
1993 TV appearance https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4442199062467771/
1991 TOB https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4475983332422677/
1990 TOB https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4475981382422872/
1991 ACC https://www.facebook.com/1555430263/videos/2815395314769/
1990 ACC https://www.facebook.com/1555430263/videos/2808932073192/
1989 TOB https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4475979749089702/
1989 ACC https://www.facebook.com/1555430263/videos/2849489807110/
1988 Tournament of Bands https://youtu.be/Jrz-OCqy-Qg?t=1
1987 Viking Stadium https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4475975899090087/
1986 https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4475974179090259/
Mr. P’s ACC dream https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4442230115797999/
Mr. P’s ACC dream #2 https://www.facebook.com/groups/201440273210359/permalink/4442240529130291/