Werlings are Classic’s Grand Marshals

“Whatever they need, we try to help them out,” comments Wasecan Wally Werling who, with his wife Deb, has served as a “host” to visiting bands during the Marching Classic.

The Werlings were named this year’s grand marshals for the Classic’s parade, scheduled to begin at noon this Saturday in downtown Waseca.

Mary Williams, a member of the Marching Classic organizational team, mentioned the couple’s selection is meant to honor the decades of service the two have provided. Wally hosted for the first time in 1996; Deb began assisting within a few years afterward. 

For most of their time as hosts, the couple has been assigned to spend the day with the Rochester Lourdes marching band, although there have been occasional years they assisted other groups.

Wally and Deb explain that, aside from an organizational meeting prior to the Classic, the assignment consists–officially, anyway–of a one-day commitment.

“You get on the bus with them when they arrive in town,” Wally explains, “and you stay with them the rest of the day. All the way through until after the fireworks.”

The couple says the tasks performed depend on several circumstances. “Some bands are in the parade and the field show,” elaborates Deb. “Some are in only one event. What the hosts have to do depends on what the band needs to do, and where it needs to go.”

Wally and Deb also say having a locally based host is tremendously helpful to the visiting groups. “We help them find the places they have to go,” says Wally. “We answer their questions about street routes, about local places to get food–all the things it’s good to know when you’re in a new town.”

Hosts also act as liaisons: event leaders disseminate information to band leaders by sharing it with the hosts, including having them deliver the itinerary packets for the day. Deb and Wally remember a time when E.F. Johnson would supply the Classic with handheld radios for the many updates and exchanges that would occur throughout the events. Nowadays, though, smartphones are the platform for on-going communication; all hosts are provided with each others’ numbers.

The Werlings emphasize that, given the number of people and the many logistics involved with getting about a thousand young musicians, their instruments and equipment, their uniforms and their accompanying adults into town, to the parade, to the clinics and to the field show, the number of emergencies has been small–but they do happen.

“Jim Kozan and the Waseca Music Store are so valuable to the music programs in our town,” comments Wally. “We’re lucky to have him.” Although they feel fortunate to have experienced very few emergencies, they comment that Kozan is usually called upon a fair number of times during every Classic to find instrument parts or even “loaner” instruments. 

There have also been difficulties with vehicles, including a van breaking down near Owatonna while pulling a trailer full of needed supplies; a Marching Classic volunteer drove over to pull the trailer to Waseca while the van went in for repairs.

“Whatever they need, we try to get it done,” Wally repeats.

In addition to being challenging, though, the Werlings say the job is richly rewarding.  Deb and Wally raised four children, two of whom were members of the Marching Jays: Their oldest daughter Dawn (now Erickson) played flute and, Deb mentions, still plays. Dawn graduated in 1996. Their youngest son Brad played clarinet and bass clarinet. He graduated in 2003, having been in band all four years.

“It’s great for our Waseca kids to have the strong band program we do, and to be able to be in an event like the Classic,” says Wally. “It feels good knowing we’re part of that.”

Especially because they have been assigned so consistently across time to one specific band, the Werlings say they have made many new connections and even become friends with some of the Lourdes staff and volunteers who regularly come to the Classic.

One, former Lourdes band director Lee Krueger, observes, “The Werlings are not only part of the Waseca program, we came to regard them as part of our program. They would contact us ahead of time to see if we had any particular needs, they would be there waiting for us when they arrived…

“And they would always greet us with a smile, that was maybe the best part of it. We could tell they were happy to be there helping us.”

Krueger called their selection as grand marshals “well deserved,” and said he plans to attend the Classic this year mostly to show his congratulations and goodwill, since he is no longer part of the Lourdes marching band program.

Krueger remembers making a point of presenting the Werlings with hats which sport the Lourdes Eagle mascot, saying. “There was never any doubt they were part of our team.”