Dick Watkins to Be Honored in Mahomet-Seymour 2024 Hall of Fame for Transformative Impact on High School Band Program
M-S 2024 Hall of Fame class
Tom Shallenberger, Class of 1978
Dick Watkins, Teacher 1973-2006
Induction date: Friday, Sept. 20 vs. Charleston
By FRED KRONER
Dick Watkins is accustomed to building from the ground up.
Raised on a 350-acre grain and livestock farm in rural Arthur, Watkins understands the process of planting seeds and waiting for them to grow before reaping a bountiful harvest.
He followed a similar plan when he took over a moribund Mahomet-Seymour band program and will be recognized for his contributions in the fall as one of four new inductees for the Mahomet Schools Foundation Hall of Fame.
By the time Watkins added high school band instructor to a teaching load that included the elementary school, there were fewer than two dozen students participating in the band.
A once-flourishing band (throughout the 1960s and most of the 1970s) had taken a step backwards when popular director Larry Gnagey resigned after the 1976-77 school year ended to accept an administrative position in the M-S district.
Watkins was already entrenched on the M-S faculty, starting with doing his student teaching under Gnagey in 1973.
“They asked me to take the position (when Gnagey resigned),” recalled Watkins, who was then the fifth- and sixth-grade band director. “I declined.”
His reasoning was simple for not taking a position he would have wanted had the timing been different.
“He was bigger than music,” Watkins said. “I knew I couldn’t follow that man. I knew half of the kids would walk out. Larry emphasized learning to be a better person first and music was right behind.
“He had a unique and special way to run his class. I knew there had to be some time pass after him before I could change the direction. He had over a hundred kids in the program.”
In the five years that followed Gnagey’s departure from the M-S band program, three different band directors were hired.
In the summer of ’83, when the position opened up again, Watkins was again asked to consider reviving the band.
This time, he took on the challenge.
“The program was very small, partly because of the turnover of band directors,” Watkins said. “We had less than 20 people in the high school band.
“I marched seventh- and eighth-graders that year. My second year, we marched eighth-graders.”
By Year 3 of the Watkins regime, the numbers in the high school band had exceeded 60.
Watkins decided it was time to do more than play at school. He entered the Bulldogs in a Marching Band competition.
“There were 15 bands, and we got 15th in our class,” Watkins said.
He was not discouraged. He had worked with most of the students since fifth grade and was pleased by the work ethic and desire to excel that he saw.
In Watkins’ fourth year, the M-S band improved its best finish in a competition to fourth place in their class. A year later, the Bulldogs were on the verge of dominance, earning a runner-up finish at one competition.
“Next, we won the UI Marching Band competition seven years in a row (starting in 1988),” Watkins said. “For seven straight years, every competition, every field competition and every parade competition we were in, we won.”
Mahomet-Seymour had established a reputation as one of the premier high school bands in the Midwest.
“It was harder to get there than to maintain it,” Watkins said. “The difficult part is to make it fresh every year with new music and new drills.”
As the successes mounted, Watkins determined it was time to showcase the band on a national platform. He went through a lengthy process to get M-S considered for the annual Rose Bowl Parade, in Pasadena, Cal.
“It was a three-stage process and you’re selected two years in advance,” Watkins said.
An audition tape is the first step. Those who make the cut are next asked to submit pictures, a resume and a recommendation from a college band director.
“Then, they (the selection committee) listen to you in person,” Watkins said. “We performed at Lake of the Woods.”
Mahomet-Seymour was one of 16 high school bands chosen to march in the 107th Tournament of Roses parade in January, 1996. The Bulldogs represented a four-state region that also included Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.
“This was the pinnacle of my career,” Watkins said. “We marched 150-plus students and every student got a plaque.”
The M-S band had more than parents and relatives showing their support for them on the West Coast.
“Northwestern was playing in the game (and lost to USC, 41-32), and their crowd was cheering for us,” Watkins said.
Under Watkins’ direction, M-S made multiple national appearances. The school was chosen twice to play at the Fiesta Bowl, in Tempe, Ariz., and twice to play in Hawaii at King Kamehameha, in Honolulu.
Along the way, Watkins added his touch to the band program. He took a pep band to away football playoff games. He started the Music Booster Club. He also sought – and received – permission to hire a flag instructor to partially reduce his workload.
However, he didn’t seek recognition for himself.
“He never wanted to be in the limelight,” said Jason Mock, who graduated from M-S in 1997.
Lee Smith had the opportunity to observe the M-S band program upclose for a decade. He had three children participate (Justin, Class of 1996; Allyson, Class of 1999; and Melody, Class of 2003).
Smith, the former president of the M-S Music Boosters Club, pinpointed one reason for the school’s prolonged success under Dick Watkins and his wife, Janet, who was in charge of the equally successful choral department.
“He and Janet, in my opinion, outworked everybody,” Lee Smith said. “Their attention to detail and dedication is unmatched.
“He’s a perfectionist and would practice over and over and over until they got it right. Dick didn’t accept anything less than getting it right. I’m not sure they were more talented, but they outworked everyone. They impressed me with their work ethic.”
Watkins’ commitment included more than selecting the music to play each year and then training the students. He was involved behind-the-scenes as well.
“I took care of the high school athletic fields and my (practice) field,” Watkins said. “I loved that kind of thing.
“I had a couple of students (including Mock) who helped.”
After retiring from M-S, Watkins continued as the caretaker for 10 other fields in the area for another decade – including Argenta-Oreana, Monticello and Newton – until 2016, “when I sold all of my equipment,” he said.
The outside jobs were not ones that Watkins viewed as work.
“I always had a love for the dirt,” he said. “Being on a tractor is something I loved.
“I got paid to do both, teach music and play in the dirt. I loved 95 percent of my job.”
For the Watkins’, inclusion was important for both band and chorus.
“If anybody had other activities, they were excused (from band or chorus commitments) after school so they did not have to choose,” Dick Watkins said. “We took the conflict away.”
Among those who were able to participate in both sports and music were the Heinold twins and the Herriott brothers.
The Watkins’ didn’t compete against each other for students.
“One thing that made our program different was that when Janet had the chorus, we decided to share so kids could be in both,” Dick Watkins said. “I practiced Monday, Wednesday and Friday and she practiced on Tuesday and Thursday.
“At one point, 80 percent of the band was also in the chorus. It’s about giving kids the opportunity. We were willing to work together. Without that, we never would have reached what we did.”
By the time Watkins stepped aside from M-S in the spring of 2006, he had fully turned the band over to Michael Stevens. He made certain the transition was a smooth one.
“We switched positions the last couple years and I became the assistant,” Watkins said. “He was making more decisions.”
The M-S band program has continued to flourish as the participation has increased to more than 200 students under Stevens’ direction.
“He carried on the tradition of excellence and has taken it up another notch,” Watkins said.
As for his philosophy, Watkins said, “Success is found in the journey, not in the destination. My job was to take every minute of the journey and make it something better.
“Every practice, and every rehearsal, was part of preparing ourselves to be successful.”
Watkins said he viewed the Marching Band as, “a Concert Band performing in motion. I took the approach that Marching Band was a Concert Band and made it seem like a continuation.”
When Dick Watkins enrolled at the University of Illinois, it was as a pipe organ major.
“The first semester, there were 20-plus organ majors,” Watkins said. “I was the 19th or 20th.
“I decided to go into music education and graduate in four years. I’m not a performance major. I’m a teacher.”
A long-standing point of emphasis for him was to master the basics first and foremost.
“The key to success is the fundamentals,” Watkins said, “and that is where I am gifted the most, teaching fundamentals.
“I learn better by doing than by reading or being told.”
By trial and error, Watkins also learned it was best to provide positive reinforcement, although at times he allowed his frustrations to show.
“For every kick in the butt, I’d give three slaps on the back,” he said. “The more I stressed positives, the better the kids responded.”
Watkins would orchestrate a week-long Marching Band camp annually in mid-August. The practices lasted about eight hours per day, divided into different sessions.
“The first 2 ½ days were on music and fundamentals,” Watkins said. “You start with perfection. The last 2 ½ days, we added stuff for the show.”
His policy was contrary to the format in other school districts.
“Most bands try to learn the entire show in one week,” Watkins said. “My concept is to learn a little and do it well, then build the rest of the show on fundamentals and cleanliness.
“I brought fundamentals and Janet brought musicality at a high level.”
Asked what he misses the most, Watkins doesn’t hesitate with his answer.
“The fifth-grade band,” he said. “I love the beginners and seeing the excitement, and nurturing them along.”
As students picked their instruments at that young age, Watkins tried to provide direction.
Sometimes that went better than others.
Mock was reluctant to follow Watkins’ advice when he was a fifth-grader in 1990.
“At the end of fifth-grade, you got to try out different instruments,” Mock said. “I wanted the trumpet, but it wasn’t working for me.
“Dick had me try the trombone.”
By the time he entered sixth-grade, Mock hadn’t given up on the trumpet, though he said, “Dick could tell where I would be successful and tried to coach me in that direction.
“My lips were too large to fit the smaller mouthpiece of the trumpet.”
Watkins recognized that Mock would be better-suited for the trombone and its larger mouthpiece. Eventually, Mock agreed.
The band director recognized Mock’s talent early in his high school career and placed the teen-ager on a grading scale that was different from his classmates.
“He pulled me aside and said how the grading scale worked in band,” Mock related. “He said because I had good talent, he’d hold me to a higher standard. It would be how hard I pushed myself relative to my abilities.
“It didn’t seem fair, but he let me know his expectations. It caused me to try harder and harder, and the result was I tended to get better and better instead of being on par with my peers.
“With his help, I ended up being very successful on my instrument. I played in the UI Band and had a significant part in the Marching Band.”
For many students, Watkins said, the grading was based on “classroom participation,” adding, “not everyone is gifted to be a great performer, but everybody can give their best effort.
“If you do, and improve, that’s an ‘A.’ What I love about music is that everyone got to perform. No one was sitting on the bench.”
The decision to focus on the trombone turned out to be a life-altering decision for Mock.
“The trombone opened so many doors,” Mock said. “I would not have had my family without it.”
Mock was selected to play trombone for the Marching Illini – one of about a half-dozen of Watkins’ former students selected for that honor at Illinois – and there were 36 total trombones in the section.
“There were 32 men and four women,” Mock recalled.
Despite those odds, Mock met his future wife (Angie), who was also a trombone player in the Marching Illini.
“I have Dick’s tutelage to thank for that,” said Mock, who calls St. Joseph home. “Now we have three kids.”
For Mock, Watkins’ influence extended beyond the classroom setting.
“He invested in me as a person,” Mock said. “He was also one of the groundskeepers for our performance field and made sure the football field was lush green.
“He knew of my character and asked me to be one of his employees. Through that experience, I learned lawn care, light construction work, how to maintain an engine and change oil.
“Now, I fix things around my house. He had an astounding music career, but is a very mechanical-minded person. I was able to learn and benefit from what Dick learned from his father.”
It evolved beyond a teacher-student relationship.
“He and I developed a friendship,” Mock said, “like a mentor-mentee.
“I got the sense that he cared for me personally. There was a lot I was able to absorb. He’s the most top-notch character person I know.”
When Jason and Angie were married, Mock said, “I asked him to be the MC (master of ceremonies) at our wedding, and he helped organize some of the music.”
More than a quarter of a century later, they are still in touch on a regular basis.
Watkins said Mock was the perfect blend of skill, determination and attention to detail.
“For four years, whenever he was on the field, he was the first to bring himself to attention,” Watkins said. “He was always focused and set the standard for everyone else to shoot for.
“He was receptive to learning, his performance in practice and effort was the very best. He was an outstanding player.
“His technique was what you see in marching band textbooks. It was that clean all the time.”
By the time Mock had graduated from M-S, Watkins had named the Marching Bulldog Award in his honor.
These days, Watkins is not totally removed from the music scene.
Dick and Janet – who was inducted into the M-S Hall of Fame in 2020 – have 17 grandchildren (between ages 7 and 29) and, Dick said, “many are in music activities. A couple are performance majors in college. Eight will be in college next year.”
The Watkins’ will be the first husband and wife to be enshrined into the M-S Hall. There will be 35 members in the Hall after the 2024 ceremony.
When he’s not in the stands or bleachers as a spectator, Dick Watkins has been asked to judge various band competitions each fall, including ones in Danville, Monticello, Pontiac and Washington (near Peoria).
Not surprisingly, he is generally assigned to judge an area with which he is extremely familiar.
“Normally, they give me fundamentals to judge,” he said, “but sometimes they give me music.
“That’s how I keep my hands in it.”
And speaking of hands, there’s no shortage of former students – or parents of former students – willing to raise their hands collectively and applaud Watkins’ selection to the M-S Hall of Fame.
“When I was young, I was interested in band, but I wasn’t passionate about it,” Mock said. “Over the years, it turned into a passion.
“Dick is someone I looked up to as a musician and as a human. He has so many skills.”
Added Smith: “The idea that Mahomet-Seymour is a winning program, he built that. He and Janet worked long hours and were dedicated to getting it right.”
