Dobson, White earn musical honors
By Christie Cochran
Special to The Star-Herald
WASHBURN — Two very special students, both members of the Washburn District High School Junior Class, have recently been awarded recognition in both All Aroostook and All State bands.
TWO WASHBURN BAND members were recently named to both All Aroostook and All State bands. Pictured from left are: Chandler Dobson, Drew White and WDHS music and band Director Sean Diette.
Drew White has been selected as first chair in the percussion category, which included being able to play a total of eight instruments; and the third seat in both bands went to Chandler Dobson for his skill at playing the trombone.
Drew has been a member of All Aroostook for several years, including two in elementary school and now two in high school. Chandler was a member of All Aroostook band as a sophomore, and now as a Junior is a member of both the All Aroostook and All State bands.
This year both boys were advised to try out for the positions by WDHS Band Director Sean Diette. He has been advising both boys during some special practices learning everything from basics to dynamics of music for several months prior to the tryouts. Both boys agree that this major achievement could not have been possible if Mr. Diette hadn’t been willing to work with them and concentrate on the areas the boys needed to excel in, such as sight reading.
The two put some major effort into earning this achievement, including playing together before and after school, working on some intense practice sessions with Mr. Diette and even hanging out together in their spare time to play music. They made good use of the school’s band room to hone their skills and take advantage of all the instruments. One can only imagine the wonderful musical sounds coming out of that room when there was no one else at the school aside from the janitors who likely enjoyed hearing it!
Chandler and Drew both felt that they did well, but neither felt as though they would place as high as they did. Others knowing these two thought differently and, as it turned out, so did the judges. Both boys agreed that all the hard work and practice time was fun and was worth it all. They also said that the “coolest” part of this award is that they are best friends and get the chance to truly share their love of music and the entire experience of competition.
This award is not an everyday occurrence for Washburn, with the records showing that the award for a WDHS student attaining a seat at the All State Band level took place 13 years ago and, coincidentally, the band member was Sarah (Brown) Diette, the wife of the current band director!
Besides their music, they are active in other areas. Chandler’s interests include basketball, baseball, woodworking, soccer, cross country and track. Drew keeps busy working at the family garage, working with his church and attending band camp, as well as writing some of his own music and songs. Both Drew and Chandler are members of the high honor rolls and adamant fans with lots of spirit for their school.
Drew is the son of Andrew and Kelly White and Chandler is the son of Sam and Shelby Dobson and step-mom Diann Dee-Dobson.
