For the first time in 33 years, Dan Dietrich will not be working or performing for a parade. Instead he will be taking a ride through one in his wife’s convertible.
The 2009-10 school year marks the retirement of the longtime Illinois Valley Central High School Band Director, and with his retirement, the end of an era for the school.
Under Dietrich’s leadership, IVC’s Marching Grey Ghosts went on to dominate multiple state championships. Because of his years of service to the Chillicothe community, Dietrich has been chosen as the parade marshal for the 2010 Claud-Elen Days Parade.
“I don’t have to worry about the kids being in step or if the drum line will start the roll off on the correct foot. I will get to sit back and enjoy. It is also a great honor to be asked and a part of this wonderful community event,” Dietrich said.
Dietrich, who was promoted to the position of band director in 1981, said he is “truly humbled and flattered” by the recognition for his work and credits the community, fellow teachers and the IVC Band Boosters for his success as an educator.
“I have only been a temporary custodian of a program that has been successful since Bob Allan was the director in the 1950s. The support of the IVC community has more to do with this success than anything else. That support allowed me to develop as an educator and also supplied this program with the necessary tools for success,” Dietrich said.
Since he first began teaching following his graduation from Illinois State University in 1977, Dietrich has devoted his career to helping young people recognize their talents and apply them to the real-world.
The now-retired band director attributes the beginning of his own passion for music to his junior high years when he received a first-place award after entering a music contest.
“The feeling of success and accomplishment I got from that experience motivated me to actively pursue music. I have always told my students that the secret to happiness in life is to find out what you are good at doing, find out what makes you happy and figure out how to make money doing it. Music did that for me,” Dietrich said.
“Mrs. Delores Brown was my private trombone teacher and she was the person who gave me the “gift” of music. If it hadn’t been for Mrs. Brown, I have no idea what I would be doing today. Everything I have done as an educator is due to her inspiration. The support I received from my parents also helped me on this path.”
Dietrich’s father, a Korean War veteran with a soft-spot for marching bands, played an important role in encouraging his son to take up an instrument.
Every summer Dietrich’s parents took him to the Illinois State Fair to watch the Drum and Bugle Corps contest.
Just as Dietrich’s parents and trombone teacher inspired him to pursue his passion in life, Dietrich’s own students have gone on to promising careers as well.
“Highest ranking female at Caterpillar, Academy Award winner, studio musicians in Nashville, composers in Hollywood, several doctors, lawyers, physicists” Dietrich rattled off about his former students. “My wife and I recently went to a jazz festival in Manito and several of the performers were former students. You name it, my kids are doing it.”
The Marching Grey Ghosts making State finals in 1982, the first finals at the Oak Lawn Jazz Festival, the first Grand Championship in Winnipeg, Canada, the band’s World War II commemorative concert in 1995 which filled the school’s gym with area veterans and the band’s performance at the battleship Missouri in Pearl Harbor in 2000 are only a few of the many memories Dietrich will carry with him.
“The most rewarding part of the job has been watching more than 120 teenagers coming together, working toward a common goal and achieving success in the process. To watch these kids grow and develop into wonderful people has been the most rewarding part of the position. I also have to admit that the years that my daughter, Abigail, was in the band were pretty special as well,” Dietrich said.
Although the band director is retiring from IVC, he has some big plans for the upcoming years, with music and travel at the top of his list.
He will work in the instrument repair shop at Kidder Music with former students, Aaron Mills and Doug Smith, as well as travel with his wife.
“I want to spend a summer doing maintenance in Yellowstone Park. My second love to music is woodworking and I would love to build furniture for any interested customers. My wife, Christine, and I love to travel with Italy and Alaska at the top of our list. Chris just retired from 21 years at
Peoria Notre Dame as their band director so we will now have the time to do some travel without 150 teenagers joining us,” Dietrich said.
He may not be teaching anymore, but Dietrich had some words of encouragement for young people thinking about taking up an instrument.
“Don’t let the difficulties of starting lead you to quit. Keep working, practice and you will get better. Music is something you can do your entire life and can take you to so many places. I have traveled the world and seen so many wonderful things, I have met some amazing people and been part of incredible performances. Through music I have made my best friends and met my wife.
“I truly believe that the first day I started playing the trombone way back in 1965 was one of the luckiest of my life.”
