Marching Band

Thousands of Proud and Supportive Alumni

The Huntington High School Blue Devil marching band is an entrenched institution, with thousands of alumni who have been counted among its ranks over the years. The band has survived changes in its leadership, the normal evolution of its membership and new philosophies and inspirations as the times have dictated. The original bands consisted of several dozen students, a far cry from today’s nearly 150 student strong organization.

A Rich and Storied Tradition

The band was organized in 1934 by Ohio native and Oberlin College music teacher James Cloyd Doty. It was open to boys and girls in all four classes, according to the 1936 edition of The Huntingtonian, the high school yearbook. “Although newly organized, this group has worked very hard and with the cooperation of the student body, the band members have received blue and white uniforms. They gave a new feeling of school spirit to all of the occasions at which they appeared this year.”

The 1936 yearbook is the first to picture the marching band dressed in traditional uniforms. The book notes the uniforms were the product of fellow students, most likely referring to a campaign by the General Organization to raise funds for their purchase or an outright grant of monies.

Humble Beginnings to National Accolades

The first director was high school music teacher James C. Doty, who attended Oberlin College in Ohio. The 1936 drum major was Edwin Riggs. He is the first student any yearbook assigned to that prestigious role.

The band has grown over the years to play a major role in the life of the district. Following its humble origins, in later years the marching band would participate in local and national level parades and events, appear on the field at Yankee Stadium, march in the Rose Bowl parade on television and win the state championship in its division. It has garnered a lengthy list of honors far too numerous to note in a short profile