Alumni relive days at MPCHS with Alumni & Friends Pep Band

The band is back together again.

Alumni from Mt. Pleasant Community High School joined current students in the pep band during the high school boys' basketball game against Ft. Madison on Friday, Dec. 21, for the annual Alumni & Friends Pep Band.

'They say you don't miss high school, but I sure do miss band,” said Deann Scott, who graduated from MPCHS in 2011.

Band members gathered in the music room at the high school to quickly rehearse before filing into the bleachers in the gym.

Scott, on saxophone, wasn't sure if she would remember the notes as alumni pep band director and music teacher at Mt. Pleasant Middle School Adam Creager led musicians in songs played by the pep band throughout the years.

'I wasn't sure I would remember how to read music,” Scott admitted, adding that once she began it was easy to follow along.

The Alumni & Friends Pep Band was started about six years ago. With college students home for the holidays and other alumni back in town visiting family, it's the perfect opportunity to get the band back together, said Jim DePriest, instrumental music teacher at MPCHS.

'It comes back quickly, and (alumni) remember the songs we play over and over again. We get all ages, from retirees to kids who just got out of high school,” DePriest said. 'Usually we have a pretty good turnout.

'These kids become such a part of our family. It's kind of like a homecoming,” DePriest continued. 'All the folks in town who have played music within the last 20-some years, it's good to see them.”

Creager said if the alumni were in band in high school, it would be easy for them to jump back in. He estimates that about 20 to 30 alumni show up every year to play at half time during the JV and varsity basketball games.

Patrick Epperson, who graduated in 2015, comes back for the Alumni & Friends Pep Band every year. Home for Christmas break from the University of Northern Iowa, Epperson said the pep band is a good opportunity to hang out with old friends.

Joey Holtkamp, who graduated just this past year in 2018, joined the pep band again while home for Christmas break from Iowa State. While he's only played his instrument once since being at college, Holtkamp said it wasn't hard to jump back into it.

Stephanie Vallone estimates she has come back about three times to play in the pep band since graduating in 2009.

'It's really fun to pick up a trumpet again after all these years,” Vallone said. 'Playing my trumpet was a big part of my high school life, and it's fun going back to it and trying to remember the notes.”

Kyle DePriest, a 2013 graduate and the son of Jim DePriest, traveled home for the holidays from New York City, where he has been living for the past few months.

It's the first time in seven months that Kyle said he has played his instrument. Kyle said that pep band was always fun in high school and the Alumni & Friends Pep Band is a good opportunity to relive that.

'It was one of the highlights when I was in high school,” said 2015 graduate Levi Boston-Kemple.

Sarah Van Dorin, a 2013 graduate, comes back every year to be in the Alumni & Friends Pep Band.

'I'm very rusty, but by the end of the night, it's like you're back in high school again,” Van Dorin said.