A long time pillar of Pella High School’s band program and a legendary director of the Marching Dutch has died. Guy Blair passed away at the age of 78 early Friday morning at the Comfort House in Pella after he was flown by Angel MedFlight from a Florida hospital.
Blair helped transform the Pella High School music program into one of the most recognized in the country during his time as band director for more than three decades before his retirement in 2005.
Current Director of the Marching Dutch Dameon Place says he met Blair during a stint student teaching in Pella before assuming leadership of the program nearly a decade later. Place says Blair’s impact on generations of students is unmatched, and that it extended long beyond the end of his career.
“It’s hard to put into words the impact Guy had, in a broad sense, music education nationally even, and more specifically our state,” he says. “I think he served literally on every board in a leadership role at some point in his career and even his retirement. And then the 32 years that he served as the Director of Bands at Pella High School, leading the program to the places that he led, and really paving a way for excellence for countless students that have come through Pella High School, and in addition, to people like me who got to student teach and learn from him.”
“He was so generous with his time and his talents to all of us, and I think without him, many of our careers would not be near what they have been.”
Blair was instrumental in the development of the Pella Marching Dutch during his tenure alongside Dick Redman and Steve McCombs, which led to what is now 49 consecutive Division I ratings from the Iowa High School Music Association and several competition victories. Guy also led the group to its first two trips to the Rose Parade in California.
The Pella Marching Dutch intend to honor Blair’s legacy in several ways in the coming weeks and months, which includes the organizing of a special alumni marching group for Tulip Time festivities — and more details will soon be announced about that effort.