Some history about Trinity Band…
In the spring of 1968, Mr. William D. Reavis was selected to be the first Director of Bands as well as Trinity’s Director of Fine Arts; positions he held until the end of the 1972 school year. Before the official opening of Trinity H.S., Mr. Reavis composed the music and words for the Trinity High School Alma Mater and Fight Song. The first Trinity High School Marching Band consisted of freshmen, sophomore and only 10 juniors. Trinity did not have a senior class until its second year of existence. Most of these students had no marching experience and that along with no band hall, no practice field and only a few weeks to prepare for the band program’s first UIL Marching Contest, their hard work along with Mr. Reavis’s dedication they brought home Trinity’s first ever UIL trophy. More trophies and awards were bestowed upon the band the first two years. The Trinity Band was becoming a powerhouse band and they obtained the coveted UIL Sweepstakes the third and fourth year of the school’s existence. January 1972; The Trinity HS Symphonic Band, representing The United States, was invited to Mexico by the Department of Cultural Exchange. Three concerts were presented in Monterrey, Mexico as well as one concert in route at Three Rivers High School, Three Rivers, Texas. After building a well established sweepstakes band Mr. Reavis left Trinity after the fourth year and Mr. Tom Nugent then took over the band program the fifth year.
The Trinity Trojan Symphonic Band is an award-winning group in TMEA class 6A category, and during Tom Nugent’s twenty-four years at Trinity High School, the band achieved twenty-four consecutive UIL sweepstakes ratings. The Trinity High School band was named Outstanding Band in their classification at several invitational contests throughout the United States, including Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg, TN, Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, Six Flags Over Mid-America in St. Louis, the Durango, CO Fine Arts Festival, Winter Park Music Festival, Mountain States Music Festival in Phoenix, AZ, Bluebonnet Festival in San Antonio, Galveston Music Festival, and Cavalcade of Music in Colorado Springs. In addition, the Trinity High School band was selected to attend the UIL State Marching Contest on two different occasions and was an area finalist three times in Honor Band selection.
The Trinity Trojan Marching Band continued their increasing success in the following years. The band made their first appearance in the Bands of America San Antonio Super Regional competition on October 24, 2009 and received division 1 ratings in the 2009 Region 5 Marching Contest at Pennington Field. The band also received Division 1 ratings in the 2010 UIL Region 5 competition. The marching band advanced to the UIL Area B Marching Band contest at Standridge Field. On Friday, October 29, 2010 the Band competed for the second time in the Bands of America San Antonio Super Regional Contest and received 39th place out of 53 bands, improving from 2009 which they made 37th place out of 50 bands that competed, They also increased their general score by a full seven points, from a 66 to a 73. For the 2011 marching season, the Trinity Band competed in the Aledo Unleash the Sound Marching Band Contest and placed 3rd overall. The Trinity band also received division I ratings in both the 2011 and 2012 UIL Region V Marching Band Contest. In 2012, the Trinity band returned to the Aledo Unleash the Sound Marching contest and received 2nd place overall as well as Best in Class 5A. On October 27, 2012, the Trinity band competed in the UIL Area B Marching Band Contest where the band placed 12th overall, just missing finals by two spots.
Tommy Neugent
Tom Neugent was born in Deport, Lamar County, Texas on May 1, 1939, to Nolan and Zela Neugent. Tom attended schools in Talco, Titus County, Texas and played in the Talco High School Band from the firth grade until he graduated from high school in May, 1957. As a member of a small school band, he was called upon to play a different instrument almost every year.
Tom entered East Texas State College in September, 1957 as a Music Education major and his principal instrument was the euphonium. He attended for one year and then had to drop out for financial reasons. He reentered college in the fall of 1959 after obtaining the position of band director at Honey Grove ISD in nearby Fannin County. The band classes were scheduled in the afternoon, enabling Tom to attend classes in the morning at ETSC. While teaching and attending college, he met Jackie Self. She was the drum major at Honey Grove High School and then attended East Texas. Tom received his Bachelor of Science with a major in Music Education in August, 1964. At that time, he was employed all day at Honey Grove. He married Jacquelyn June Self on August 7, 1964 in the First Christian Church in Honey Grove.
In January, 1966, Tom and Jackie moved to White Deer, Texas where he had accepted the position of Director of Bands in the White Deer-Skellytown ISD. Then, in June of 1967, Tom and Jackie returned to Fannin County where he accepted the position of Director of Bands in the Bonham ISD. While he was employed there, Jackie was able to finish her undergraduate degree from East Texas State University and begin her career as an educator. In January of 1971, their first child, Natalie, was born. Tom received his Master of Education Administration from ETSU in August of 1971. During his five years at Bonham, Tom’s legacy of success began. With help from his wife, some very hard-working, enthusiastic students, a supportive administration and community, and many phone calls to colleagues such as Ivan Goodwin, Bob Cartwright, and Pete Rodriguez – to name a few – the Bonham High School Band achieved its first two consecutive sweepstakes in 1971 and 1972.
The Neugent family moved to Euless, Texas in the summer of 1972, where Tom accepted the position of Director of Bands at Trinity High School in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD. Jackie stayed at home with Natalie and then gave birth to Nathaniel in January of 1975. She began teaching again a few years later, teaching sixth grade and then serving as the assistant principal at Midway Park Elementary in HEB until 1995.
In his twenty-four years at Trinity High School, the band achieved twenty-four consecutive UIL sweepstakes ratings. The Trinity High School band was named Outstanding Band in their classification at several invitational contests throughout the United States, including Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg, TN, Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, Six Flags Over Mid-America in St. Louis, the Durango, CO Fine Arts Festival, Winter Park Music Festival, Mountain States Music Festival in Phoenix, AZ, Bluebonnet Festival in San Antonio, Galveston Music Festival, and Cavalcade of Music in Colorado Springs. In addition, the Trinity High School band was selected to attend the UIL State Marching Contest on two different occasions and was an area finalist three times in Honor Band selection. Tom was named Teacher of the Year at Trinity High School for the 1981-1982 school year. During his tenure at Trinity, Tom was able to introduce the band students to many challenging and diverse pieces of band literature, including obscure German and Prussian marches, major orchestral transcriptions, and the newest band compositions of that time. His philosophy for UIL was to program a traditional march, an orchestral transcription and a strictly band composition. The exceptional band students at Trinity were always able to perform this literature with superior results. Throughout his career, Tom has served as conductor at numerous summer band camps, adjudicator, all region clinician and workshop facilitator throughout the country.
Jackie is currently serving as principal at Aaron Parker Elementary School in Powderly, Texas, a position she has held since 1995. Parker is the only rural school in the North Lamar ISD, located 15 miles north of Paris on US 271. Both of Tom’s children played in the Trinity High School band and are now music educators. Natalie is an elementary music teacher at West Hurst Elementary School in the HEB system, and is serving as region president of the Texas State Teachers Association. Nathaniel is Director of Bands at Creekview High School in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, and serves as the Region 24 representative for the Texas Bandmasters Association. Directing a successful program, Nathaniel’s band has been selected to the State Marching Contest twice in the last three years. Tom’s grandson, Connor, was born to Nathaniel and his wife, Nicki in April of 2000.
Tom is currently employed with the North Lamar ISD as adjunct wind instructor, working with band students in the afternoon. He also conducts one of the oldest Municipal Bands in the state of Texas. Beginning in the summer of 2001, Tom annually directs the Paris Municipal Band, which performs six Friday night concerts at Bywaters Park in June and July. Tom is a Member of Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity, TBA, TMEA, a charter member of TMAA, Texas Retired Teachers Association, and Phi Delta Kappa education fraternity. Many of Tom’s former students are band directors, music teachers, professional musicians, or still perform at church or in community bands.
Tom and Jackie are active members of the Calvary United Methodist Church in Paris. They attend Sunday School, have taken many bible study courses and Tom sings in the Chancel Choir. They are both involved in volunteer service in Lamar County. They reside at Hidden Lakes Estates in Powderly, Texas.