Georgia Bridgemen Directors
Jon Bowman is in his second year as Director of Bands at Lowndes High School. He has taught in several school systems in the state of Alabama for the previous eight years.
Mr. Bowman most recently served as Director of Bands at Prattville High School in Prattville, Alabama. While at Prattville, Mr. Bowman directed the “Pride of Prattville” Marching Band, the Prattville High School Wind Symphony, the Symphonic Band, Concert Band and the Jazz Ensemble. Before his tenure at Prattville High School, Mr. Bowman also served as Director of Bands at Tallassee High School in Tallassee, Alabama and Beauregard High School in Opelika, Alabama where he also served as the assistant baseball coach.
Under Mr. Bowman’s direction the bands at Prattville never received less than superior ratings at District and State Assessment and the Marching Band received numerous Best in Class awards.
Mr. Bowman is a 2000 graduate of Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education. In 2002, Jon received his Masters of Music Education from Auburn University. While at Auburn University Jon was a member of the Auburn University Marching Band, the Auburn University Symphonic Band, the AU Percussion Ensemble and Steel Drum Band, the Auburn Community Orchestra, the Auburn Concert Choir and a member of the Auburn University Singers. Mr. Bowman has performed with the Columbus Symphony, the LaGrange Symphony and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Jon has performed in many venues in the Southeast, Lincoln Center in New York, New York and several countries in Western Europe.
While in Prattville, Mr. Bowman served as an assistant to the Minister of Music at Heritage Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a past member of the Alabama Bandmaster’s Association, the Music Educator’s National Conference, and the National Band Association.
Jon is married to Beth Bowman, who is a real estate agent with the Herndon Company. Jon and Beth are the parents of one child, Tanner Bowman.
Robert Maynard is a 1980 graduate of Clearwater High School in Clearwater, Florida. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree in 1987 from Troy State University and in 1997 he earned a Masters in Music Education from Valdosta State University. Robert taught for 3 years at Saint James Private School in Montgomery, Al. prior to coming to Lowndes. He has been a director for the Lowndes High School “Georgia Bridgemen” for the past 18 years.
He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Professional Music Fraternity, Delta Chi and Sigma Kappa Chi Social Fraternities, Georgia Music Educators Association, and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. Robert has written/arranged music and drill for numerous marching bands throughout the southeast. In his early years, Robert was a member of the Suncoast Sound Drum and Bugle Corps for 6 years, where he played trumpet for 3 years and was Drum Major his last 3 years. He was also brass instructor with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps, Denver, Colorado. He has one child named “Duke”.
Dr. Richard C. McLendon teaches and writes for the Georgia Bridgemen at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, GA. He is starting his 30th year as a music educator. Dr. McLendon is the owner of Red Ruby Music Creations, LLC specializing in educational compositions and arrangements for percussion and band since 1971. He received the Bachelor of Science in Education from Jacksonville State University (AL), the Master of Music in Performance from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, the Educational Specialist in Music Education from Troy University (AL), and the Doctorate in Education Leadership from Argosy University in Sarasota, FL.
Dr. McLendon’s performing ensembles have toured most of the United States, parts of Canada, most of western and central Europe, and the countries of Ecuador and Colombia, South America. He was recognized by Governor Zell Miller and the Georgia General Assembly in 1995 for his teaching and musical accomplishments when his marching and symphonic bands in Moultrie, GA became the state’s first high school band to perform in the Republic of Ireland. In 1998 his students performed 16 concerts in 8 European countries. In 1999, his students performed in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. Dr. McLendon's groups have participated in the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Parade, the 2006 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA, the 2001 and the 2008 Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, DC, and the Thanksgiving Day Parades in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Over the years, Dr. McLendon has judged bands throughout the United States. From 1970-1984, he was associated with several competitive drum and bugle corps in the south and in the Midwest. Dr. McLendon has presented percussion clinics in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, and in Ecuador and Colombia, South America. He has studied music composition with Dr. David L. Walters, Robert W. Smith, and Jim Mahaffey. He studied conducting with Dr. John M. Long who is an elected member of the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors.
Dr. McLendon is an Educational Artist and Endorser with Innovative Percussion, Inc. He has been recognized for several years by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World. His past and present professional affiliations include the American Society for Composers, Authors, and Publishers, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Kappa Lambda, the Percussive Arts Society, Georgia Music Educators Association, and Music Educators National Conference. Dr. McLendon’s music compositions have been honored by the Percussive Arts Society (1984) and by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (2006-2009).
Dr. McLendon has two sons. Zac was percussion section leader and graduated from LHS in 2009. He is attending Valdosta State University. Ryan was also percussion section leader and graduated in 2010. He is attending Georgia Tech. Dr. McLendon enjoys family, travel, the beach, reading, and movies.
At the end of the 2008-09 school year, Charles E. Todd, II retired as the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Department Chairperson at Lowndes High School. He has taught in the Lowndes County School System for 31 years, having taught at Lowndes High and Lowndes Middle School. Charles continues to conduct the LHS Jazz band and is Assistant Director at Lowndes Middle School.
Charles is also an assistant professor of music and African-American studies at Valdosta State University. Charles is a graduate of Glades Central High School, where he was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa National Band Award. He is a 1979 Cum Laude graduate of Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida, having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education. He is also a 1985 graduate of Valdosta State University having earned a Master of Music Education degree. He was “Teacher of the Year” at Lowndes Middle School in 1991. In 1997, Charles was selected as “Star Teacher” for the Lowndes County School System. For 2002-2003, he was voted “Teacher of the Year” for Lowndes High School. He was recently selected to represent the state of Georgia in the national publication “School Band & Orchestra” as one of “50 Directors Who Make a Difference,” published in December of 2007.
Charles is involved in many community activities including being a member and arranger for Christ the King Episcopal Church orchestra where he also served on the church vestry, a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Inc., a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association, Georgia Association of Educators and the National Education Association. He has served as an adjudicator throughout the southeast for the past 29 years, as well as serving on numerous Southern Association of Accreditation visiting committees. Charles is married to Wanda W. Todd, who is currently the Civilian Personnel Officer for Moody AFB. Charles and Wanda are the parents of two children; Charles, a recent graduate of Bethune Cookman University with a degree in Music Technology, where he was a member of the band and percussion section leader, and Tiffany, a Junior Mass Communications major at Bethune-Cookman University, where she is also in the band serving as flute section leader in both the marching and symphonic bands. Both Charles & Tiffany are on the marching band staff at Lowndes High School.
Phil
is a graduate of Crestview High School in Crestview, Florida. He earned
his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Troy State University
in Troy, Alabama. Phil has been directing beginning, middle school
and high school bands for the last 21 years in the states of Alabama
and Georgia. During that time, his bands have consistently rated superior
in marching, concert and jazz band contests. Currently, Phil is employed
by the Lowndes Board of Education in Valdosta, Georgia. He teaches
at Hahira Middle School and is
a staff director for the Lowndes High Georgia Bridgemen. Phil has adjudicated
marching band contest in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky.
Alan Drew is a 1969 graduate of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree in 1973 from Valdosta State College and in 1981 earned his Master of Science in Education Degree from Troy State University in Troy, Alabama. He is a member of Georgia Music Educators Association, Phi Mu Alpha professional music fraternity, and Professional Association of Georgia Educators.
Alan has been teaching students in middle school and high school programs for over 35 years. Twenty-eight of those years were full-time with the Lowndes County School System as Director of Bands at Hahira Middle School. There his middle school bands consistently received superior ratings at Georgia Music Education Association Festivals. He has taught marching band clinics in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and has judged festivals and contests throughout the Southeast.
Upon his retirement from full-time teaching in 2004, he taught two years with the Lanier County School System as the Assistant Director of Bands. He then returned home to Lowndes in the fall 2006 where he currently divides his teaching skills between Hahira Middle and Pine Grove Middle.
Alan resides in Valdosta with his wife, Diane. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing golf, and traveling, especially cruising.
