Sammy Almany, who was the band director at PN-G from 1969-1994, passed away on March 15, 2025. He served as assistant director to Albert Long until Long’s retirement in 1981 and was head band director until 1994.
The following is an excerpt from his biography from his induction to the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame in 2017.
As Port Neches-Groves High School assistant director, Sammy was responsible for creating, charting, and teaching the marching band’s drills for the ten years (l969-l979) that he served in that position. He instituted a new style of marching for PNG that proved very popular with the students and the band fans. Those drills gave PNG a very distinctive style which was different from the other marching bands in the region at that time. When Mr. Long retired from public school teaching, Sammy was hired as the Port Neches-Groves High School band director and as band coordinator for all the bands in the Port Neches ISD. For the rest of Albert Long’s life, he was a great mentor and friend for both the Almanys and the PNG bands
.
Sammy observed that when quality teaching was going on at the lower grades, it was amazing how smart the head director seemed to be! Some of the staff that made him seem smarter were Harry Charles at Port Neches Middle School, Fred Turner at Groves Middle School, Matt LeBlanc at Port Neches Middle School, Wendy Fontenot at Groves Middle School, and Karl Wadenpfuhl, Jr. at Port Neches-Groves High School. Some concrete results from this good collaboration can be seen in the record of the Port Neches-Groves High School band during Sammy’s years there. As head director of the PNG High School Band, from l981-l994, Sammy’s bands earned fourteen consecutive sweepstakes awards, with twenty total 1st Divisions at UIL Regional Marching Contest in his total years at PNG. The band advanced to UIL Area Marching Contest ten consecutive years in both 4A and 5A, and advanced to UIL State Marching Contest five times, winning the pre-lims and finishing as the 4A Fifth Place Finalist band in l988. Some other honors were TMEA Region Honor Band in l988, l991, and l993; TMEA Area Honor Band (4A State Finalist) l993; 1st Division in State UIL Wind Ensemble Contest, 1991 and 1994; and Outstanding Class 4A Band in State UIL Wind Ensemble Contest, l994. Due to the programs instituted in his years as head director, the number of PNG band members winning positions in Region X All-Region Band, and Area and All-State Band increased substantially. A large number of students also made the annual trip to Austin to participate in the UIL State Solo and Ensemble contest, with several receiving Outstanding Soloist awards.
The following is an excerpt from his biography from his induction to the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame in 2017.
As Port Neches-Groves High School assistant director, Sammy was responsible for creating, charting, and teaching the marching band’s drills for the ten years (l969-l979) that he served in that position. He instituted a new style of marching for PNG that proved very popular with the students and the band fans. Those drills gave PNG a very distinctive style which was different from the other marching bands in the region at that time. When Mr. Long retired from public school teaching, Sammy was hired as the Port Neches-Groves High School band director and as band coordinator for all the bands in the Port Neches ISD. For the rest of Albert Long’s life, he was a great mentor and friend for both the Almanys and the PNG bands
.
Sammy observed that when quality teaching was going on at the lower grades, it was amazing how smart the head director seemed to be! Some of the staff that made him seem smarter were Harry Charles at Port Neches Middle School, Fred Turner at Groves Middle School, Matt LeBlanc at Port Neches Middle School, Wendy Fontenot at Groves Middle School, and Karl Wadenpfuhl, Jr. at Port Neches-Groves High School. Some concrete results from this good collaboration can be seen in the record of the Port Neches-Groves High School band during Sammy’s years there. As head director of the PNG High School Band, from l981-l994, Sammy’s bands earned fourteen consecutive sweepstakes awards, with twenty total 1st Divisions at UIL Regional Marching Contest in his total years at PNG. The band advanced to UIL Area Marching Contest ten consecutive years in both 4A and 5A, and advanced to UIL State Marching Contest five times, winning the pre-lims and finishing as the 4A Fifth Place Finalist band in l988. Some other honors were TMEA Region Honor Band in l988, l991, and l993; TMEA Area Honor Band (4A State Finalist) l993; 1st Division in State UIL Wind Ensemble Contest, 1991 and 1994; and Outstanding Class 4A Band in State UIL Wind Ensemble Contest, l994. Due to the programs instituted in his years as head director, the number of PNG band members winning positions in Region X All-Region Band, and Area and All-State Band increased substantially. A large number of students also made the annual trip to Austin to participate in the UIL State Solo and Ensemble contest, with several receiving Outstanding Soloist awards.
