OTTAWA COUNTY, MI – How do you safely get a tuba all the way to Arizona from Michigan? For the better part of three decades, the answer for one high school marching band has been “Mr. Tanis,” of course.

Dave Tanis, the owner of Tanis Trucking, has been driving the semi-truck for the Jenison Marching Band since his two daughters were members in the late 1990s. Long after they graduated, the 69-year-old is still volunteering as the band’s equipment hauler, transporting drums, heavy brass instruments and color guard gear during competition season.

From September through mid-November, the Jenison man spends nearly every weekend traveling to local and out-of-state competitions to safely deliver thousands of pounds of instruments for the Jenison Marching Band.

For each competition the student

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