By Danielle Rush
Marching band schedule
These Kokomo-area marching bands will compete in these contests today:
Star City Marching Festival, Jefferson High School, Lafayette:
Class D: 5:25 p.m. Eastern, 5:51 p.m. Taylor and 6:13 p.m. Tri-Central
Class A: 8:40 p.m. Kokomo, Spirit of Central Invitational, Lawrence and Central High School, Indianapolis
Class C: 6:24 p.m. Northwestern and 6:50 p.m. Western
GREENTOWN — Eastern High School marching band members have prepared for the 2009 competition season since mid-summer, spending hours on their practice field perfecting their show.
Today, the Comet Command and Golden Guard will be among the Kokomo-area bands kicking off the competition season.
Eastern, Taylor, Northwestern, Western and Kokomo’s bands will be at the Star City Invitational in Lafayette, while Tri-Central’s marching band will compete in the Spirit of Central Invitational in Indianapolis.
Eastern director Joel Matthews said band members are “feeling pretty confident and really proud of the work they’ve done. We’re ready to get out and have a chance to compete this weekend.”
His goal for the first weekend of competition is “to have a solid first performance.”
“We want to do our best to sell our product and then, after all is said and done, to see where we stand right now,” he said.
Long-term goals are for band members to continue growing and improving as musicians, he said, and for student leaders to continue to push the group to have a good product on the field.
Matthews said he’s proud of the leadership shown by students this season.
Eastern’s show is called “When I Grow Up,” and starts with the voices of elementary children saying what they want to be when they grow up. Later, guard members put on the clothes of people they want to be.
Matthews said when he was planning the show, “in light of the economy in the area, we wanted to pick something that was uplifting.”
It’s also created life lessons for band members.
“We’ve been doing some talking about a figure who inspired them and really helping them to relate on a personal level.”
Matthews said the band performed the show for the first time at Eastern’s homecoming game, and he’s had positive response.
“I felt like the crowd was very respectful. We caught their attention early in the show. I had several people from the community and school administrators compliment us on our performance. It’s been nice to see the community being so outspoken in support of the band.”
• Danielle Rush is the Kokomo Tribune education reporter. She can be reached at (765) 454-8585 or danielle.rush@kokomotribune.com.
