The changing and eventual falling of the autumn leaves can mark many October traditions. There is Halloween candy, the World Series and football. But one of our favorite traditions is watching our local high school marching bands compete in the Indiana State School Music Association State Marching Band Finals.
We dare you to find high school students who put in more work at their extra-curricular activity than marching band members. Marching band is often a discipline that begins in elementary school. In the summers band members practice many hours a day learning their shows. Once school begins, they still work many hours a day perfecting their shows.
On Saturday, four local marching bands will compete in the state finals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Northridge will perform at 10:13 a.m. and Concord at 11:05 a.m. in the Class B competition. Fairfield will perform at 2:49 p.m. in Class C. Goshen will compete at 9:24 p.m. in Class A.
This newspaper would like to wish each of these four marching bands the very best of luck on Saturday. Then, again, luck has little to do with it at this point. Each show and performance is a showcase of precision, timing and creativity. By now these bands have made their own luck with countless hours of practice and dedication. Each of these band members is an example to all of us of what it means to serve the whole.
We also encourage anyone who has the time and means to attend the state finals in Indianapolis to do so. You will likely be blown away at the swiftness of the choreography and the sharpness of the sound.
While we wish we could have four first-place finishes by our schools, we know we won’t. We also know all four bands are already winners in our book.
