By: Hayley Strahs

The LGHS Marching Band’s Fall 2024 season is in full swing. They started out by attending band camp in August, learning their field show, and performing with Fisher Middle School at halftime during the football game on Sep. 6.

On Aug. 1, almost two weeks before school started, marching band participants began band camp: one and a half weeks of learning music, marching basics, and hanging out with friends. This year, the band program reserved the first two days of band camp to get new members up to speed with the rest of the band. Senior Drum Major Sara Green explained, “When we all came together [during the second week], we were able to develop the music and visual stuff a lot quicker than we usually would.”

Now that school is in session, the marching band rehearses after school three times per week for 14 hours in total. During each rehearsal or practice, students work on learning music, formations, marching techniques, and more. According to drum line sophomore Nico Redo, “Usually, we start off by doing warm up…then we get more into the show music or just marching technique. Then we get into marching drill or playing what we need to with the rest of the [marching band].” Long practice hours throughout the school year eventually lead to high-quality performances at competitions, which Redo regards as “always fun.”

On Sept. 6, all band members, marching or not, performed pep tunes at the first home football game. In addition, the LGHS band hosted their annual Fisher Night, during which eighth graders from Fisher Middle School joined the LGHS band for the first half of the game. LGHS freshman Cruz Cortez described Fisher Night as “when the eighth graders get to play with the high schoolers and see how marching band is going to be.” New this year, the LGHS and Fisher bands performed Sweet Caroline together at halftime. Cortez recalls “[enjoying] playing the fight song with everyone and being with [his] friends” during last year’s Fisher Night.

Within the marching band, one section never plays music or even picks up an instrument: the color guard. Color guard freshman Elisa Schapeler cataloged color guard as “a really big combination of a lot of things.” Instead of playing notes and chords, color guard dances across the field while spinning and throwing equipment such as flags, rifles, and sabers. While the band works on their music and marching technique, the color guard is hard at work learning equipment and dance techniques. As the season progresses, Schapeler is excitedly anticipating “new [choreography] and learning how to use new equipment.”

With one performance down, marching band has countless more to look forward to. From pep band performances at every home football game to their upcoming expo on Oct. 12 to their fast-approaching competitions, the LGHS Marching Band is more than ready to take on whatever this season throws at them.