We traveled North on I-49 to see the Mountainburg Dragon Marching Band and Cedarville Pirate Marching Band kick off their marching season for our 2nd edition of our Week 2 Friday Night Feature.
The Battle of the Crawford County Treasure Chest, another small town football game and it did not disappoint. Both towns were out to support their team in hopes of winning the coveted treasure chest. As I arrived in Mountainburg, the parking lot was very full and it took quite a while to get into the game. As I was waiting to get my ticket, I noticed the school storm shelter and it made me think about how this town had survived a EF-2 tornado on April 20, 2018. I had seen some of the tree damage on my way north on I-49. Thankfully no one in the town was seriously injured or killed.
For the pregame festivities, the Mountainburg band preformed the National Anthem on the field. They then moved to the north end zone to play the fight song as the football team ran onto the field. As the band left the field, I was caught by Anna Bowler, who is the color guard coach at Mountainburg. She welcomed me to the game and told me the history about the band. Three years ago, the Mountainburg band only had 6 members but this year they have 60 members. Some of those members want to be music educators. After talking to Ms. Bowler, I went over the the stands and met Head Band Director Robert Kain and Assistant Band Director Lindsey Manley. I talked to them while I took pictures of the band during the first quarter of the game.
At the start of the second quarter, I headed of to the Cedarville side and introduced myself to Jeff Peters, the Head Band Director of the Cedarville Band. We talked a little about his band and they have 61 members in the band. Cedarville has been a strong band for the past 10 years. They have a great program and produce students that love and enjoy band. I talked with the students about what I do and why I take pictures at football games. Many students took my business card and later followed us.
For Halftime, the Cedarville Pirate Marching Band debuted their 2018 showed titled, “Love Gone Wrong.” The Mountainburg Dragon Marching Band also preformed their 2018 show title, “Dreams” for the first time this season. Both bands did an amazing job. Due to copyright we did not record the Cedarville Band’s performance. It was really great to see the Mountainburg band preform. And this year they plan to attend the Region 8 Marching Assessment in October.
It was great to meet both the Mountainburg and Cedarville Band staff and members. I personally look forward to seeing both bands improve this year and complete their shows. So if you have a free Friday night go check out one of these bands at either a home or away game. You can also catch them at the Region 8 Marching Assessment in October.
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