Natalie Morgan
Staff Writer
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As the marching season is kicking into full gear the members and fans can be prepared for lots of changes to how things are going to be run this year.
Football games and competitions are going to see a big change this year in response to COVID-19.
“This year the band will not travel to away football games, which is a big difference. It is supposed to be confirmed in a meeting today, but I believe the band will at least get to attend home football games, which this year are 10/2 vs. CD East 10/23 vs. Chambersburg, and 11/6 vs. Carlisle," Marching band director Mr. David Porter said. "It’s not clear yet if we’ll for sure be allowed to perform our show on the field or not, but we’re hopeful we will be permitted to do so.”
Although the band may not get the ok to perform football games they are still making the most of their marching season by preparing a three movement show.
“We had a completely different theme picked out back in March before school hadn’t been shut down yet. We met virtually during the first few months of the closure to discuss what else we could still do. Since so many restrictions were being placed on what schools could or couldn’t do generically- and band specifically- we really had our work cut out for us," Porter said.
"In talking through themes and musical ideas, the thought of using music from viral Tik Tok videos popped up randomly in conversation, and we landed on the title “A Sign of the times”. We’re featuring the songs “Blinding Lights” by The Weekend, “Havana” by Camila Cabello, and “Old Town Road” by Lil Nax X. We’ve even added some of the popular dances that came out as a result of quarantining.”
Even though this marching season will not be a traditional one the band is doing what they can to make the most of it. For seniors it will definitely be a season to remember.
“Obviously it's a little heartbreaking that we don’t get to experience that rush of performing in our last moments of our high school career, and we are completely losing the social aspect of this activity which is personally my favorite part of marching band. However, I am honestly just so grateful for having a show this year despite all of the changes and guidelines we have to follow," Senior Lindsey Underdonk said.
Even with the inconvenience of the COVID-19 outbreak the marching band is making the best of these hard times to create a show for all to enjoy and give the seniors the send off that they deserve.