Marching Band. The best family you could ask for

It's April, which means Marching Band starts in three months, and I could not be more pumped.

Last year at this time I was busy taking PSSAs and didn’t even think about marching band. Well things have changed since then.

I had to be bribed into joining marching band, it took a lot of effort from my family to get me to join. My grandma told my mom and aunt when they were my age that they had to participate in band for one year and then they could quit. They both ended up staying for all four years. This is exactly the same thing that is happening to me.

Band camp 2017 was the best week ever! These were my lunch buddies all week.

Rewind to August 2017 and band camp was starting tomorrow. I was less than thrilled. The week started out slow and repetitive. We did the same thing. Every. Day. However, by Friday I was having so much fun and I made so many friends, I didn’t want to go home.

The season progressed, friendships strengthened, and I fell in love with band even more. At all of our games I had so much fun with my piccolo section and dancing like crazy. The bus rides were always super fun, we would jam to music the entire time.

Also, we would occasionally get candy grams from friends and family. I normally ate mine on the ride home. There was one day that I got a candy gram I was a little scared about… It was a secret admirer note. I was asking tons of people if they knew anything about it, nobody knew anything. I eventually found out who it was and that it was a joke, it was really funny when I found out.

When it came time for out last band coalition, I knew it was going to be a hard day from the start. Before we warmed up, the band walked away from the stadium and went up to a field. Here, the seniors gave speeches, I cried the entire time.


The seniors had helped me so much throughout the season, I didn’t want them to leave. After the speeches, we laid down in a soccer field and reflected. Then we warmed up and went about the rest of our day at the coalition.

The drum majors always said, "We are not a band, we are a family." I will always remember that. The relationships you form with people are more than friends… you work through the heat, sweat, gush-n-go’s, and lanyard tans.


You are surrounded by this amazing group of people for four months, you never get tired of them. Marching band is an amazing experience, I’m so happy I joined. I went into the season absolutely dreading what was to come, I left the session wishing it would never end. Now, I’m wishing it were somehow here again. It can’t come soon enough!

--By Taylor Straley, LS News reporter

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