BLOG: Marching to Success

By Rob Eldridge

The Oliver Ames High School marching band has been on a road to success for many years and this year is no different. Robert Wheeler has been running the marching band with the help of Jeff Benson and their captains.  Color guard captain Gwen Kozak, drum major Ari Barrett, and the other members of the marching band have recently returned from their trip to Washington D.C. to continue with their competitions. There have been a few setbacks through the year that have been a nuisance to the band and their director. EEE has been a setback, and the band was not allowed to practice outside after dark so their practices were forced inside. This may not seem so important however this would make it so the entire band must practice off of their playing area so they could set up the basics however were not able to set up their maneuvers on the field. Due to the indoor rehearsals it also slashed rehearsal time in half, “This has been challenging, the kids have risen to it and are taking it well” says Mr. Wheeler in our interview. According to Mr. Wheeler the band has risen to the challenge put in front of them and are still competing at a fantastic level. To add to the difficulties the band is playing the complicated scores of Aaron Copeland which to date they have performed extremely well. As they finish out their season the band has shown amazing strength in performances even thought they had faced more hardships than most other bands competing against them they were able to pull the season off extremely well and have hopes of continuing on their fantastic path.