Finals Countdown...
By: Roger Moon
roger@tmnews.com
Bedford Times-Mail
FRENCH LICK, Ind. - Hard work and genuine fun are combined this week for marching band students at Paoli and Springs Valley high schools as they prepare for Saturday’s state finals.
Forty bands, representing “the best in the state,” will meet in the Indiana State School Marching Association finals to decide the champion in each of four classes. The contest will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The hard work students and staff members have invested in the marching season is necessary for success. But the fun element is not to be minimized.
Luke Aylsworth, band director at Springs Valley in French Lick, said, “I want the students to enjoy themselves these last few weeks. This needs to be a celebration of hard work and dedication. I hope they gather as many memories as they can. These are memories of a lifetime.”
Paoli’s Cody Deringer, a senior who plays tenor drum, said one thing that has kept him coming back to band year after year is “the fun you get to have with all the kids.” The hard work is worth it, he said.
Springs Valley’s Elise McElroy, a senior and the Blackhawk Brigade drum major, said the fun is part of what has kept her involved. But there have been other factors. “I like,” she said, “how we’re like a big team here. It’s not all about somebody. ... It teaches you things you’re going to need in life, self-discipline.”
Springs Valley’s Ross Moss, another senior, described a “family atmosphere.” He also said the experience teaches him self-discipline, as well as “how to be a leader when I need to be.”
Springs Valley senior Tommy Lynch told what he has learned from marching band, “If there’s something in life you want, it isn’t always going to come easy.”
As for his long involvement with the band, Lynch said, “When you’re part of program that has a lot of success, you keep coming back for more.”
Aylsworth shared his view of how to measure success. “Our season has already been a success,” he said. “Nothing on Saturday will change that in my mind. Now, the task becomes making the last few performances the best of the year.” (Following Saturday’s state finals, the Blackhawk Brigade will prepare for a performance at the Bands of America Grand Nationals in Indianapolis.)
Bands are devoting time this week to practicing for Saturday’s competition. Bill Laughlin, Paoli’s band director, wrote in an e-mail, “We ask for the students to give 100 percent plus personality. This is the week where each individual, during rehearsals and preparations, discovers what he or she contributes to the program. ... As each student discovers something that he or she brings to the program, our band takes on a whole new level of performance. The true meaning of this task is to find out that our band is unique because of the individuals that make up its body.”
Deringer talked about his contribution to the Pride of Paoli. “I bring some leadership to the drum line, some teaching.”
Another PHS senior, Jon Phipps, said he believes he brings leadership to the low brass section. “When it’s practice time,” he said, “I’m pretty serious. I get everybody in my section focused and buckled down, just get them to work hard and give it their all.”
Paoli’s show is called “The Road Less Traveled,” which is part of the Robert Frost poem, “Two Roads Diverged in a Wood.”
The Blackhawk Brigade’s show is called “Lasting Impressions.” The focus is on the people who have left lasting impressions on the students’ lives.
Springs Valley senior Morgan Elmore, the assistant drum major, believes the show’s theme moves the students to think. “There are parts of it,” she said, “that just really, really remind you of people in your lives.”
Times-Mail Staff Writer Roger Moon welcomes comments at 277-7253 or via e-mail at roger@tmnews.com.
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