On Friday, Aug 1, the KHS Marching Wildkats took on the competition at the Indiana State Fair Band Day. After advancing to the finals, the marching band and guard walked away with a third place finish. The color guard was also named the top color guard for the third straight year.
“I felt so much excitement for our students. They worked so hard and their night performance was the best of the season,” said guard director Deanne Wideman. When the guard won best guard I felt pure elation and pride for our students and staff. This was their third consecutive year to win best color guard. These kids work hard and it shows!”
Last weekend, the marching band and guard celebrated their seniors during a Senior Night event at the first home football game. They followed up Friday’s halftime performance with a gold rating at the ISSMA Summer Showcase. This was the final performance of “Charlotte’s Web,” ending their competitive season.
The band directors spend a lot of time in the offseason developing each year’s competition show. They worked with their designer to discuss potential music and show possibilities. Since they know their students do really well with character shows and they already had some props they could use, that impacted their decision to go with “Charlotte’s Web.”
The use of flags and other props to help tell the story visually was impressive; they had silks that symbolized Charlotte spinning her web and black umbrellas designed to look like spiders. The flag designs really helped move the story.
“I would say that the pink flag feature was one of my favorite parts of this year’s show,” Wideman said. “Seeing all the pink Wilbur flags open was breathtaking.”
One of the hardest parts of the season for the marching band was dealing with the heat and humidity. Even with plenty of water breaks, being outside was hard this summer. They also had to battle illnesses and attendance issues. Both Wideman and junior band member Lucas Fredrick would like to see some kind of attendance policy put in place.
“I think it would help other members respect the directors,” Fredrick said.
Even though their competitive season is over, the KHS Marching Wildkats will continue to perform at football games this season as they prepare for their indoor seasons this winter.
