The Muscatine High School Marching Band will host its annual Muskie Marching Invite on Saturday, Oct. 7.
They will end the invitational by performing their show called “Play Ball.”
2023 Muscatine High School Marching Band
A lot of the music is from Field of Dreams, Drum Major Matthew Spies said. One of the songs they play is “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” which the crowd generally starts singing along to.
“At one point in the show, there are five of us who use baseball bats so that adds a cool effect to the show,” Color Guard Captain Nicole Bovenkamp said.
The other drum majors for this year are senior Gavin McLeod, Junior Makenzie Wilks and senior Fiona Glynn. They all said they enjoyed being drum majors.
“I wanted to do something for the band program,” Spies said. “More than just play for it. I felt like I could be a leader and do that and be that person that brings a sense of community to the band – have a welcoming vibe.”
Wilks said she looked up to the drum majors during her freshmen year of high school.
“I want to be able to spread that positivity as an upperclassman,” Wilks said.
There is a lot more to being a drum major than just waving their hands around. They have to try out for the position and attend a drum major camp in eastern Illinois.
“It was definitely an eye-opener on how to be a drum major but it was also a lot of fun,” Spies said. “We learned a lot.”
The seniors have been in the marching band all four years of their high school career. They really enjoyed performing. .
“I like how the audience interacts with our show,” Bovenkamp said. “If they know a song, they sing along. That’s a lot of fun.”
“And typically we get a lot of our reactions at marching competitions,” Glynn said. “People are generally paying attention more to our shows than at just a Friday night game.”
Another item they enjoyed about the band program itself is the camaraderie they have.
“The community, it’s amazing,” McLeod said. “It’s just a good sense of friendship and everybody is so nice.”
“It’s also just a different friend group than most of the other students have in school,” Bovenkamp said
There are around 110 students involved in the marching band. In the concert band, there are almost 200 students including 50 freshmen.
“That’s a big freshmen class,” Spies said.
The has competed at Mt. Pleasant and in Cedar Rapids. At Mt. Pleasant, they placed second in 4A and second overall. The results from their competition in Cedar Rapids weren’t available until after the paper went to press.
