Timber Creek Regiment goes to Bands of America
On October 13th the Timber Creek Regiment traveled to Bands of America, a national marching band competition, to compete against 30 bands from around the East Coast of the United States. On Saturday, October 6th, the Regiment performed in a competition at Leesburg High School, and placed 1st in the prelims, and 1st in finals, also receiving a caption sweep (meaning they were first in every sub category as well, like best visual, general effect, drum majors, etc.) The band, in addition to this, scored the highest score out of any band in Florida who competed that day, so the regiment were going in to Bands of America with their heads held high.
The band season started for these kids back in June, the students gave up the last two weeks of their summer to work extensively on this year’s show. With practices after school nearly every day, these kids are there for one reason, to show the world that they really deserve to be compared to the elite bands all over the east coast. This year’s show theme is entitled “The ONE you feed…” The story is about a little Native American boy listening to a story told by his grandfather; a story of two wolves fighting inside you, one being good, and the other being evil. The one who prevails, is the “one you feed.” Whilst placed on a rock prop in the middle of the field, the boy listens to the band bring this story to life, playing soft and beautiful pieces, then switching to something scary and angry, the band truly tells a story and puts on a show. “I really like the theme, it’s understandable enough to all audiences while still having an abstract feel and a chilling cliffhanger ending,” said sophomore Sean Faletti.
The band this year has around 260 members, and a large portion of them are freshman. They are all fighting hard to be the best they can be, and are very happy to do so. “I love marching,” said freshman Alto Saxophone player Alexis Olmstead. “I think I’m doing pretty good. I still need to practice though.” The show reaches a tempo of 172 beats per minute, (very, very fast) and for younger marchers (for everyone really) it is very difficult to move exactly in time with that tempo, and also very difficult to use the correct muscles to achieve this. “Newer marchers don’t have the muscles and experience that vets have, making their job much harder,” said senior officer Nick Gallegos. Regardless of the strength and stamina this activity takes, the students love it nonetheless. When asked how they are liking marching so far, freshman Ethan Le yelled, “I love love love marching!” He also stated, “You kind of want to prove yourself to them [vets/ upperclassmen] because we [freshman] look up to them.”
Unfortunately, with hurricane Michael just a few hours north, the rain caused an issue for outside rehearsals, so the students made the most of all the time they could get outside. With practices after school almost every day, the band members are running and gunning to be the best version of the regiment they can be.
The day started for these students at 6:00 in the morning. The regiment members drove to the school, had a moment to stretch, change into the uniforms, and off to Camping World Stadium they went. At 12:30pm, the band marched onto the field for preliminaries, and fought for their lives, hoping to make it to finals. “That was probably one the best runs [of the show] that we’ve ever done,” said junior Kurt Von Hack. After their performance, the band traveled back to Timber Creek, and rehearsed. The band cleaned, and detailed the show, hoping that given the chance to perform again in finals, the next performance can be better than the prelims run. The regiment students changed back into their uniforms, grabbed dinner, and patiently waited for the results of the day. First, the placement awards were given out, and Timber Creek placed 3rd in conference 4a. The students continued to hold their breath, because even though they did well in their division, it was still uncertain if the band had advanced to finals or not. One of the directors, Mr. Hoey, stood atop of a cafeteria table and read the results. While the band members were frozen with anticipation, he stated, “Stoneman Douglas… Tarpon Springs… Harrison… Timber creek.” The students went wild. Screaming and hugging they cheered and cheered, they had made finals. Some students had tears in their eyes at their accomplishment. The students’ performance time was at 10:00 pm, meaning not only did they make finals, they had also made top five. The students loaded the buses and headed back over to Camping World Stadium to compete in Bands of America finals. The students performed once again, trying to top themselves and show that they deserve a spot at the top of the pack.
Ultimately, the Timber Creek Regiment placed 5th overall, just tenths of a point away from 4th place, which was awarded to Stoneman Douglas High School. “I’m so proud of you Regiment, and you should be proud of yourselves,” said Director Rhett Cox after the students went back to the busses to head home. Good Job Regiment!
