The sun begins to
set as the Band lines up outside Cicely Tyson High School. They
are in various stages of tuning their instruments, fixing one
another's uniforms, and the section leaders check their sections
like older brothers and sisters taking care of younger ones. At
times like this it becomes obvious that they all think of the
Band as their family.
Word filters down
that there won't be a police escort for the Band tonight. The
reduced police force is busy with some disturbances on the other
side of the City, so the Band will set up their own crossing
guards and stick close together as they march from the High
School to Paul Robeson Stadium.
This past summer
(July 2012) Band Director Frederick Goode was given the gift of
his grandfather's original marching band arrangements from the
1930's. John O. Gerrish wrote them and used them in Nutley, NJ, where he
taught the high school marching band. Fred's aunt Mary had saved them in her
attic for years and after her father passed away (at the age of 100) in 2010, she was wondering who she
should give them to, when Fred showed up planning to go camping
and hiking with his children. He spent the rest of his vacation converting the tiny
hand written scores into a computerized master score for use with his Unified Marching Band.
This is the first opportunity the Band has been given to play the
National Anthem at a football game, and you can hear
they aren't too sure of themselves, but they will get better as
they begin to play it more often.
The Band puts on
its half-time show. Notice the three band instruments in the
foreground with the three Drum Majors leading the Band onto the
field. As you'll see in the video, those three Drum Majors go
back and forth from leading the band to playing in the band,
taking turns.
While the Band has been playing,
the adults in charge have been listening to police sirens in the
streets surrounding the stadium and decide to leave at the end of
the game's third quarter to get the students safely back to the
school and then see that they all get home safely from there.
Final Score: East Orange
Campus High 53 - Columbia High School 26
