Part Three + New Visuals = GOLD!

The Spirt of Woodlan gathered early in the morning for practice in the thick fog this past Saturday, 9/30/23. It was a chilly morning and the band spent the morning reworking sets, practicing new visuals, and fixing problem areas on the practice field. It was a big week for the band, as Saturday marked the beginning of the ISSMA competition portion of their season. They have been working hard at adding visual effects and planned to put a portion of part three on the field for the first time. New props were added, and some last-minute new flags were intended to be used this weekend. Earlier in the week, the guard found out that their new flags were still waiting to be sewn at the company they were ordered from in Pennsylvania. The company agreed to overnight the flags to us if we had people that could sew them. We have an awesome community that supports this band in incredible ways, and several people quickly volunteered to help us get the flags done. After a delay in the shipment due to inclement weather in Kentucky, the flags arrived late Friday night. Several volunteers came in at 7:30am on Saturday morning and set up an assembly line of sewing, ironing, and taping the flags. With the help of these awesome volunteers, the last flag was finished just before lunch time.

A foggy, early-morning practice

Volunteers helping get the flags ready for competition

Lunch time! This weekend was everyone’s favorite band lunch menu: Soup Day! Everyone loves Soup Day, and the students were all very excited to see what was for lunch. The students finished up their practice, loaded the trailer, and enjoyed their soup lunch together before loading the buses for their trip to Homestead High School.

When the students arrived at Homestead for the ISSMA Invitational, the sun had come out, burned off all the fog, and really warmed up the day. So much so that it was actually very hot! The students changed into their uniforms and got ready for their performance.

This week, new mountain props and show screens were added to the field along with the brand-new and just-completed guard flags. The Spirit of Woodlan cheer was led by some seasoned band parents, and the crowd got on their feet and went crazy with cheering as the band took the field. The students loved the excitement created by the crowd, and it really helped bolster their confidence in the show and their performance. The Spirit of Woodlan had an awesome performance and their show looked incredible with all of their new visuals and props. The show is really coming together nicely and they looked fantastic!

Drum Major Braedon Miller

The students headed back to the trailer to put away instruments and get changed out of their sweaty uniforms. They hurried back to the field to get ready for awards. At the awards ceremony, Spirit of Woodlan received a Gold Rating, but no distinctions in music, visual, or effect. They were again quite disappointed in the results, as they felt their performance was much stronger than their scores reflected.

The band will continue to work hard at practices this week and will also continue adding more visuals and sets. The show changes frequently as they make adjustments to areas that could use improvement. More props and visuals are still to come, and they have a lot more tricks up their sleeve!

This upcoming weekend is another big weekend for the band. On Friday night, October 6th, our 12 awesome senior members will be recognized at the home football game on Senior Night. Senior Recognition is scheduled for 6pm, so please come early to cheer on these great senior leaders! The band will then perform their show at half-time, and if it’s anything like their last football game performance, you’ll be in for a great show! On Saturday, October 7th, the band will head to Carroll High School for the ISSMA Regionals competition. We are all delighted that ISSMA has moved Regionals from Chesterton to Carroll, making that terrible trek to Chesterton a thing of the past. The wonderful thing about being close to home, besides the shorter drive, is that our community can come out to support and cheer on these awesome kids! The kids would love to have your support in the stands, and your cheers and enthusiasm as they take the field will go a long way to help them perform their best. Class D performances start at 11:00am with Lewis Cass, and Woodlan will perform at 12:00pm. Awards for Class D will be held at 2:00pm. Please come out and support the Spirit of Woodlan!