First a moment of dead silence, filled with anticipation. Every band member clenched their teeth and frozen hands.
Immediately, there was an uproar of screaming and excitement. On Saturday, October 3rd, the Mishawaka Marching Cavemen won gold at their competition in Crown Point, Indiana. Their hard work finally paid off as they had been
practicing since the first week of August. Every year, following two weeks of marching band camp prior to the start of school, the band practices after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are also home football games in which the band has practice performing their show for a crowd. After only two months of practice, the band performed their show called Earth, Fire, & Wind that included the songs “September”, “In the Stone” and “Let’s Groove."
This year the three drum majors leading the Marching Cavemen are Tyler Bonds, Hunter Manning, and Savannah Spurrier. It is the responsibility of these three Cavemen to conduct the entire band and lead them onto the field, a difficult task. Tyler Bonds, the lead drum major, says that “the marching season progressed a lot better than in past years. We had much more time to focus on marching techniques and fundamentals.” The drum majors attended the Smith Walbridge Drum Major Clinic for a week during the summer to learn the proper way to teach and lead the Marching Cavemen.
The marching season will now come to a close. The Marching Cavemen will continue to perform through sectionals for the football team, but will no longer practice as they divided into concert and symphonic band on October 13th for their concert season. Band director Kaleb Chamberlin added, “We [the directors] were very pleased with this year's season. We had a great group of students to work with... Many good attitudes and commitments toward making the band look and sound great.” The Marching Cavemen have had an excellent season and will continue to have many more as they deliver an amazing show year after year!