North East Christmas Parade - Marching Band Results!!!

[Truth13]

Are they kidding? I know that these people aren't professional judges or anything but...are they kidding me? Soooooooo tired of seeing NEHS playing second fiddle to PHS when they are clearly a superior program. PHS is surely a fine program with many titles to show for their efforts and their kids are great. That being said, NEHS dominates their schedule every season, only being defeated by bands with 4-5x the budget ON OCCASION. And don't even get me started on the level of music difficulty. NEHS kids are marching to music that PHS kids would struggle to play sitting down. Look at how the NEHS kids do when they compete in the concert band levels for the state as compared to others.

Rant over for now...!

Oh...p.s. Elkton blew both Perryville AND Rising Sun off the street today as well...not even a mention? Heck, NEMS Band rode in a trailer and played better!

[Ironside]

So, what were the rankings ?

[Truth13]

Perryville 1st
North East 2nd
Rising Sun 3rd
Elkton unranked

[North East native]

I thought both bands did a great job in the North East parade. I favor North East band as this is my home town. I must admit that I made a comment after watching and hearing Perryville High that I would have to choose them over North East for two different reasons. They looked great. The uniforms were amazing and added to the Christmas spirit. And the song that they played while passing was flawless. It's time that the town of North East take a little pride in their High School band and help them out with some uniforms and equipment.

Congratulations to all of the bands!

[Truth13]

North East native wrote:

I thought both bands did a great job in the North East parade. I favor North East band as this is my home town. I must admit that I made a comment after watching and hearing Perryville High that I would have to choose them over North East for two different reasons. They looked great. The uniforms were amazing and added to the Christmas spirit. And the song that they played while passing was flawless. It's time that the town of North East take a little pride in their High School band and help them out with some uniforms and equipment.
Congratulations to all of the bands!

Respectfully, I ask the following questions:
1. Why does a marching band need to have a different uniform for this parade? The only reason Perryville has these extra uniforms is because they play for the Holly Tree ceremony.
2. The "town" doesn't pay for anything for the band at all. It is the district that does the paying.
3. Having said the above, considering the Blue Crew was wearing their BRAND NEW uniforms for the first time in the Christmas parade and is marching a 2-year-old percussion line and a horn line that is less than 5-years old, I think that the finances are in decent shape (thanks primarily to the undying efforts of their band boosters).

Musical preferences and costumes aside, the superior bands were NEHS and EHS followed by Perryville then Rising Sun tied (at most) for third.

[North East native]

Again, I favor North East. I don't have a child that plays or a vested interest in the band itself. I am saying that Perryville was in the Christmas spirit with their look and their music. North East played great. Perryville made me say WOW. North East looked great. Perryville looked like Christmas.

If Perryville looked like that because they play for the Holly tree ceremony. North East should look like that for their hometown parade.

This doesn't have to be a debate. The judges made the decision. Let's focus on the next parade and let the spirit stay alive.

[Truth13]

OK...I'm not trying to debate you either but you made a point about NEHS stepping up and looking the part. How do you justify paying hundreds of dollars for guard uniforms that are used once per season? The band itself (Perryville's that is) wears their old uniforms for the Christmas parade - the Blue Crew wanted to show off their new uniforms but could have worn their old unis as well. The only difference is the guard uniforms. Both bands wore the same Santa hats and decorated their instruments in the same fashion.

I'm just not following your point. With the exception of the guard wearing the same guard uniforms they've worn for the past 4 seasons that are Christmas-specific, there was no difference in the presentation.

I'm good on the spirit angle - I just believe that NEHS doesn't get a fair shake from its hometown - 5 state championships and no mention in the local newspaper for any of them (Perryville has been in on numerous occasions). The same goes for Elkton.

Just a point of view though. ALL of the County-wide athletics were pictured today of course.