The Oakdale Marching Bear Band trains to perform at the half-time of the football game and perform well in competitions. They start over the summer and continue through competition season in the winter.

Band Camp usually begins in late July. Members rehearse the new songs and routines; marchers have to endure the scorching heat and extensive practices.

“We practice two or three times a week after school, along with during school every day. We are required to take a marching band class. It’s a lot harder than you think to memorize three songs and march while playing them in tune and in time,” stated Senior Emma Houston, who was a member of the Marching Band since her freshman year.

“Most of our training is during the summer, we go to the school for two weeks, twelve hours a day. We try to do strength training for the heavier instruments- we work on endurance in order to march an eight minute show,” explained Senior Abby Lane, who has also been a member of the band since her freshman year.

Aside from being a member of marching band, there is also pit (the stationary percussion ensemble) and Color Guard (the twirling of flags, rifles, and sabers).

After being a member of the clarinet section for three years, Houston decided to join Color Guard. When asked what inspired her to join the marching band program at Oakdale, Houston replied, “My older brother and all his friends did it, so naturally I wanted to be just like him.”

“I wanted to be involved with an activity, and I loved move up night. During move up night, we were partnered with a senior and we marched with them. I thought it would be a great way to meet friends and get used to high school. I also really love playing my instrument,” expressed Lane.

The marching band is also adjusting to their new conductor, Mr. Benjamin Zamostny. Mr. Zamostny replaced Mrs. Hill after she left to spend time with her new baby.

“Change is hard for any group of people, we spend a lot of time with Mr. Z, so we are adapting fast. We learn just as much about his personality as he does ours every day,” commented Houston.

When asked her goals for the season, Lane replied, “Last year we broke the school record and we intend to do that again. Overall we just want to improve every week. We want to come in first place as many times as we can, but that’s not our biggest priority. I think our biggest goal is to add emotion to our show and be proud to put it on the field. No one will ever march a perfect show.”

After putting in hours upon hours of work at the end of the summer and after school, all of their sweat and effort is worth it, and it all comes together into one magnificent performance. Saturday, September 16 started the first of many more competitions; they finished in third.