The fall season is the start of many events here at Oakdale, including the start of fall sports. None of them, however, compare to  the schedule for the Oakdale Marching Band. For them, fall means it is time to hit the road again and prepare for competition season. 

Benjamin Zamostny, the Director of Oakdale High School’s Marching Band, says he has to “budget money for the whole show, arrange transportation, hire staff,” and much more beyond that.

This year, the band is performing The Greatest Showman as their 2019 program, a show about being yourself and not letting anyone judge you for who you are.“Our job is to entertain.If we choose music that doesn’t entertain, then we are doing a poor job.” he shared.

Mr. Zamostny also fought hard this past summer to get his students into the stands at home football games.  “I’m really hoping the school sees us as a part of the student section,” he explains. In the past, the band has sat behind the field goal post.

When it comes to the first competition, there’s a variety of different emotions from students in the band.   For Freshman, this is a whole new challenge. When asked if he was excited for the first show, Freshman Trumpeter, Liam Wood,  replied with “Yes, I am excited for the season, but also a little bit nervous.” 

Wood also stated that he is extremely confident in the band’s ability to put on a good show this year. “I love the band and I love to be a part of it.”

Wood also shared:  “My section has been working on memorization of music and dressing sets to have less collisions in order to make the show the best it can be.” Wood feels that the pre-season of marching band has been very productive with the work that got done. 

For some of the students in the Oakdale Marching Band, this will be their final competition as it is their Senior year.  Senior and Pit Percussion Section Leader Hayden Davis replied, “I am pretty excited for my final competition season and my last year of being in a high school marching band.  I also believe that we can accomplish great things with this year’s show.”  

As a result of this past weekend’s competition at Urbana, the Oakdale Marching Band placed 3rd in their group with a score of 76.

Mr. Zamostny also explained that he is going to keep the band working hard to continue growth through the season by working on, “cleaning drill, working on breathing techniques, working on intonation, working on articulations,” and anything new each show brings.