Bands from surrounding schools weathered the elements to compete in the 19th annual Aubrey Marching Classic at Aubrey High School on Saturday.
Before competing on the football field, the bands could take shelter and practice inside the indoor multipurpose athletic facility, which was completed earlier this year.
“It's been challenging due to the weather, … [but] given that the turnout was really good,” Aubrey ISD Director of Bands Jason Noyes said. “We were able to change our plans and have used this wonderful indoor facility. Thank you, Aubrey ISD, and everybody who voted for that bond. So, if we wouldn't have had that idea, it would have been a really, really soggy, wet day.”
Noyes shared that although one band canceled, he was content with the event overall and glad most districts were able to participate despite the weather.
“We had a lot of volunteers spend countless hours, and we're really thankful for all of our parents and band families that sacrificed their Saturday to make this thing great,” Noyes said.
Aubrey Band Booster Amy Milton was one of those volunteers.
“To be here, week in and week out with your kiddo and watch all of them grow and flourish together—those four years go really quick,” she said. “So, I would highly encourage others [to volunteer]. … Even if it's just an hour a day, one weekend out of the whole season, it's totally worth it.”
She also thanked the many sponsors for their contributions and everyone who helped in any way.
The Aubrey High School Band performed their program, “Unbreakable,” as an exhibition.
The band did not receive a score; however, after the performance, they received critiques and comments from clinicians, the same as the other bands.
“ As a staff, we take all that feedback each week and apply [them],” Noyes said. “A lot of it's the same concepts that [are] sometimes said differently. But there are sometimes things that we don't pick up on like ‘Oh we’ve got to, you know, address that,’ so it's very useful throughout the following week we apply all of those comments.” The competition had five judges, three for music and two for visuals.
The music is weighted more than the visuals in a “60/40 split,” Noyes said.
In the preliminary round results, Pilot Point High School placed third place overall in Class 3A.
Tioga High School also competed at Saturday’s event, with the Collinsville High School band claiming the top 2A spot.
During the final award ceremony, the Top 10 schools were announced in descending order, with the Mesquite High School band placing third, the Terrell High School Marching Band taking second and the grand champion being the Saginaw High School marching band in first place.
“It's just so much fun to watch the kids have a great time,” Milton said. “Not just Aubrey, but all the bands that show up. It brings the families and the like the parents together. It's a community.”
