Marching Band has no land

Members of marching band play xylophones during practice on the baseball field. Photo by Scott Philben

As soon as the Freedom band showed up for band camp over the summer, they knew something was wrong. Their practice field was muddy and right away they figured they would have to find a new place to play. Shortly after, they were told the situation.

“From what I understand the people who seed the field over the summer couldn’t do it,” junior Ian Harlow said. “It was a bit frustrating, but we found a way around [the situation].”

After being told that they would not be able to practice at their usual location the search began for a new place to play. After brainstorming for new locations, they settled on the parking lot, but that did not fit their needs. Moving on to the field behind Liberty Elementary, they finally found a suitable location to carry out their drills, but even this location had its challenges.

“Its harder for our pit to go to Liberty because of the long distance,” junior Zach Vessey said. “They have to push it across the street and there is a lot of traffic after school. The first time we did it there were a little bit of safety concerns but it was pretty safe with Mr. Fulton supervising.”

The drumlins practices after learning that they could not use their practice field. Photo by Scott Philben

Lunsford Middle school was also a practicing location over the summer, but they knew that field would be temporary as well. As the start of school came around, they were kicked off the field and once again were forced to find a new place to practice. Short of options, they went back to the parking lot as well as the Freedom baseball diamond.

“It’s a little bit difficult because the fields we’re on aren’t as big as [a football field],” Vessey said. “So we sometimes can’t march our drills as well as we could. Some of our steps are off the fields that we’re practicing on, so we can’t practice them like we want to.”

Their next competition is on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Woodgrove High School, where they will once again be battling it out for top spot.

About the Author

Kaise Dualeh
Kaise Dualeh is the news section editor for [Uncaged.] and a junior at Freedom High School. At Freedom, Kaise is involved in activities such as Model UN and French Club. Outside of school, he enjoys playing basketball and soccer as well as watching Netflix.
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