SPRING-FORD MARCHING BAND BRINGS HOME MORE GOLD!

Photos by Andreina Erwin 

After Friday nights big football game at Downingtown West and watching the Golden Ram Football take the first step of the District One Football Playoffs the Golden Ram Marching Band came home to get some sleep and warm up for their big event Saturday in Hershey Stadium again.

Saturday morning at 11 AM the 136 members of the Spring-Ford Marching band met to prepare for their Saturday night Cavalcade of Bands Grand Championships along with 12 other Yankee Division, Open Class Bands.  These bands had to qualify for the Open Level, which is the highest level of band, and have to all have more then 80 members in them.  All of these bands had received scores during the season at least once of over 90 out of a possible 100 points this year.

Having just won the Tournament of Bands Championship the weekend before, also in Hershey, the band worked on improving areas of their production of “Strange Paradise” for this week’s event.  The weather changes over the last two weeks called for tuning adjustments of instruments, as well as just working to make each part of the presentation flow smoothly and at the highest level of excellence each student possibly could.  Last minute attention to every possible detail was reviewed and at 12:55 the band set up for the final production run thru before loading for Hershey.  Excitement was high as the students gave everything that they had in them after a long couple of weeks building to their last Championship Competition of the 2013 Marching Band Season.

Gathering up their equipment, shoes, uniforms and their coats for a cold evening in Hershey, they boarded their buses to first have a meal in Hershey before heading to the stadium.  Arriving at the stadium they gather their uniforms, gloves, shoes and instruments to change, then pre-show warm-up.  The weather was a few degrees warmer then the week before, which was good with a lot less wind, which the color guard was very happy about.

After a good pre-show warm-up and focus on the all their hard work, growth thru the season it was time to head to the staging area to enter the field for their 8:45 PM Cavalcade Championship performance since 2010 when the band last attended and won the Yankee Open Class Division.  The band came to perform and perform they did, from the opening moments of the show they showed the large audience (appox.3500+) just what Spring-Ford Golden Rams had to offer.  The members presented their strongest and most exciting performance of the year and received a great response from not only their supporters but all in attendance for their presentation.

The moments after the performance the members had photos taken but more important had time to congratulate each other on what they had achieved this year as individuals as well as to total team!  After heading back to the trucks and buses to pack things away the seniors and drum majors prepared to go out for the awards presentation.  Everyone coming into the show knew that this would be the toughest Championship event of the year being compared to many bands that we had not seen all year from thru out the state of PA.

Well the award presentation was one that again turned out with the Golden Rams bringing home to the Spring-Ford School District another Championship Title by a margin of  .050 over Second Place, North Penn HS from Lansdale, PA.  The excitement and pride in the faces of the members, parents, supporters and staff could have lit the stadium.  To show just how closely the two bands were scored they tied for high music, high visual (marching) with Spring-Ford winning general effect and special award for high percussion.

This week’s Cavalcade Championship Title, like last weekends Tournament of Bands, also set yet more records for the Spring-Ford Marching Band.  This marked the 5th Undefeated Season in the last Eight (8) Years and the Fourth (4) COB Championship Title in the last four times entered.  This is the Third Championship achieved this year in the last four weeks for by the Golden Rams.

The achievement of this fourth (4th) Cavalcade of Bands Grand Championship Yankee Title along with the eight (8) Tournament of Bands Regional Championships and seven (7) TOB Atlantic Coast Grand Championships over the last eight (8) years.  This give Spring-Ford HS Marching Golden Rams Nineteen (19) Championship Titles out of Twenty (20) Championships entered in during this time period.

These achievements are truly something that all in the Spring-Ford School District should be proud of.  The students have shown the excellence that makes up the Spring-Ford District, as the band has represented the finest qualities, along with the high standard that Spring-Ford stands for in PA, NJ, DE, IL and CA.  The flag of the Spring-Ford District has truly been flying high!

Score Results:

1.         97.100  Spring-Ford

2.         97.050  North Penn

3.         94.600  Hempfield

4.         94.500  Upper Moreland

5.         92.900  Cumberland Valley

6.         91.550  Upper Darby

7.         90.850  Manheim Twp

8.         90.150  Wilson (West Lawn)

9.         87.850  New Oxford

10.        87.300  Springfield (DELCO)

11.        87.250  Boyertown

12.        87.150  Quakertown