Story and photos by Stacy Geedey
The Ada High School Marching Band performed their competition show titled “Invasion: The Mystery of Stonehenge” Saturday at The Ohio State University Stadium as part of the 2013 Buckeye Invitational.
Thirty-two other schools competed in this invitation-only competition. Each school competed to receive a rating through a system established by The Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA).
Judges award ratings of I, II, II, IV, or V. A rating of “I” is considered superior and “V” is considered poor. The Buckeye Invitational is designed this way to encourage bands to improve their individual performances rather than “compete” against other schools.
Schools were divided into classes based on the enrollment of the upper three grades of their schools. AA schools are generally the largest. C schools are the smallest schools.
The Marching Bulldogs competed in class C and received a rating of II which is “Excellent”. The band fell short of receiving a I or Superior rating by only three points and improved their overall competition score by 27 points from their previous competition score this season.
In addition to having the opportunity to perform at The Horseshoe, the band was able to watch The Ohio State University Marching Band perform a halftime show from this season, as well as the most memorable tradition in college marching band history, “The incomparable Script Ohio.”
Field Commanders Chanler Hughart and Annabel Pinkney, and Color Guard captain Justina Fuqua had a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch one of the most recognizable bands in the country perform from the sidelines.
“It was absolutely breathtaking. There are no words to describe it. I could never have dreamed of being that close to the OSU Marching Band. It was an amazing experience being that close to TBDBITL”, Fuqua said about the experience.
After the show, the field commanders and color guard captains from each school were greeted by the director and drum major from OSU.
The Ada High School Marching Band is under the direction of Jonathan Lischak and the Color Guard is under the direction of Amy Webb. The Marching Bulldogs compete next Saturday, Oct. 19, at Copley. They will also perform their competition show at halftime of the football game Friday, Oct. 18, as Ada hosts Allen East at War Memorial Stadium in Ada. Game time is 7:30 p.m. In addition to several other competitions, the band will compete again this year in Indianapolis, at the Bands of America competition next month.
Pictured in the first photo are Field Commanders Annabel Pinkney and Chanler Hughart and Color Guard captain Justina Fuqua.
The second picture is while Ada was performing and the third picture is of the OSU band.
