Under the direction of Brendan Vincent and Megan Lackaff, this year’s Marching Hawks, with 65 members, brought home multiple trophies from all four of their competitions with the program titled, “Dirt Track.”
Honors include:
1st in Guard and Percussion and 2nd in Class 2A - Indian Showdown in Pontiac
1st in Percussion and 3rd in Class 2A - Morton High School Marching Invitational
1st in Visual, Percussion and Color Guard and 2nd Class 4A - Dunlap Marching Band Invitational
Winner of the Crowd Appeal Award and 6th in Class 1 A - Illinois State Marching Band Championship (42 high school bands featuring over 4,000 students competed at Hancock Stadium in Normal).
“Students worked hard to prepare for these competitions since the end of last school year.” said Vincent, Prairie Central Band Director. “During August, we battled extreme heat and the end of the season was especially rainy. Despite the challenges with less rehearsal time, we made a ton of progress throughout the season.”
“Dirt Track” was an homage to the Fairbury Speedway. It featured narration by track announcer Mike Norris.
“The Color Guard’s slo-mo photo finish ending with aerial flips was a crowd favorite.” said Monica Markley, color guard sponsor. “That was a moment we knew we wanted to end with and put the show over the top.”
Vincent is working on some audience-friendly ideas for 2024 but is first focusing on a very busy concert band season coming up. Multiple community performances are planned for December with parades and a concert, plus the band will be supporting the basketball teams with live music.
“I just wanted to thank our music boosters sponsors and those individuals who gave during our March-a-thon. Without their financial support we couldn’t provide the marching band experience that our community and students deserve,” added Vincent.
(Information submitted to Fairbury News by Lillian Rathbun and Brendan Vincent)
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