Marching Mustangs at IWU

The band looked great coming onto the field at IWU this afternoon!

Both Sylvia and Caeden on the field in one photo!

(And it was a fun change to have Annah in the stands with us cheering on the band!)

VIDEO:

The band competed in class 2A today (classifications are different for each competition) against much bigger bands and schools.  They were the last in the class to perform, so they stayed in the end zone for the awards ceremony.  When their placing was announced, we could hear, "We didn't get last!" from one of them.  

They had a great day, a great performance!  

EIU CHAMPIONS!!!

The Marching Mustangs had their second of three competitions today at Eastern Illinois University.

Jeremy and I went over, and watched all the bands in class 1A.  We could hear our kids warming up and thought they sounded great.  For the first time ever in our recollection, the other bands in our class were similar to ours!  We thought our kids had a chance at competing!

They looked great!

I can never get a picture of Sylvia's face behind her great horn angle with that mellophone!

Jeremy and I felt terrible, but from where we were sitting, we thought the kids had sounded stronger in other performances this year.  They were missing at least 4 kids too.  Still, we are always proud of them at every performance!

VIDEO: Here is their performance!

Caeden giving the rim taps while they march off the field...

And playing the cadence while they do the Monster Stomp!

Group photo silliness after the performance

Jeremy and I left and went home after a couple of the class 2A bands and seeing our kids to tell them good job.  Most of of the band stayed through the awards ceremony. 

And they were glad they did!  We won 2 caption awards: Best Music, and Best Visuals!!!  AND, the RHS Marching Mustangs won FIRST PLACE in their class!!!!! 

For as long as we've been around, the band hasn't received first place until now!  Congratulations!!!

What an exciting day!!!

They got the entire front page of the newspaper this week!

Homecoming Parade

The homecoming parade was this evening! 

Our favorite part--the band, of course!

The band also performed their field show!

Fall sports were announced...
Here is the cross country team--Dorothy is the girls team captain, Caeden is the boys' team captain, and Dorothy is the overall team captain.

Jeremy and I didn't stay for the bonfire, but saw it blazing from the baseball field parking lot!

Ridgeview has a lot of great Homecoming traditions.

1st Home Football Game

Tonight was the first home football game of the season!  My favorite part is the marching band. Here they are coming from the band room, marching around to come onto the field for the pregame tunnel. As the snare drummer, Caeden is the last one in line.

I love that they've listed the band in the fall sports program this year!

Midnight Blues warming up to sing the anthem

Apparently, they've only had a chance to practice this twice through!  Good for them for performing it already! 

The band, coming onto the field for pregame...

We can see our mellophone and our drummer on the same side of the field!

Coming around the track after pregame, the band does the "Monster Stomp" then heads to the end zone to play the school song after touchdowns.

Sylvia was at the front of the band tonight.

And Caeden was at the rear.  (Percussionists don't do the Monster Stomp; it's too dangerous with their drums on!)

The game progressed pretty slowly, and there was a beautiful sunset long before halftime.

The band did a great job performing their show at halftime!

The crowd really enjoyed the well-known Mo-Town songs!

Go mellophones!

I think the band has a fun show this year!  And the Mustangs won the game too!

Marching at EPG

Last marching band competition of the season today at El Paso Gridley HS!

It was CRAZY WINDY, which made it a very VERY COLD day!!!

Grandma Sandi came to watch the girls, and Caeden shared his blanket with her.  Melted my heart.

The band had to walk a looooong way to the warmup area and back, then stood for at least 20 minutes at the windy end of the field before coming on to start the competition. 

Waiting for the signal...

Sylvia is 2 people behind Annah coming onto the field.

I decided not to take any video today, because it was so windy; the wind would've been all that came across on video! I was actually afraid we wouldn't hear the band at all, but they sounded great.  

Opening set

Annah was legitimately worried that the 50 mph wind gusts would blow her right off the podium, so she asked for someone to stand near her just in case!  She said she was focusing really hard on keep her feet firmly planted and maintaining her balance the entire time she was up there today!

Sylvia is the second mellophone from the left here, wearing her glasses today.

Leaving the field

Making a turn

And other turn...

Monster stomping!!!

Seniors, proud of their last marching performance.

L to R: Shelby, Alexis, Jalen, Ethan, Ryan Annah, Jakob, Ryleigh, James, RJ, Adam, Destinie

Shelby and Annah

Ryan and Annah

Poor Sylvia was feeling really sick. Caeden tried to comfort her, and then Jeremy let her them sit in the car with the heat running for the rest of the bands' performances.

We stayed in the car, and the band members who stayed at the competition stayed on the bus to keep warm. It was too cold to sit in the stands and watch the bands, which was a bummer.

We did go back to the field and stood at the fence to watch EPG's exhibition performance before the awards ceremony.

It was the first time EPG held an invitational, and despite the cold, it was a great event. Their band members did such a great job welcoming and encouraging the competing bands! 

We especially loved that they gave a spirit award to the band with the best sportsmanship.

Annah got to accept a trophy for the band!

4th place

A great way to end the marching season!

Great job, Marching Mustangs!