GHS Marching Band Competes at Nationals.

Last  Wednesday afternoon, the marching band left for Indianapolis to complete in bands of America (BOA) Nationals.

The busses rolled into Indianapolis Wednesday night and on Thursday the band explored the the city of Indy and in the evening they went to Lucas Oil Stadium and watched other bands performed.

“The shows we watched were really nice. Castle’s show made me cry,” senior Ryan Steffen said.

The band performed Friday afternoon around 4:30 and they scored 80.825 and placed 37th out of 100 bands. Their highest score was the music ensemble.

Band director Tom Reifenberg was pleased with the performance.

“It was fantastic! Our best BOA performance ever, without a doubt,” band director Tom Reifenberg said.

Students also thought the show went well.

“Dynamics were so good. It impacted the show so much,” sophomore Julia Mayer said.

There are other small things that impacted the show.

“We all kept our heads up the whole time and we kept in time,” junior Allyson Pintar said.

During the performance, the band students felt an adrenaline rush.

“When we hit our big impact, the crowd started to cheer and I had chills all over which was the best feeling I have ever had,” freshmen Isabella Doss said.

After the band performed, they got to explore Indy one last time before heading home.

“My favorite thing about the trip was being able to hang out with my friends and experience BOA one more time with them,” senior Dani Hamilton said. “The show of course was fun, but it is the small things that really make up the trip, like the bus rides, time downtown, eating at Dicks: Last Resort and so much more,” Hamilton said.

Last year, the band did not attend BOA because they were too busy preparing for the Macy’s Day Parade in New York City.

“There was a slightly different vibe this year because half the band had never been to BOA before,” Reifenberg said.

Seniors were especially emotional during this time, considering it was the very last time they would perform this show in that stadium.

“My last BOA was so amazing.The performance that we put out there was so good! I really am going to miss the family atmosphere of the Greendale Marching Band,” Hamilton said.

Marching band season has sadly come to an end, and they unfortunately didn’t make semi’s this year. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have a successful year. They won all their competitions, won grand champions at Prospects competition, won State with the highest score ever, and earned their highest score at BOA.

“Our goal is to always design a production that is both entertaining and sophisticated, allowing our talents to shine through in the best way possible,” Reifenberg said.