Eyes with pride Highlanders, eyes with pride! The West Milford Highlander Marching Band is ready for another great season! You may have spotted them practicing over the summer in the senior parking lot or up at the turf. Long hours of hard work have been put into creating this year’s year show Excalibur.
It sure isn’t easy to march in time while playing an instrument, not to mention memorizing several different pieces! Drum Majors Sophia Metcalf (senior) and Melissa Martinique (junior) are psyched and ready to lead the Highlanders onto the competition field!
Many students are familiar with the saying, “This one time at band camp…” but not everyone gets to actually experience band camp. What was your favorite band camp memory from this past summer?
Sophia: My favorite memory from band camp this past year, as it has been for all my years as a member, was when our cheesecake sale was announced. This very nice fellow comes to tell us about the sale, and we all yell “cheesecake” at every available opportunity, and then we get to eat cheesecake– maybe that doesn’t sound like much, but after a bunch of blisteringly hot days, sitting inside for an hour is pretty nice.
What do you think is the greatest strength of this year’s Marching Band?
Melissa: A huge strength for this year’s band is certainly the amount of enthusiasm that everyone has. We got a really great and enthusiastic group of freshmen this year, and a great deal of the band is just as energetic and hardworking as well. It’s a really great combo to work with. It just makes everything so fun.
Sophia: Determination. We’re in a new division this year, and the competition is going to be really fierce, but we know that ahead of time, and we have our minds set against being anything but the best we possibly can be. “The will to win is nothing compared to the will to prepare to win.”
Being the younger sister of a former Drum Major, I know how much work you two put into the program. How does it feel being Drum Majors?
Sophia: It’s quite a thrill! It’s a huge amount of responsibility, but it really is amazing. I worked with a director once who, before each performance, would thank the cast for trusting him, because it made our show more than just a performance. Like him, I feel like I’ve been given a lot of trust, which is both beautiful, and very humbling.
Melissa: Being drum major is both a challenging and rewarding experience. You do a lot of work and your mind is in a million places at once. Everyone depends on you and it’s mentally exhausting at times. But being able to extend myself to every individual band member and help them work and strive to their full potential is absolutely fantastic. Leadership is not about yourself. It has nothing to do with you, it’s about serving others, and that’s a wonderful thing. I’m so thankful to be able to be a part of that. It makes everything so worthwhile.
Well there you have it Highlanders! These dedicated members are very proud to be in the Marching Band program so come and support the Highlander Band at one of our next upcoming home football games!