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Description
Passion is something people don't expect from marching band kids. The truth is marching band has the most passionate kids in it, even more so than football players. They need passion; they crave it and strive to do everything in their power to be perfect in every aspect of their show.
In Hudsonville, Michigan, there were ninety-nine dedicated high school kids. Their marching band was one of the weakest in the state, though they made it to the state championships every fall, they were placing near last for the past decade. This year, 2006, everything would change.
The director was Mr. Vanderwall and he was the only one willing to take this band to the next level and so were the ninety-nine kids that tried out that made all the difference. All of them were there to play music and to be a small part in a much larger picture. Some of these kids were my friends: Nick, Ashley, Nikki, Abby, Jeff, Zack, and Cassie.

Of course, we all had to try out first. Jeff, Zack and Cassie were all returnees so they weren't worried about the auditions as much as the rest of us. We were honestly freaking out and holding hands, well except Nick, he was a guy so he didn't do that stuff. So, we all stood outside with our instruments, waiting and waiting.

The audition wasn't that hard at all, in fact I thought I did fairly well, but some of my friends weren't as sure. Ashley came out crying and it was because she thought she did a horrible job, but Vanderwall told us later that she was one of the better flutes that auditioned. In the end, we all made it in.

Soon after auditions were over, practice began; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school 3:30pm to 6:30pm. We started with marching basics; pointing our toes to the sky, rolling our feet, and standing up straight, a little forward and staying on the balls of our feet. It was hard to get it, but eventually we did.

Once school ended, we had gotten basics down enough that we were able to use our instruments too. Practices were everyday but Wednesday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm. They were hard, hot and long days, we wore a lot of sunscreen but by the time we were ready for band camp, we were all as red as lobsters.

For band camp we went to a campground and lived in these cabins that were infested with all these insects and we still had to go to practice which was every day for a week and a half. We were up from 7am till 9pm and it was hard work with a lot of attention time, but our breaks were the best; dinner was my favorite.

At dinner we would have contests, snacks and just hanging out with everyone, going over how the day went. I drank a lot of hot tea at dinner and there was this one tea that I really liked; it was called Refresh. One night I was drinking it and my friends said "why do you like that tea so much?" I shrugged and kept drinking. They kept bugging me until I let them have a sip or two. Ashley was the first one and she instantly said her tongue was numb and then Abby and some other people tried it and had the same reaction. Nikki wanted to try it but we knew if she even had a sip she would be psycho, so we said that she could sniff it. Well, she sniffed it and was instantly nuts. It was really funny and she loved it so much that she took some packets home and sniffed them on the bus ride back. It was the worst idea we ever had.

The bus ride back wasn't anything exciting except that we were all stoked for our first competition. We were ready and roaring to go. Our first competition would be at Allendale where we would take third place behind Reeths-Puffer and Jenison. That is where we started in the state-wide competition of marching band. We were filled with joy and excitement because it was the best that Hudsonville had done in the longest time.

We started off the year great and everyone was very proud of us. When we came back to the school, parents were there to greet us and make sure we knew that we had done a good job. Every time we came back from a competition they gave us these papers that said the name of the competition and a candy bar. I saved a few because I thought it would be good for a scrapbook.

The one competition besides state that always rings in my mind is the Hudsonville invitational. It had rained all week until the competition but marching band plays whether it is rain or shine. We went to the competition and we warmed up and we could see lightning in the background while we did. The rain held off until we entered the field. Then it started raining again and the show started.

We could barely see two feet in front of us; we had to trust that everyone was going to the right spot and that they were in the right spot. All I could see was the rain dripping off my hat and into my horn, but I kept playing and kept marching my heart out. I loved it. The rain was almost as loud as our playing but we powered through and later our band director told us that every time we hit a big moment a strike of lightning would slash through the sky behind us. At one point in the middle of the closer I was back by a mud pit in the middle of the field. I saw it but there was no way to avoid it and I walked right through it. The mud stuck to my shoes and I slipped and almost fell but I made it back up just in time. It was a good thing too because our pants were white and to be covered in mud would have been a really bad thing.

When we played our last note, everyone in the stands, about 3,000 people, stood up and shouted and cheered and all we could do was smile as we walked off the field and inside. Once inside we were jumping and screaming, hugging each other and in general just flipping out at how awesome that was.

Our band director came in and said, "If you play like that at every invitational from now on, you are going to win." So while he went to get our scores from the judges we sat and talked amongst ourselves about how amazing the show was, how close we were to slipping and the lightning. When Vanderwall came back he acted grim and then said, "If we weren't the Exhibition tonight we would have been first place!" We were screaming and jumping up and down. Everyone could hear us screaming on the busses as we took the trip back to the high school. Vanderwall then bid us good night and told us to sleep because we had to get ready for practice in the morning. We all groaned but left with smiles on our faces.

Practices came and went, along with other competitions; soon we were on our way to Detroit, Michigan for the state competition. We were going into state in fourth place but we had earned it and so far, we had done better than all the marching bands in the past decade.

The bus ride was really fun though it was on a big yellow school bus and we had nowhere to really sleep, unlike coach buses, sleeping on the floor on a school bus is not comfortable or really safe. On the way there my friend, Abby, ate a whole bag of candy and she looked at how many calories were in the bag and all of a sudden she goes, "I ate over 3,000 calories!" We all started laughing and she starts freaking out that she is going to get fat and that when we get back from state she was going to run about five miles.

Finally we arrived at our hotel about ten o' clock. The hotel was really nice, there was a big pool and a nice lobby, it was very pretty and I was afraid to touch everything. We were on the sixth and seventh floor of the hotel and we were told that we had to go to bed right away. A lot of the older kids wanted to go out to Chipotle but our band director was against it and told them they had to go to bed because we had a big day tomorrow and that we had to be awake by six o' clock.

We barely slept that night and woke up to piercing alarms. Groaning, we slammed our hands onto our alarm clocks and slowly rolled out of bed, alternating between showers and breakfast. Vanderwall and the parents told us not to eat a big breakfast because it would make us sick when we marched and we couldn't afford anything like that but all the guys went to the omelet bar and created these huge omelets, but we all know that guys never listen.

No one fell sick when we played but there were butterflies in our stomach as we approached Ford Field. When we parked we had to change on the buses, with no shades, with people walking by the buses. It was funny but the parents made sure that no one was staring at us and watching us change. Then it started raining while we were walking over to our warm up place and it was really cold. We had to adjust the drums so much just to make them in tune, along with our instruments. After about an hour of freezing, some people came to take us down into the bowels of Ford Field.

We were forced into this small room and it was so hot that three drum heads broke. Our instruments were so out of tune as well because they weren't used to the warmth radiating throughout the room and building. It wasn't looking very good for us but then we played part of the show and everything came together, we were ready to go.

The people led us to the opening and we stood there looking at about 10,000 people, including my family. When we walked onto the field people started screaming and shouting out to us and it was an amazing feeling. We could see the judges, like little ants above the bubbling crowd. Turning our backs to them, we played our warm-up song, Heroes of the Battle, a song based of Battle of the Heroes by John Williams from Star Wars. Once warmed up, we turned around and walked into position.

We listened to the announcer, "Jeff Stracke and Ken Rissley, is your band ready?" Our commander saluted and the announcer said, "The Hudsonville High School Marching Band," in a deep, rumbling voice.

The show began and we did our thing, running over judges that got in our way. We played our hearts out to the people that filled the stadium and the intensity we played with could be seen on the faces of the audience and through our movements. This was our time and we were going to make sure they remembered it.

Playing our last note, we thrust our instruments down, our commander, Jeff, turned around and saluted the crowd while they stood on their feet and clapped loudly. I could see my family holding up a sign that said "We Love You, Jamie!" It was an amazing feeling; the energy in the crowd made us energized, even though we were exhausted from the show. We walked out of there smiling and bursted into laughter and crying and all these emotions that just flowed out of us.

Waiting for the awards was torturous and when we heard our names called for fourth we screamed and yelled. It was the best Hudsonville had done in over a decade. Our group had made a change in the marching band's history. Winning wasn't what was important, it was the friendships and passion we got from our time in the band. We went back home, proud of what we had created and what we had accomplished and we let the school and town know that we were proud. They never doubted the passion of the 2006 Hudsonville Marching Band.

Description
Passion is something people don't expect from marching band kids. The truth is marching band has the most passionate kids in it, even more so than football players. They need passion; they crave it and strive to do everything in their power to be perfect in every aspect of their show.
In Hudsonville, Michigan, there were ninety-nine dedicated high school kids. Their marching band was one of the weakest in the state, though they made it to the state championships every fall, they were placing near last for the past decade. This year, 2006, everything would change.
The director was Mr. Vanderwall and he was the only one willing to take this band to the next level and so were the ninety-nine kids that tried out that made all the difference. All of them were there to play music and to be a small part in a much larger picture. Some of these kids were my friends: Nick, Ashley, Nikki, Abby, Jeff, Zack, and Cassie.

Of course, we all had to try out first. Jeff, Zack and Cassie were all returnees so they weren't worried about the auditions as much as the rest of us. We were honestly freaking out and holding hands, well except Nick, he was a guy so he didn't do that stuff. So, we all stood outside with our instruments, waiting and waiting.

The audition wasn't that hard at all, in fact I thought I did fairly well, but some of my friends weren't as sure. Ashley came out crying and it was because she thought she did a horrible job, but Vanderwall told us later that she was one of the better flutes that auditioned. In the end, we all made it in.

Soon after auditions were over, practice began; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school 3:30pm to 6:30pm. We started with marching basics; pointing our toes to the sky, rolling our feet, and standing up straight, a little forward and staying on the balls of our feet. It was hard to get it, but eventually we did.

Once school ended, we had gotten basics down enough that we were able to use our instruments too. Practices were everyday but Wednesday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm. They were hard, hot and long days, we wore a lot of sunscreen but by the time we were ready for band camp, we were all as red as lobsters.

For band camp we went to a campground and lived in these cabins that were infested with all these insects and we still had to go to practice which was every day for a week and a half. We were up from 7am till 9pm and it was hard work with a lot of attention time, but our breaks were the best; dinner was my favorite.

At dinner we would have contests, snacks and just hanging out with everyone, going over how the day went. I drank a lot of hot tea at dinner and there was this one tea that I really liked; it was called Refresh. One night I was drinking it and my friends said "why do you like that tea so much?" I shrugged and kept drinking. They kept bugging me until I let them have a sip or two. Ashley was the first one and she instantly said her tongue was numb and then Abby and some other people tried it and had the same reaction. Nikki wanted to try it but we knew if she even had a sip she would be psycho, so we said that she could sniff it. Well, she sniffed it and was instantly nuts. It was really funny and she loved it so much that she took some packets home and sniffed them on the bus ride back. It was the worst idea we ever had.

The bus ride back wasn't anything exciting except that we were all stoked for our first competition. We were ready and roaring to go. Our first competition would be at Allendale where we would take third place behind Reeths-Puffer and Jenison. That is where we started in the state-wide competition of marching band. We were filled with joy and excitement because it was the best that Hudsonville had done in the longest time.

We started off the year great and everyone was very proud of us. When we came back to the school, parents were there to greet us and make sure we knew that we had done a good job. Every time we came back from a competition they gave us these papers that said the name of the competition and a candy bar. I saved a few because I thought it would be good for a scrapbook.

The one competition besides state that always rings in my mind is the Hudsonville invitational. It had rained all week until the competition but marching band plays whether it is rain or shine. We went to the competition and we warmed up and we could see lightning in the background while we did. The rain held off until we entered the field. Then it started raining again and the show started.

We could barely see two feet in front of us; we had to trust that everyone was going to the right spot and that they were in the right spot. All I could see was the rain dripping off my hat and into my horn, but I kept playing and kept marching my heart out. I loved it. The rain was almost as loud as our playing but we powered through and later our band director told us that every time we hit a big moment a strike of lightning would slash through the sky behind us. At one point in the middle of the closer I was back by a mud pit in the middle of the field. I saw it but there was no way to avoid it and I walked right through it. The mud stuck to my shoes and I slipped and almost fell but I made it back up just in time. It was a good thing too because our pants were white and to be covered in mud would have been a really bad thing.

When we played our last note, everyone in the stands, about 3,000 people, stood up and shouted and cheered and all we could do was smile as we walked off the field and inside. Once inside we were jumping and screaming, hugging each other and in general just flipping out at how awesome that was.

Our band director came in and said, "If you play like that at every invitational from now on, you are going to win." So while he went to get our scores from the judges we sat and talked amongst ourselves about how amazing the show was, how close we were to slipping and the lightning. When Vanderwall came back he acted grim and then said, "If we weren't the Exhibition tonight we would have been first place!" We were screaming and jumping up and down. Everyone could hear us screaming on the busses as we took the trip back to the high school. Vanderwall then bid us good night and told us to sleep because we had to get ready for practice in the morning. We all groaned but left with smiles on our faces.

Practices came and went, along with other competitions; soon we were on our way to Detroit, Michigan for the state competition. We were going into state in fourth place but we had earned it and so far, we had done better than all the marching bands in the past decade.

The bus ride was really fun though it was on a big yellow school bus and we had nowhere to really sleep, unlike coach buses, sleeping on the floor on a school bus is not comfortable or really safe. On the way there my friend, Abby, ate a whole bag of candy and she looked at how many calories were in the bag and all of a sudden she goes, "I ate over 3,000 calories!" We all started laughing and she starts freaking out that she is going to get fat and that when we get back from state she was going to run about five miles.

Finally we arrived at our hotel about ten o' clock. The hotel was really nice, there was a big pool and a nice lobby, it was very pretty and I was afraid to touch everything. We were on the sixth and seventh floor of the hotel and we were told that we had to go to bed right away. A lot of the older kids wanted to go out to Chipotle but our band director was against it and told them they had to go to bed because we had a big day tomorrow and that we had to be awake by six o' clock.

We barely slept that night and woke up to piercing alarms. Groaning, we slammed our hands onto our alarm clocks and slowly rolled out of bed, alternating between showers and breakfast. Vanderwall and the parents told us not to eat a big breakfast because it would make us sick when we marched and we couldn't afford anything like that but all the guys went to the omelet bar and created these huge omelets, but we all know that guys never listen.

No one fell sick when we played but there were butterflies in our stomach as we approached Ford Field. When we parked we had to change on the buses, with no shades, with people walking by the buses. It was funny but the parents made sure that no one was staring at us and watching us change. Then it started raining while we were walking over to our warm up place and it was really cold. We had to adjust the drums so much just to make them in tune, along with our instruments. After about an hour of freezing, some people came to take us down into the bowels of Ford Field.

We were forced into this small room and it was so hot that three drum heads broke. Our instruments were so out of tune as well because they weren't used to the warmth radiating throughout the room and building. It wasn't looking very good for us but then we played part of the show and everything came together, we were ready to go.

The people led us to the opening and we stood there looking at about 10,000 people, including my family. When we walked onto the field people started screaming and shouting out to us and it was an amazing feeling. We could see the judges, like little ants above the bubbling crowd. Turning our backs to them, we played our warm-up song, Heroes of the Battle, a song based of Battle of the Heroes by John Williams from Star Wars. Once warmed up, we turned around and walked into position.

We listened to the announcer, "Jeff Stracke and Ken Rissley, is your band ready?" Our commander saluted and the announcer said, "The Hudsonville High School Marching Band," in a deep, rumbling voice.

The show began and we did our thing, running over judges that got in our way. We played our hearts out to the people that filled the stadium and the intensity we played with could be seen on the faces of the audience and through our movements. This was our time and we were going to make sure they remembered it.

Playing our last note, we thrust our instruments down, our commander, Jeff, turned around and saluted the crowd while they stood on their feet and clapped loudly. I could see my family holding up a sign that said "We Love You, Jamie!" It was an amazing feeling; the energy in the crowd made us energized, even though we were exhausted from the show. We walked out of there smiling and bursted into laughter and crying and all these emotions that just flowed out of us.

Waiting for the awards was torturous and when we heard our names called for fourth we screamed and yelled. It was the best Hudsonville had done in over a decade. Our group had made a change in the marching band's history. Winning wasn't what was important, it was the friendships and passion we got from our time in the band. We went back home, proud of what we had created and what we had accomplished and we let the school and town know that we were proud. They never doubted the passion of the 2006 Hudsonville Marching Band.