The North Forsyth Raider Marching Band recently performed in two competitions on October 11 and October 18, in which they gave excellent performances. The band’s show, “Curtain Call”, has three movements or songs, each based off a different genre of music. Movement one was based on opera, movement two took up Broadway, and movement three used rock. The movements all have well known song such as Barber of Seville, Le Miserables, and Carry On.

At the Blue Ridge Mountain Marching Festival on October 11 the group earned the following awards:

• Superior Rating for Band
• Excellent Rating for Guard
• Superior Rating for Percussion
• Superior Rating for Drum Majors
• 2nd Place Band in Class 4A
• 3rd Place Guard in Class 4A
• 2nd Place Percussion in Class 4A
• 3rd Place Drum Majors in Class 4A.

At the Lake Hartwell Marching Competition on October 18 the group earned the following awards:

• Superior Rating for Band
• Excellent Rating for Guard
• Superior Rating for Percussion
• Superior Rating for Drum Majors
• 1st Place Band in Class 4A
• 2nd Place Guard in Class 4A
• 1st Place Percussion in Class 4A
• 2nd Place Drum Majors in Class 4A
• 2nd Place Band in the Gold Division (and 2nd Overall)
• 2nd Place Percussion in the Gold Division (and 2nd Overall).

The band’s director, Raymond Thomas, is pleased with the band’s performance and said, “The band staff is very proud of these students for their hard work and dedication to excellence.”

Many students were happy with the performances, but North was beaten by West Forsyth High. West also participated in the Lake Hartwell Marching Competition and won Grand Champion . The freshmen and sophomores, who make up the majority of the band, agree the close loss adds motivation for next year’s band to train harder and provide more wisdom for the upcoming 8^th graders. They hope that teaching the 8^th graders sooner than later will provide an extra boost to the show next year.

This was the seniors’ last major competition in a North uniform, and all of them, including Drum Majors  Justin Ebert and Ashli Campbell, were on the field to receive the honors October 18. After the game Ebert gave a heartfelt speech with a pinch of his sarcastic style to the band members on his bus, “Despite what my teachers and friends think, I plan on graduating,” he said with a grin on his face.

So after a great year, the Raider Marching Band wants to thank you for coming out and watching us at all the games and competitions this year, and hope you’ll come and support them next year.