Rockville High School Senior Diary: Festival Of The Bands

The 24th annual Festival of the Bands took place this past Saturday under the new direction of Laura Ayer.

With 10 bands performing from Connecticut and Massachusetts, and 150 volunteers, the festival drew a large crowd to the stands. Many parents and students helped clean up the football field, set up the food tents, and many other jobs that had to be done.

Many people were also ready and willing to help Ayer for her first year as director.

Ayer replaced Darcy Davis at the end of last spring as Davis announced his retirement. Ayer had been a large part of the band for the past eight years as woodwind instructor and visual instructor as well.

The National Guard 102nd Army Band performed, as well as Ellington which debuted its first performance at a competition and received a score of 74 from the judges.

The Rockville High School Marching Ram Band performed in exhibition scoring an 81 from the judges.

The judges came from far and wide to watch and critique the bands. They lent their expertise and guidance for the bands for whom some of which will be performing at states in New Britain on October 29, 2016.

The food was a hit, as usual and many people also bought the handmade blankets sold by the booster club to keep warm on such a crisp night. The food truck, a hot commodity among fans, was kept busy all night long as buyers kept coming back for the salty popcorn and juicy hamburgers.

After the Ram Band performance Ayer said “This is my dream job. I am actually living my dream.” Many times Ayer has also told band members that it is. their band, not hers.

“I would be out of a job in two weeks if I didn’t have a contract with the school.” Ayer said.

Her pride for the band has drawn so much support from around the community and has inspired the students to work even harder to become a great band. It has taken a lot of time and effort to make the band what it is today. Being such a small band, it is hard to produce a lot of sound so each player must be held accountable for their own part in the band.

The freshmen had a rough start at the beginning of the season, but by the looks of their performance on Saturday, anyone in the audience would never know. Their hard work and dedication has paid off through the course of the season and they represented the Rockville Marching Ram Band with pride.

It was also an emotional night for the seniors in the band and color guard as it was their last Festival of the Bands that they would be able to perform in. The painted on color guard masks were a black, smudged mess on the girl’s faces.

The black streaks not only represent the hard work of the girls, but the dedication and love for the band and each other that they all have.

That does not only go for the guard members, but band members as well. Many tears were falling down on to the polyester collar of their uniforms, making them even more uncomfortable and itchy than they already are.

Even though the festival was the lowest scored out of all of the other festivals around the state, all of the bands were very happy and proud of their performances, as they should be.

So just remember Rockville; keeps those eyes with pride.

Photo Credit: Joyce Hida