Trenton High School Band is Marching By Their Own Drums

Talking to band members, parents, and directors, being in a marching band takes commitment, time, and skill.

They start practicing in the summer, continue practices during the school year and go to all sorts of tournaments, parades, games, pep rallies, and select events like 's , in the case of the Trojan band.

"They're out here in the summers with the football team getting ready to for the year," said Trenton High School Band Boosters vice president Deb Scola, one of the primary figures behind the school's fund-raising last Saturday.

While marching is not a sport, it definitely takes up its fair share of time.

"We go to some sort of competition or event every weekend," said Sean Pedley, whose daughter Christiana is a member of the Truman Marching Band who placed sixth in Saturday's competition. "They're playing in the Thanksgiving Day Parade downtown (Detroit) this year, and we're going to some event down in Orlando, too."

Trenton has its plate full, too.

They have been selected to play as a guest high school band at Eastern Michigan University's football game Saturday and will also participate in a couple of holiday parades.

"Oh yeah, we stay busy," Truman band director Jason Cassell said. "But there's a lot of stuff that goes into each performance and it's nice to have events to play at."

Trenton band director Mike Kurilko said that in the 1960s and 70s it wasn't uncommon to see marching bands of 160 to 180 members, but now an average size band will have around 80. Why Kurilko can't exactly explain the decline in numbers outside of kids having more options and entertainment to fill up their time and attention, he is proud of the Trenton High School record 155-member band.

"I'm proud of the kids. They're great," Kurilko said. "I've been here 25 years and this is the biggest band I've ever had. It makes me very proud of where our program is."