5th Annual Ridge High School Marching Band Competition

By Roger Gurnani

The public is invited to the 5th annual Ridge High School Marching Band Competition on Saturday, October 25.

The competition is a US Bands sanctioned “Gold Star” show with performances by 17 area high school marching bands. This year’s competition promises to be a great entertaining event with over two thousand spectators expected.

Ridge, the host band, will perform its 2014 performance show “Playing with Fire” in exhibition at the conclusion of the competition. An exciting awards ceremony will follow. Bands will compete for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Trophies and Caption Awards for Best Overall Effect, Best Music, Best Visual, Best Percussion and Best Color Guard.

The event will be held at Ridge High School on S. Finley Avenue, in Basking Ridge. Tickets will be available at the Lee Field gate starting at 4:00 pm with prices ranging from $5 for students and $10 for adults. Additional information about the competition can be obtained at www.rhsmbc.wix.com /2014.

The following bands are on the roster (in order of appearance) for the competition this year:

Lenape Valley Regional High School - Stanhope NJ

Hackettstown High School - Hackettstown NJ

Pompton Lakes High School - Pompton Lakes NJ

Bernards High School - Bernardsville NJ

Voorhees High School - Glen Gardner NJ

Wayne Valley High School - Wayne NJ

Parsippany Hills High School - Morris Plains NJ

Livingston High School - Livingston NJ

Pequannock Township High School - Pompton Plains NJ

North Plainfield High School - North Plainfield NJ

Union High School (NJ) - Union NJ

South Plainfield High School - South Plainfield NJ,

Vernon Township High School - Vernon NJ

Linden High School - Linden NJ

Port Chester High School - Port Chester NY

Somerville High School (NJ) - Somerville NJ

In Exhibition: Ridge High School (NJ) - Basking Ridge NJ

The competition is organized with support of the Ridge High School Band Association (RHSBA) and volunteer parents and alumni. The RHSBA works with the school staff all season long to ensure Ridge High School has a vibrant and thriving music and band program. The association board is made up of Jen Kluger – President, Ann Lauridsen – First Vice President, Barbara Brooks – Second Vice President, John Paniccia – Treasurer, Janet Fitzgerald – Secretary, Brenda Miller – Fundraising, and Sudha Kolli – Member.

Jen Kluger, RHSBA Chair for the competition event, commented “We are looking forward to an exciting and fun-filled evening. Each of our visiting bands has invested significant time and effort perfecting their show for competition, and we would like to wish them Good Luck.”

The Ridge High School Marching Band Competition is an entertaining family event with great music, choreographed performances, food and fun filled activities. This annual event creates a great sense of camaraderie among the band students and staff, the parent organization and the local community while at the same time, promoting the school district and the township. Kluger also added that “we are proud to host such a sizable event each year and we would like to thank both our current and alumni RMB parents and students for all of their hard work and dedication to the program. We would also like to thank our sponsors who continue to support this event through advertisements, trophies and donations. It will be a GREAT DAY for MARCHING BAND!”