Fair Lawn Marching Band & Color Guard Captures Third Straight Bergen County Title

The Fair Lawn High School Marching Band & Color Guard won its third straight Bergen County Invitational championship on Sunday, sweeping all captions at the Bergen County Invitational marching band festival at Bergenfield High School.

The nationally-ranked Cutters posted a score of 82.375 out of a possible 100 points in winning the Group IV Open title at the annual United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) competition. Fourteen schools performed on the day. Fair Lawn's next competition will be at the New Jersey State Championships on Sunday, Oct. 24 in Old Bridge.

Fair Lawn swept all captions in Group IV, winning for Best Music, Best Visual Performance, Best Overall Effect, Best Color Guard and Best Percussion. They also were judged to be overall champions for Best Music Performance, Best Music Ensemble, Best Color Guard and Best Percussion. 

"I'm very proud of everyone, it was a great all-around performance," said Fair Lawn High School Director of Bands Paul Kafer. "The kids really stepped up today and continue to make great strides each week. We added a lot of new elements during rehearsals this week and they did a great job executing them. We're looking forward to building on our show and today's success heading into the State Championships and going up against the best ensembles on the circuit."  

It was Fair Lawn's third straight sweep of all Group IV captions at the County Invitational, having also won the 2009 and 2007 titles. They did not compete at this event in 2008.  

"Three-peating is a nice accomplishment, especially as we have a large changeover due to graduation each year," added Kafer. "It's a testament to the kids and the instructional staff and their ability to rise to the occasion. We also had a large and supportive fan base and hope this continues as we head into championships."  

The program's tradition of excellence extends beyond the local level, as they have finished in the top 15 in the country in each of the last nine years, highlighted by Bronze medal finishes at the 2006 U.S. National Championships, the 2005 All-States Championships, and winning the 2002 Group IIA All-States title.  

The Cutters next take the field this Saturday, Oct. 16 when they perform their 2010 show, "Beyond the Periphery," during the Fair Lawn-Clifton high school football game at Sasso Field at 1:00 p.m. For the latest information on the Marching Band & Color Guard, including performance times, please visit www.flfom.com.