Montville Marching Band makes Town Planner Calendar

The Montville Township High School (MTHS) Field Corps and Marching Band are featured in the just-released Montville Town Planner calendar. The award-winning marching band holds the center position for October 2015.

The photo chosen to represent October was taken during the MTHS homecoming game on October 24, 2014. The MTHS Mustangs football team beat Vernon High School that evening 28 to 27, and the school’s band helped keep fans’ spirits high during the tense game.

The Town Planner calendar has been a Montville tradition for twenty-four years. Produced by O’Dowd publishers, the calendar has grown from 8 communities in 1992, with a circulation of 50,000 homes, to 50 communities with a circulation of 325,000 homes.

“We like the marching band,” said Pat O’Dowd, who, with her husband Joseph, owns O’Dowd Advertising of Montville, NJ.

O’Dowd requested an October photo of the MTHS band when she learned that the group has held their band competition in October for over ten years.

Other outstanding accomplishments this fall for the MTHS Field Corps and Marching Band include bringing home several important awards from competitions.

On November 8 and 9, 2014 they competed at the USBands Group IIIA National Championships at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, PA. Out of 16 finalist bands, Montville placed second, winning the caption award of Best Overall effect, and was also the Cadets Award of Excellence recipient. Additionally, in special captions, the colorguard finished fifth overall, and the percussion was second overall.

At the November 2 competition, the MTHS Mustangs competed at the US Bands National Championships Preview Show at Northern Highlands High school and won first place in their class winning the captions of Best Music, Best Overall Effect, Best Visual Performance, and Best Percussion. The groups’ percussion received the highest score in their caption in the entire show among all bands of all classifications.

The MTHS Field Corps and Marching Band also took first place in their class winning all captions for Best Music, Best Visual Performance, Best Overall Effect, Best Percussion, and Best Colorguard at the Fair Lawn High School on October 18 and 19. In addition to winning their class, the band also received the distinct honor of receiving the highest score overall in the entire show, topping all bands of varying classes in the show.

By placing the MTHS Field Corps and Marching Band on the October page, The Montville Town Planner hopes that others will remember to attend the 2015 MTHS Band Competition and support the MTHS Field Corps and Marching Band. The 2015 competition will be the eleventh annual event. The colorful competition traditionally hosts over 800 musicians from about a dozen area high schools.