The 23rd Annual Mardi Gras Field Show and Parade Contest
Jayde Eubanks
Drum roll, please. And the winner is...Mascoutah High School! Pinckneyville Community High School hosted the 23rd annual Mardis Gras Field Show and Parade contest on their football field last Saturday. A variety of high school bands competed in the competition, while amusing the crowd and amazing the cheerful spectators. The contest featured sixteen field show bands and eighteen parade bands, resulting in the most spectacular show on earth. Hailey Coleman, a tenor saxophone player, commented on the day's ongoing events.“When I first arrived at the contest, I thought that it was going to be a really long day because I saw all of those bands getting ready to perform. When they announced that the Mascoutah High School Band had won, I was not expecting it, none of us were, because we thought that we didn’t do so great on the field, but as soon as we won grand champion everyone was screaming. I couldn’t contain it. It was such a great feeling.” I asked her about her thoughts on their greatest competition, Belleville West. “We lost to Belleville West last year at Pinckneyville, we thought we were going to lose this year, too. But this was our big year.” Hailey continued to speak about the exhaustion she and other band members exhibited throughout the day. “The contest started at 1 o’clock and we didn’t get home until about 11 at night. It was exhausting because we put everything we had into our performance. It was the hardest day I’ve had all season.”
According to Jodie Schmitt, ” "For the past 8 years my family has been involved in the band, we've never beaten Belleville West, who is the band to beat at this contest. So, I was very skeptical in taking grand champion. But I knew we had a strong chance at winning in our class.” Just like Hailey, Jodie was surprised of the band’s incredible accomplishment. “I was shocked. We had to do our awards salute and I was shaking the entire time. Mrs. Haynes always said that when you win grand champion you get this feeling that you can't describe. And that's exactly how I felt. I felt so happy for the band, knowing that all the hard work they put into the parade and field show really paid off. They really deserved this award and it was a great way to end my last marching season in the high school."
Last but not least, Tammy Coleman who plays the marching baritone said, "I was pretty nervous when we first arrived, but I also felt confident. At first, I was in disbelief because it wasn't our best parade and we only got second on field, but then it hit me that we must have done amazing if we beat all the other schools. It was also amazing that all the other schools, besides Belleville West, were cheering for us and wanted us to win. It was extremely exhausting, especially with how hot it suddenly became because we got used to performing in the cold that the heat shocked us as well as having a football game before. That was a double whammy. It was worth it though because we put a lot of time and effort into our performance." The Mascoutah High School Band performed beautifully and their hard work and dedication was surely acknowledged. Congratulations on your big win and keep up the good work!
