Grovetown High puts holes in bands
As football season begins and marching bands prepare to take the field at halftime, the bands from three Columbia County high schools are feeling the effects of the opening of the new Grovetown High.
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Harlem High is taking the hardest hit; the majority of students in the new Grovetown band came from Harlem, whose band of 50 members is less than half the size of last year's squad.
"We did lose some very good players," Harlem director Stacey Wade said. "The Grovetown band should be very good."
Without the splitting school zones for the Grovetown school, Wade said, his band would have probably been about 120 members strong with about 10 or 12 trumpet players.
Instead, the band boasts three trumpet players, matching the band's three trombone players.
"It only takes three if three can rock," Wade told the band during camp.
Even so, members spent long days practicing in the school parking lot during camp with no thought to being the county's smallest marching band.
Wade said he had expected some morale issues, but hadn't seen any by the end of the weeklong camp.
"I don't see it," Wade said. "I was concerned that would happen. I think they are really going to like it. There has been a lot of talk about that community school feeling coming back. ... It actually has a really nice vibe so far."
He said the students have worked hard and are a very pleasant group.
Wade said he's decided to change the direction of the small band by jazzing it up. He said a small band just can't compete with larger bands in marching competitions.
"I'm going to put a pretty heavy emphasis on jazz," Wade said. "I'm kind of treating the marching band this year as a big jazz band that marches on the field."
The halftime show, Harlem Nights, includes Birdland , written for jazz musician Charlie Parker, Earle Hagen's Harlem Nocturne, and the Land of Make Believe, by Chuck Mangione.
"A really fun show," Wade said. "I think it is going to be a lot of fun. I love the music. I think the kids are really going to like it too."
The drop in membership affects the band budget, which is about $4,000 less than last season, Wade said. Also, only half the number of members are paying band fees compared with last year.
Harlem isn't the only one feeling the effects of Grovetown High's opening.
Greenbrier High's marching band lost a few members, about 15 compared with last year's membership.
Evans High Band Director Reid Hall said she lost about eight students to Grovetown and has about 190 band members ready to take the half-time field.
But also missing from the practice field is former Assistant Director Geoffrey Rosche. Because enrollment in the Evans band program dropped below 200, school system officials transferred Rosche to Riverside Middle School.
"That's just a cut-off that we have," Superintendent Charles Nagle said.
Nagle said band teachers can have up to 500 students, 100 in each class. The number of teachers needed for each school year is determined by the spring enrollment numbers, which were about 160 for the Evans band program, he said.
Budgeting issues forced the transfer of the county's only assistant band director.
"We don't want (Hall) to feel as though we are penalizing her at all," Nagle said. "But with the economy being as it is right now, we're just having to be frugal and look at our numbers in all situations."
Marching Band Schedules
Evans High School
Directed by: Reid Hall
Members: 190
Theme: Living in Georgia
Selections: Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer and Hoagy Carmichael's Georgia On My Mind
First performance: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at Evans
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Greenbrier High School
Directed by: Michael Katterjohn
Members: 150
Theme: Magical Mystery Tour: Jimi Hendrix Meets The Beatles
Selections: Magical Mystery Tour, Something, Eleanor Rigby , and Hey Jude , by The Beatles; and Purple Haze and Fire by Jimi Hendrix
First performance: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at Evans
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Grovetown High School
Directed by: Brian Toney
Members: 90
Theme: Everyday Heroes
Selections: Superman theme, Batman theme, Bring Me to Life by Evanescence, and Aaron Copland's Fanfare to the Common Man
First area performance: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at Grovetown
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Harlem High School
Directed by: Stacey Wade
Members: 50
Theme: Harlem Nights
Selections: Birdland written for Charlie Parker, Earle Hagen's Harlem Nocturne , and Chuck Mangione's Land of Make Believe
First performance: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at Harlem
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Lakeside High School
Directed by: Jim Tau
Members: 155
Theme: Wish Upon a Star
Selections: Songs from the Walt Disney movies The Lion King , The Little Mermaid and Moulan
First performance: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at Lakeside