Get ready for some major strutting, the Thirlby Marching Band Exhibition is on deck this Monday evening.
The annual showcase of high school marching bands from around the region is a participant and crowd pleaser alike, drawing in community member as well as musicians and their families. This year, 1,200 students from 18 schools are expected to perform during the four-and-a-half hour show held at Thirlby Field in Traverse City.
"The kids get really psyched about this, it's a really big deal for us,” said Pat Brumbaugh, band director at West Senior High School who has organized the event for six years. "It is always fun to see what other shows they're coming up with.”
Following the usual format of smallest to largest bands, the evening will begin with Inland Lakes High School and end, as it has for years, with the behemoth Petoskey High School band that fields nearly 250 musicians.
Near the middle of the pack, size-wise, and scheduled to perform seventh, Kingsley High School's marching band members eagerly anticipate the expo every year. Director Tom Clair noted that his students like the non-competitive nature of the event, where an appreciative audience is there just for the music and marching.
"You get all those band kids together, all those music kids together, and they just have so much respect for each other,” said Clair, who has been in charge of the Kingsley band for 19 years. "It's absolutely phenomenal, for them to cheer each other when they come on and to cheer each other when coming off.”
"This is an absolutely fantastic thing, the kids love coming to it,” he added.
Noting the themes and costumes chosen, the nuances and flares that other bands work into their routines is also part of the thrill. While keeping an eagle eye on the field during each performance, band directors also enjoy hobnobbing among with colleagues throughout the evening.
"We steal each other's ideas every year: 'Oh, I like that horn movement,'” said Clair, who also appreciates the feedback arranged by the Exhibition organizers: "They always have a couple of clinicians there who talk about how we did, recorded onto audiotapes. We just simply listen to the tapes in band the next day.”
Brumbaugh's right hand for the past six years has been Robert DeGabriele, the parent volunteer in charge of the logistics from parking and rehearsal to publicity, concessions and clean up. Starting when his son was a sophomore in 2001 and culminating with his daughter, who will graduate next spring, DeGabriele has amassed a roster of at least four dozen volunteers to run the event.
"It's gut wrenching right up until game time, so to speak, because you never know what the weather's going to be, either,” said DeGabriele, noting a streak of five consecutive years of good weather. "Once everybody shows up, then it's a great amount of fun. You've got 18 schools doing a halftime show every 15 minutes: bang, bang. They're all up, no ballads being performed.”
Handing the baton to another parent for next year is tough, but DeGabriele is ready. Plus he does not want to deprive someone else of the great times to be had while immersed in their kids' activities.
"Six years is a long run but on the other hand it's really, it sounds weird, but it's not fair — there are other parents that should have the chance to do this,” said DeGabriele, who will serve as announcer of the show for the second year.
The Thirlby Marching Band Exhibition will be held at Thirlby Field on Monday, October 8, from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Admission is $3 per person, $1 per student and $8 per family.