Selma High’s Marching Band opened the 57th Annual Selma Rotary Band Festival alongside Abraham Lincoln Middle School on October 29 at nine a.m. The parade was an opportunity for clubs, members, and other schools to be able to express and present themselves to the community.
The Selma community showed their support by bringing out their chairs and shade to comfortably watch the different showcases of schools and floats.
“The amount of people that were in the parade caught my eye. It was nice seeing so many people come together to watch the bands,” stated Senior Alexa Arriola, leadership student of Selma High School.
SHS presented themselves by attending in their own representation. Selma High School’s Homecoming Queen, Makaira Chavez, and Homecoming King, Daniel Arevalo, with the representation of FFA, made an appearance on the leadership float. ROTC participated by helping secure and establish stability from the route. The cheerleading team presented in the parade as well.
The event is also known as a competition for other marching bands to be able to compete through parade and in field show that was later held in the Stanley Stadium. A total of 21 schools attended to participate. As the night went on, the final decisions were made by the judges. The end of the night closed with Selma High’s field show performance. When being announced in placement there was an intense moment of silence waiting for the school’s name to be heard. Frontier High School won first place in their division for field. Also, creating an astonishing win for sweepstakes on winning both parade and field show overall.
“When you are up [performing] with the band, knowing you’ve done your best, it’s amazing. Everything went as it should, ” expressed drum major Luca Gutcher.
Everyone enjoyed themselves both from being on the side of the crowd or performing. At the end of the night there were smiles of the community seeing the showcases of what is around Selma.