CR Jefferson, Keokuk, and Hamilton win at Mt. Pleasant

Nearly 2500 people, including 1445 band students, witnessed some of the top high school marching bands compete in the 13th annual Mt. Pleasant Marching Invitational on September 17.

With their show featuring songs from West Side Story, the 160 member Band Of Blue from Cedar Rapids Jefferson took top honors in Class 4A with 845 points. Their biggest margin over second place Clinton was in Marching General Effect scoring. The 120 member Clinton Royal Riverking Marching Band took second overall and garnered top scoring in Marching and Music Execution. Their show consisted of selections from Key Poulans Chronometry.

Rounding out the 4A placements were third place to Cedar Rapids Kennedy, followed by Muscatine and Ottumwa.

In the 4A caption awards, Clinton won for Drum Major, Color Guard, and Drumline, while Jefferson had best Hornline.

Class 2A saw Koekuk take first place with their show featuring songs made famous by the 1970's band Chase. They were followed by the Bloodhound Marching Band from Fort Madison, then Western Dubuque, Washington, and West Delaware.

Captions awards in Class 2A went to West Delaware for best Drum Major, while Keokuk took the other caption honors.

Hamilton (Illinois) won the Class 1A/2A competition, playing the music of BonJovi. Their band has 48 members. Rounding out the smaller schools scoring was Wapello, Central Lee, and Mediapolis.

1A/2A caption awards went to Central Lee for best Drum Major and Drumline, and Hamilton for top Color Guard and Hornline.

The Sweepstakes Award was handed out to Clinton, who had the most points (1670) among bands that participated in both the Mt. Pleasant Invitational and the competition earlier in the day at Fort Madison.

The Best Represented Band trophy went to Clinton, who had the most fans there.

The evening began with an exhibition performance by the Mt. Pleasant Middle School Band that boasts 140 members in grades 7 and 8. They are directed by Sherry Christensen and led by drum major Caitlyn DePriest. They played Funky Town and Thriller, as well as The Star Spangled Banner.

Following the competition, the Mt. Pleasant High School Panther Marching Band, with 168 members, performed their original show entitled The Race, based on a poem by D.H. Groberg. The music and drill was written by the band director, Jim DePriest. He is assisted in the marching season by Adam Creager and Phil Schroetter. Drum majors are Luke Brau and Hailie Baccam.

Scores and the event program can be viewed in the Documents section of this iHigh website.

The Invitational was sponsored by the high school music department and the Mt. Pleasant Music Boosters. They will be sponsoring a Show Choir Invitational, Music InMotion, on February 4. Phil Schroetter, director of choral activities and the InMotion Show Choir at the high school, is heading that event. www.mpmusic.org