Eaton makes top 10 and prepares to go to finals for ‘first time ever’

         For the first time ever the EHS marching band made it to finals, getting into the top 10 at regionals on Saturday, Oct. 9. Before the competition, Tyler Whitaker, drum major and marching band conductor, said that they were definitely going to make it to finals. He said,  “This year for sure. For sure, because last year’s show was good, and that’s the best we’ve ever done, but this year’s show has top of that, ten-fold. It’s amazing.” To get ready for competition, the marching band puts in a lot of work. Whitaker said, “We practice every morning at 7, and then we do Saturdays at 8 and sometimes nights.” For him personally Whitaker said, “At the beginning of the season I was practicing for hours a night.” He said that he had to practice a lot to be able to conduct the band because he had to learn a ton of patterns. Logan Doddridge, the marching band director, said that the band practices at least eight hours a week and sometimes 12 if they are preparing for a competition. Besides the music itself, the marching band also had to create props for the performance, which Whitaker said took two months. The props are colorfully painted canvases held up by white PVC pipe, creating an ocean backdrop for the band’s performance.  Doddridge said, “There are kids of all different levels that are helping each other, teaching each other, and just all working extremely hard.” Whitaker said, “I think my favorite thing about marching band is a bunch of people from a bunch of different cliques in school come together to make something amazing throughout the year. And then we get to present it to our community and compete with other bands.”

        Besides regionals, marching band also performed in Greeley at the Legend Marching Festival on Saturday, Sept. 4, almost earning themselves the highest possible score. An event scored based on a one to five scale, one being the best, the marching band achieved a high two. Doddridge said that all the seniors have stepped up to make this possible. He said, “They have been an incredible class this year, they’ve really really stepped up, and yeah, I couldn’t do that without them.”