Seth Ritter
eSomethin Staff

**Perrysburg Marching Band drum major Elena Fuentes marches down the field as the fight song was played. “Band is Honestly My favorite activity I do,” said Elena Fuentes, drum major.**
**(Photo credit: Freddy Fuentes)**

Every year near the end of marching band season, Perrysburg’s high school marching band hosts an event called 8th Grade Night where eighth graders join the high school’s marching band. This gives eighth graders in band a chance to meet current high school band members in their future sections and get a taste of what high school marching band is like.

Band director Ryan Williams said “8th Grade Night has been going on as long as I know. I did it when I was in high school and that was in 2007-2006 – so, for at least 20 years.”

Williams kept the tradition going when he took on the role of director.

“It’s a great recruitment event in general and you get to see the band side of games versus if they just go to the football games and getting to actually have half of the game and have experience in the stands, doing the halftime thing on the field, just some of the things they wouldn’t get to do and I think that’s really cool that we do,” Williams said

Halftime Handoff

The High School band plays a traditional music set during pregame, songs such as the fight song, the high school’s alma mater, and the national anthem.

Then, they play for Quarter 1 and 2 in the stands, with quick, “stand tunes.”

Senior Drum major Elena Fuentes, also a flute/piccolo player, said “the best part of 8th grade night is probably being able to see all the eighth graders being really energetic and excited in band. I think that sometimes you can get lost in marching band so I think it’s really cool that you get to experience that.”

“When I was a freshman, I didn’t really know a lot of people through marching band, then I knew a lot of people through all the grades and all the sections and yeah it’s just a lot of fun,” Fuentes said.

Eighth grade percussionist Keaton Smith stated his opinion on what He enjoys about the band, Smith responded with “I’d say either the music or the people.” We then asked him what his experience was like with the band so far and Smith replied “Personally, I think it’s been a great time, learning music, and making connections.”When asked what his opinion was on the night in general, Smith said “I liked seeing all my friends from last year, and meeting new people”

“You can see some of the different dynamics because a lot of the eighth graders know a lot of the freshmen because they were in school at the same time – but then now you see the eighth graders interact with them as high schoolers. It’s neat to see,” Williams said.

During halftime, the high school band performs first, starting off with one song of their away show, this year being ‘Mamma Mia!’ By ABBA. Meanwhile, the 8th graders sit on the sidelines, carefully watching the older kids perform in different shapes on the field.

Crescendo To the Future

After the song, the eighth graders joined the high schoolers on the field, playing “Animal” by Neon Trees, and “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen.

Eighth grade instrumentalist Jace Ligman said “It’s easy to play mediocre, but hard to play good. Band I feel is something that is easy to learn but very very hard to master. I really do encourage anyone wanting to do band to do it but I also want them to know that band is harder than you may think.”

One Last Note

For the eighth graders, the performance was more than just a concert, it was a reassuring sneak peek into their musical futures. By bridging the gap between middle and high school, both directors hope this joint performance is the start of a new tradition that keeps these young musicians playing for years to come. When the school year ends, many of these eighth graders won’t just be entering high school as freshmen, they will be walking through the doors with an entire section of older teammates and friends already waiting for them.

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