What’s a parade without a marching band? This last Saturday on October 10th, 2015, the Heritage Days Festival Parade took place in Placentia with high school and middle school bands from all over Southern California that came to perform.

At 6:45 in the morning, the all the members of the Mustang Marching Band from Yorba Linda High School had to be at school to prepare for their first time ever performing Sousa’s “The Loyal Legion.” Since summer, the members of the regiment have been preparing this march. Marching in a parade is much harder than what most people think. The Mustangs had to memorize the march, know the exact amount of each footstep, and march down Kraemer Boulevard for more than a half-hour straight in over 100 degree weather in very thick and heavy band uniforms.

Throughout the parade, a total of 6 band members had to sit out of the parade from the heat. According to AJ Perry (10), “It was like marching through hell. [It was definitely] the hardest parade I have marched in.” Even though there might have been some setbacks on Saturday’s performance, Drum Major Katherine Robison (12) could not have been any prouder for the band members. After the performance, she said,

“Saturday’s performance was on a really hot day, and lots of performers either fainted or had to sit out. But our band and guard have practiced so much that we were prepared to push through and do our best, regardless of the heat. At the end of the day, we looked great and sounded awesome. I couldn’t be more proud.”

 

The Mustang band was able pull through with the performance and received 4th place in its division with a score of 83.25. Katherine was able to get 4th place herself as the drum major with her routine of spinning the baton.

This performance was only one of the first during the 2015 marching season, which ends in the end of November. The Mustang Marching Band still has more parades to go to, and on top of that, it also has to perfect its field show to compete during this season. One of the major goals this season is to qualify for the SCSBOA (Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association) finals, which the band was not able to do the previous season in 2014. Since the second football game that the Yorba Linda High School team played against Troy High School team on September 11th, 2015, the band has performed at every home game, and it has pretty much become a routine for the band members.

Since the creation of the Mustang Marching Band, the band has received an astonishing number of awards at these competitions, and for this season, the Mustangs hope to finish the year with a good placement. Many can say there is no doubt about that.