NHS Marching Band

Almost 300 people braved Thursday evening's cold to support Norwell's Marching Knights as they turned on one final dress rehearsal performance at the Norwell Football Stadium before heading to Indianapolis Saturday for the State Championships. 

Norwell's Marching Knights Qualify For State Champs

Norwell’s Marching Knights will once again carry the flag for Wells County at this weekend’s State Marching Band Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

 

Norwell, along with Bluffton’s Bengal Brigade, both contested their respective classes Semi-State competitions over the weekend. Norwell managed to emerge as one of the 10 bands selected from Class C at Plainfield, however Bluffton’s season came to an end when they were unable to progress in the Class D event, held at Franklin High School.  

 

Saturday’s Semi-State events saw 20 bands in each of the four classes compete at Ben Davis (Class A) and Pike (Class B) in Indianapolis, Plainfield (Class C) and Franklin (Class D). To progress to the State Championships, bands had to record a top-10 finish in their class.

 

In all, six area bands qualified for competition at Lucas Oil Field. In Class A, Homestead will represent north-east Indiana. In Class B, DeKalb and North Side both qualified. In Class C, Norwell will be joined by Concordia and Heritage, while the region has no qualifiers in Class D.

 

Performance times for Class C competition are as follows: 

 

1:15 p.m. - Scottsburg

1:28 p.m. - Concordia Lutheran

1:41 p.m. - Norwell

1:54 p.m. - Beech Grove

2:07 p.m. - Fairfield

2:20 p.m. - Edgewood

2:33 p.m. - Western

2:46 p.m. - Gibson Southern

2:59 p.m. - Plymouth

3:12 p.m. - Heritage

Tickets for the State Championships will be on sale at Norwell in the commons during the lunch  period (approximately 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) on Wednesday and Thursday at the lunch periods times. Tickets will also be available at the Tuesday evening band practice, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the school. 

 

Tickets can also be purchased at the Lucas Oil Stadium ticket windows located at the Northeast corner, or Southeast corner of the stadium close to Capitol Avenue. The windows are on street level across from the Post Office. No tickets are sold at the entrances. 

 

Tickets are good for the whole event day. 

 

Admission will be $20.00 for adults and $18.00 for students and pre-schoolers. Babies under two years of age, carried in arms and not occupying a seat, will be admitted free. 

 

Entry into the stadium will be through the North and West entrance only. Spectators who leave the stadium must receive a hand stamp only if they plan to return to the stadium later in the day. For readmission, fans will need their original ticket and a hand stamp.  Fans who leave with the intention to return, and fail to get their hand stamped, will need to purchase another ticket to regain admission. Hand Stamp pass outs  will only be available at the north entrance.

The Marching Knights will be doing an exhibition performance at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Lancaster Elementary School, and at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Ossian Elementary School. They will also perform a Community Performance at Norwell on the football field in full dress uniform at approximately 8:30 p.m. Thursday, which will be open to the public. 

Bluffton Show Choir!

Bluffton Show Choir kicked-off the musical season with a rousing good show Wednesday. News-Banner Reporter Frank Shanly was there to catch all the action...

Bluffton Show Choirs Host "Fall Show" Wednesday

Bluffton’s show choirs kicked off their year of special shows and competitions Wednesday evening, with their annual “Fall Show” at the high school.

 

Musical Entourage was joined by the 7th and 8th grade choirs  for a 10-song performance, which featured choreography from the students themselves. Aja Hurst (front in the picture above) provided the choreography for the high school students, while several of the middle school students combined to produce their efforts. 

 

The three choirs started the show with a joint performance of “I’ve Got a Feeling.” 

 

The 7th Grade choir  performed “You’re The One That I Want” (from “Grease”), “Party in the USA” and “Splish Splash”. Kaytlin Hart, Krysten Mossburg, Caroline Mettler and Heaven Coblentz performed solo spots during “Party In The USA.” 

 

The 8th Grade choir performed “Car Wash”, “I Enjoy Being a Girl” and “Fireflies”.

 

Musical Entourage performed “Fame”, “Children of Eden” with Hope Gerber performing as soloist, and the show’s finale “Shake Your Groove Thing.”  

 

A big "Thank You" to News-Banner intern Marci Mettler (also from Bluffton High School) for taking the pics Wednesday evening, which freed me up for taking video. (More photos, and video, to come). 

Norwell Show Choirs Raising Funds for New York Competition

Norwell’s show choir students are looking for work!

 

They have a trip to New York coming up, and they are looking to raise the funds required to get the show on the road. 

 

“Our group is willing to do just about anything to help out,” enthused show choir parent Mike Lampton. “We will help clean up yards and properties, rake leaves, paint inside or out, wash windows, help clean up rental properties, clean up abandoned homes/businesses or any other labor that is needed.”

 

The Norwell show choirs have been given the honor of competing at Radio City Music Hall in New York this coming April. 

 

“While choir is a co-curricular activity at Norwell, the school does not fund the show choirs,” explained Lampton. “Funding is the responsibility of the student’s family and the choir board, and is paid through fees, fund raising efforts, and donations.  

 

“Such is the case with the New York trip as well.  While most of our parents have committed to paying for their child to be able to experience this wonderful opportunity, we do have a few parents who are having severe difficulties coming up with the trip fees in addition to their normal choir fees.” 

 

The booster club hopes to raise enough funds to ensure that every choir member can participate in the New York competition, and members would like to hear from anyone with projects that need to be done. 

 

For further information, contact either Mike Lampton on (260) 760-5286 or by email at Michael.Lampton@infarmbureau.com or Mary Nolan on (260) 273-0616, or by email at tmjranch@adamswells.com

Bluffton and Norwell Bands March On to Semi-State

Another successful weekend for Wells County’s marching bands saw both  Bluffton’s Bengal Brigade and the Norwell Marching Knights (pictured above) move to just one step away from qualification for this year’s State Championships.

 

Both bands contested their respective class’s Regional Championships Saturday. For Bluffton, that meant a trip to Chesterton, while Norwell travelled to Lafayette-Jefferson for the Class C competition. 

 

To progress, bands had to secure a gold rating and place in the top 10 in their division - representing the top 10 from the north of the state.  

 

And both did exactly that. 

 

This weekend, the top 10 bands from the north will compete against the top 10 from the south, with the top 10 overall in each class moving on to Lucas Oil Field on Oct. 30 to decide the best in the state. 

 

For its Class C Semi-state showdown, Norwell travels to Plainfield, while Bluffton travels to Franklin Community High School for the Class D event. Bluffton performs at 2:44 p.m. 

Bluffton and Norwell Bands Score a Sweep of Seconds

The Bluffton and Norwell marching bands secured a clean sweep of second placings in their final invitational competitions of the season Saturday.

 

Norwell travelled south to Center Grove for their toughest competition of the season, and hot temperatures that proved in stark contrast to the previous week’s conditions at Homestead.   

 

The Marching Knights had expected tough competition from Edgewood, which has 155 members in its band, compared with Norwell’s 80. And indeed, that was how things turned out, with Edgewood sweeping the caption awards for Best Music, Best Visual and Best General Effects, on its way to top place, and also winning the “People’s Choice” award. 

 

Norwell’s Marching Knights led the chase however, ending the day by placing second, with Beech Grove taking third. 

 

Indeed, it was a long day for Norwell, beginning with a practice at the school, before heading to Riley Children’s Hospital to put their theme of “The Ripple Effect - Everything we do and think affects people in our lives and their reactions, and in turn affects others” into practice. 

 

Bluffton’s Bengal Brigade also had a busy day, contesting a double header of competitions - at Homestead in the morning, and then Wayne High School in the evening. 

 

Bluffton placed second in both competitions, also taking the “Best Music” caption award at Homestead, and the “Best Color Guard” caption award at Wayne. 

 

Norwell travel to Lafayette Jefferson Saturday to compete against 17 other bands in the Class C ISSMA Regional Championships. A total of  20  bands from the two Regional Championships will move on to the Class C Semi-State Championships in Plainfield on Oct. 23.

 

Bluffton travel to Chesterton Saturday for the Class D ISSMA Regional Championships. They are scheduled to perform at 11:13 a.m. Central Time. 

 

Over the next two weeks, both bands will be attempting to qualify for the State Championships at Lucas Oil Field on Oct. 30. 

Marching Knights to Visit Riley on Way to Center Grove

This Saturday, Norwell’s Marching Knights will be adding a new dimension to their current competition show.

 

The show theme is “The Ripple Effect - Everything we do and think affects the people in our lives and their reactions...in turn affect others”.

 

In keeping with this, the Marching Knights will be visiting Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis on their way to their contest at Center Grove High School in Greenwood. They will be delivering their own handmade cards to the patients at Riley.  

 

“This is the first time we’ve done this,” advised Band Director Doug Hassell. “They (the students) are looking forward to positively influencing other children’s lives.” 

 

The Marching Knights will be spending today (Friday) making up their cards, and are scheduled to visit Riley from 2 to 3 p.m. The band, comprising approximately 80 students, will be broken into smaller groups and given a tour of the facilities, before heading on to Center Grove for their 6:02 p.m. competition appearance. 

 

This will be the final invitational tournament for the Knights, with the three big ISSMA tournaments (Regionals, Semi-state and State Championships) then completing the season. 

Bluffton and Norwell Qualify For ISSMA Regionals

Saturday’s cold weather didn’t stop Wells County’s marching bands from turning it on at the ISSMA District Championships at Homestead. 

 

At the ISSMA events, bands don’t receive a “placing” as they do at invitational competitions. Instead, they receive a gold, silver or  bronze rating, with a gold required to progress to the next level of competition. 

 

Both Bluffton (in Class D) and Norwell (Class C) managed to secure the gold rating they needed to move on to the Regional Championships in two weeks time. Norwell also took caption awards for “Best Music,” “Best General Effects” and “Best Visual.”

 

In Class D, Woodlan won the caption awards for “Best Music” and “Best Visual,” while Adams Central won “Best General Effects.” 

 

Qualifying alongside Bluffton in Class D were Adams Central, Winchester and Woodlan. Eastside and Manchester could only secure silver ratings, and are unable to proceed. 

 

Along with Norwell in Class C, Angola, Bishop Dwenger, Concordia Lutheran, Garrett, Heritage, Leo and New Haven move on to the regionals. Belmont (silver) and Wayne (Bronze) saw their season end. 

 

Norwell travel to Center Grove Saturday before contesting the Class C ISSMA Regional Championships at Lafayette Jefferson on Oct. 16.

 

Bluffton faces a double-header of competition Saturday, returning to Homestead for a morning performance, and then competing at Wayne High School in the evening. The Bengal Brigade’s Class D ISSMA Regional Championships will be at Chesterton on Oct. 16.  

 

Many thanks once again to Tomi Harrison for the photo.