County Bands Continue March to State Champs

Both Bluffton and Norwell marching bands successfully continued on their way to this year’s state championships at Lucas Oil Field, with gold medal winning performances at their respective Regional Championships.

Competing in the Class D championships at Lafayette Jefferson, Bluffton’s Bengal Brigade was one of 15 bands to secure a gold rating for its performance, however only 10 can move on to Semi-State in each class.

Joining Bluffton in this Saturday’s competition at Franklin Community High School in Franklin, will be Adams Central, Eastern (Greentown), Eastside, Elwood, Lewis Cass, Monrovia, Morristown, Taylor and Woodlan.

Bluffton will take the field at Franklin Community at 4:02 p.m.

A total of 14 bands competing in the Class C championships at Chesterton achieved gold ratings, however once again, only the top 10 were able to move on. This meant area bands Northwood, Garrett and Heritage failed to qualify.

Joining Norwell’s Marching Knights at Semi-State at Decatur Central in Indianapolis this Saturday will be Concordia Lutheran, Fairfield, John Glenn, Knox, Leo, Maconaquah, Northwestern, Twin Lakes and Western.

Norwell compete at 4;15 p.m.

For Knox, qualification at this stage presented a special challenge, as their drum major was killed in an automobile accident last week.

Photos to follow. Good luck to both Bluffton and Norwell for this coming weekend!