I have been the Brookings High School band director for nine years, and every year I am impressed and humbled by the students. They work extremely hard, practicing much of the summer and for one to two hours every day before and after school. They are truly musician-athletes, and it’s a real pleasure to work with them.
Because of this work ethic, the Brookings Marching Band has seen a lot of success in recent years. For the last two years, they have participated in the Youth in Music Event, representing BHS and the entire state of South Dakota. This is their regional championship, because they compete with bands from all over the Midwest.
It is an extremely tough competition that takes place in the US Bank/Vikings Stadium. For the students to march in such an incredible venue is amazing, and they have made it to the top 10 both years.
Unfortunately, the Youth in Music championship falls on Oct. 13, the same day as the Hobo Day Parade. The Hobo Day Parade is a long-standing tradition for the BHS band, and we regret missing it. It is unusual that Hobo Day and a competition of this magnitude fall on the same day. We hope it never happens again, and we look forward to continuing the proud tradition of marching in the Hobo Day Parade again in 2019.
The Brookings community is extremely supportive of our band, and it’s easy to see how hard these students work to put a field show together. After hours of reflection, it was just unthinkable to take away the experience of competing in this year’s Youth in Music competition. It would be like taking away a state championship game for a sports team!
