High school band returns from Disney with four awards

Shannon LeClair

Times Reporter

 

Students from the Holy Cross Collegiate, HCC, senior high band recently returned from their much-anticipated trip to Anaheim. The band paired with Notre Dame Collegiate, NDC, out of High River. 

“It was awesome. It was really good, the kids had a really good time, and they performed really well,” said Sarah Lyons, band director for HCC.

“So we went as a large group, and we performed at the Anaheim Heritage Festival, and at the Disneyland Park.”

The group received a plaque for playing in park, and also won second place in the medium school category as a combined band with NDC, and second place in the small school category where the HCC band competed as an individual band.

“So we have two second place awards, so that was really exciting,” said Lyons.

“I was actually most excited….they give this Spirit of Anaheim award to the school that best represents the community that they come from, and ours combined, we won that award as a combined group. The kids were just really well behaved. They were phenomenal, just really polite and respectful and excited to be there and that must have shown to the judges.”

There were approximately 84 schools at the festival from 32 states, and HCC and NDC were the only ones from Canada. Lyons said she was really proud of them winning the spirit award, even more so than the two second place finishes. She said while they did great in their performance, it was nice to see how well behaved and mature the students were. The judges talked to the hotel, the bus company and other behind-the-scenes people who had met the kids, to determine which group was deserving of the award. 

“It was really busy, we did all of our performances in one day so that day was pretty hectic, but then they had a couple of days to enjoy the parks, and go to Universal studios and Disneyland,” said Lyons.

A lot of the kids had never been on a plane before, so she said it was exciting for them. It was her program’s first international trip. Every three years she will offer an international trip for band, which will allow every student an opportunity, while they are in high school, to go. She said next year they will do something closer to home, maybe in Edmonton or Vancouver.

Lyons said the students who attended the trip had a chance to learn a lot about a different part of the world, while seeing how other bands perform. Lyons said band is more competitive in the States, and for the students to have a chance to see that, and do so well in the festival was a great experience. 

There was a Pep Rally on May 20 to acknowledge the badminton, track and field and rugby teams, and the high school band for their performances in Anaheim.  The Pep Rally featured guest performances by the Chestermere drum line. The drum line is basically the percussion section of a marching band, and Lyons said Chestermere has had huge success with their drum line. 

“They have done a really good job of bringing the whole school and the community together, because the drum line plays for all the athletic events. So it kind of ties the fine arts and athletics together,” said Lyons.

“A drum line is like my dream but it’s very expensive. So this is just an opportunity to bring them out and let the community see what they offer.”