Donna Stuller
The Newport marching band after their competition
Every year, Newport’s marching band takes an end-of-the-year trip to compete in a parade-style competition with prepared pieces. This year, the band returned to King’s Dominion amusement park in Virginia.
Last year at King’s Dominion, there was an awards ceremony for all of the bands, where Newport won first place in their category. They performed songs from their previous marching band shows. This year, the students performed with one of their stand tunes, Salsa and Chimps, a student favorite. The students were excited when told that they would be performing the piece, Salsa and Chimps, because it’s a fun, upbeat song played in the Newport band for many years. Newport took home an “Excellent” trophy, winning 1st place overall. After their accomplishment, the band got back on the bus to take the four-hour drive home.
Sophomore Callyn Maxey quotes, “I thought it was a good song to march to, and I liked it more than performing a show tune because we didn’t know the show tunes that well during the season.”
The band will be holding auditions for junior drum major in the next few days, bringing in new leadership for the members. The theme for next year’s show is Rock’ N’ Roll. The songs to be performed are “Great Balls of Fire,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “Piano Man.”