By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
It was a return fit for a champion.
And deservedly so.
Members of the Otsego High School band received an escort from local police officers and firefighters after being named Grand Champions and setting a new school scoring record at Vicksburg’s Bulldog Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Otsego’s score of 95.5 broke the previous school record of 94.8 set in 2009.
The Vicksburg competition was the last of the season for OHS, which in addition to taking first in its class, received honors for best music, marching color guard and percussion.
“Our performance at Vicksburg was special for many reasons,” OHS band director Mitch Piersma said. “It was the last time our band will perform that show and it was the seniors’ very last time in the marching band uniform ever.”
OHS could have had one more weekend of competition, but decided to opt out of the competitions on Saturday, Oct. 22, due to the district’s intersession week.
“Finishing the season on such a high note means a lot to these kids,” Piersma said. “They’ve worked so hard. They have had it difficult over the past three years.”
Piersma was referencing the effects of COVID, which forced band class to be conducted remotely and band class to be split to adhere to safety protocols.
“After having to do band class over the Internet and never being together with classmates, they went to school for a year wearing masks and instrument covers while trying to play music with half the band in a classroom sitting six feet apart every other day,” he said. “In the 2020-21 school year, the only time the entire band was together inside was at a concert in May.
“Despite all these obstacles, they still came out, tackled a hard show and knocked it out of the park.”
Setting the school record and being named Grand Champion even outranked a trip to the Sunshine State for some band members.
“I think one student summed it up when he said to me, ‘Mr. P, I thought you said that the Florida trip (last February) would be the highlight of our high school career. I think that this is.’ It was awesome. I have never seen the kids so excited.”
The accolades from Vicksburg cap a season that saw OHS receive the following: Best Color guard at all shows (first undefeated season in school history); Best Marching at every show for the second straight year; Best Percussion at all but one show; Best Music at all but one show; Undefeated in class B for the second year in a row; 25 trophies total.
“This group has been awesome all season,” Piersma said. “They hung in there through a really warm band camp. We also had a major storm that knocked out the school’s power and many of their homes’ power which put us behind a little bit. They fought to finish the show in time for the first competition and were able to play all of it, and march most of it. And they still landed a first-place trophy.
“I think this group just continued to get better every day. Their memory really was working fast by the end. It was a great progression.”
The band began rehearsing at a pre-camp at the end of July that involved music rehearsals, freshmen marching basics sessions, and of course, color guard and percussion rehearsals.
“The guard, percussion and drum majors spend more hours here than anyone during that week,” Piersma said.
During the first week of August, all band students came in for full band camp, which ran from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. The next week, members gathered for post-camp, which consisted of two four-hour rehearsals.
“We give them a few days off before school starts and then we are right back at it with night rehearsals (three hours, once per week) and football games, parades and competitions,” Piersma said.
And while the band members work hard, they also have a good time.
“We have had a lot of fun this year,” Piersma said. “One day, we did two competitions and in between went to Olin Farms in Lowell for Donuts, apple cider, a hayride and corn maze.
“We also performed a special concert for the elementary schools last week. It was great to perform for a young audience.”