This year, the Columbus High School Discoverer Marching Band is working as hard as they can to play their way up to their 18th Superior at State and their 9th Superior in a row.

The 81 students in the band have been working as hard as they can since their very first practice on July 27. Their work continued with a week and a half long camp from 7:30-12pm in the excruciating heat of the summer. They learned all the basics on how to march and the many differences from playing in a concert setting compared to the field. They began charting movement and now have completed charts all the way through their second of four movements.

The long summer hours culminated with the band’s debut at the Columbus Days parade in August. The color guard and drumline made their first ever debut a few days prior at the first ever night time Columbus Days parade. The color and drumline received first place in the nonprofit division in the nocturnal procession. 

Coach Miya was very excited about the parade and very pleased with how the guard performed. "I think they went well! It was nice being able to experience and be a part of two parades this year. It is always great to see our community come together and get excited when they see the band coming up.”

While parades are certainly a fun way to get the band some well-deserved attention, director Jeff Peabody is especially excited about this year’s field show. 

Peabody said, “This year's show is a departure from what we have done in that it is a fully customized show.  That means that the music and the drill are being custom written just for us and that is super cool.  I think the members of the group are really doing a great job of embracing the concept and putting a lot of effort into it.”

The theme of the marching band show this year is “Gold Rush.” There will be a mountain prop set up in the back of the field to help make the theme feel more western. The show features a trumpet soloist, two color guard soloists and audio of a cowboy talking about the olden western times.

This season, the band and colorguard will attend four home football games and five of competitions. The coaches are very proud of how much the band has improved since the first time stepping foot onto the football field and making sounds for the first time this year. 

The band members themselves are also very excited to have that great feeling of knowing that they just completed the best they have all year long.

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