The Marching Mustangs are gearing up for one of their best seasons this year, as they participated in marching band camp over the past week.
Mount Vernon High school band director Scott Weber said the band is sitting at roughly 137 members strong, one of the largest bands the school has had.
“Our percussion section remains very strong, and we’re sitting with 18 members in our color guard,” Weber said. “We also have 87 horns out for the band this year.”
Weber said the interest in the band is from the eighth graders who are a part of it to the seniors.
“They’re all dedicated to this show and band,” Weber said. “They were able to knock out 11 pages of the drill for the season on Monday, Aug. 5, during a day with heat indices in triple digits.”
Weber said you can sense that feeling of pride from the seniors and it is drifting down to the underclassmen.
While learning the drill for the season’s show early is a key part of the band camp, so has building the family atmosphere and bonding of the team, and Weber said they are doing that through evening activities each week during the camp.
“Monday we had our annual splash by the Mount Vernon Fire Department, which felt appropriate with the heat where it was,” Weber said. “Wednesday was the band night at the Mount Vernon pool and the rest of the week includes bonfires and movie nights.”
It’s giving students a chance to be themselves and interact with other students before the marching band season begins.
This year the Marching Mustangs have eight competitions, four home games and it’s their year to host the Hwy. 1 Marching Band Classic.
The first public performance of Among the Stars will be Friday, Sept. 6, at the first home football game.
Weber said the show design is a memorial to those who people have lost and was a bittersweet show for him to design. Weber’s father, Larry, passed away in May.
“He was a huge supporter of me in all I did,” Weber said. “He was always in the stands cheering me on, and I wanted to do this show to help students when they experience these types of losses in the future to see how to commemorate our loved ones.”
Weber commended the community for their support during camp week, with many families providing snacks and meals for the 100-plus students involved.
“It just shows how much community support we have for our students in all activities,” Weber said.
Senior Natalie Thuerauf, member of the color guard, said this year has felt so much more freeing.
“We have had a lot more people focused on learning the drill earlier, which makes the camp so much better,” Thuerauf said.
The color guard had their own individual boot camp in early July to learn some fundamentals and start work on pieces of the drill, which Thuerauf said has helped them feel far more comfortable and focused on integrating what they know with the actual show.
Thuerauf said she is looking forward to having the best marching band season this year and go out strong.
“I really want to put all of my effort into enjoying this year’s show,” Thuerauf said.
Senior Gabe Mahoney, trumpet, said his favorite part of band camp has been getting to know everyone.
“There’s so many new eighth and ninth graders that are in band this year, and it’s a perfect week to work with the new students and get them ready learning drill,” Mahoney said.
Mahoney said students have been focusing a lot on drills, especially that first hot day, and that will only benefit students in the season to come.
“It allows us to focus more on the trouble shots in music and technique in coming weeks,” Mahoney said.
Mahoney said his favorite show to be part of was participating in Arena.
“It’s something both my siblings got to do, and it’s what made me sign up for band as well,” Mahoney said.
Senior Clare Nydegger, drum major, concurred students have been extremely dedicated to the show this year.
“Everyone absolutely killed it on the field on Monday, despite that heat,” Nydegger said. “It helps that the sooner we get drill down, the more we can focus on the finer points of the show and improving what needs to be fixed or cleaned up.”
She has loved getting to know the incoming freshman and eighth graders. She also said the Waukee show is among her most looked forward to shows this season.
Senior Penelope Vig said the level of commitment from all members of the band has shown in this band camp.
“Everyone has been putting in the work and learning what we need to learn while still being here and having fun and building our community,” Vig sad. “Weber has done a great job of giving guidance to us more throughout the camp and strengthening us all as band members.”
Vig said the camp helps the band by giving more time for each section to iron out their own parts with focused days, so later practices can focus on music and fine tuning.
“I’m really looking forward to us having a fantastic season,” Vig said. “You can already tell that everyone enjoys being here, that they enjoy playing their instruments in this band.”
Vig is looking forward to the Fort Madison show (the first show in the marching band season) and the Waukee show (the final marching band competition).