Buckhannon's marching band ends season with Christmas parade

     On December 1^st, 2017, the Buckhannon-Upshur High School Band kicked off the Christmas season with their last parade of the year. “The B-U band is a very high-spirited group, and during the holidays, the band room can become cringe [worthy] and very hectic,” said Larissa Bennett.

     While this final showing of the band’s talent was the one of the coldest parades of the year, it is among the most beloved by students. “I really like it because we get to decorate our instruments and wear Santa hats. The Santa hats are a really nice change from our regular helmets,” commented Emily Fox. Decorating the instruments was also one of Bennett’s favorite parts. She liked it because “they were lit (pun intended).”

     Since this was the last parade of the year, the marching season is officially over. While the marching band goes on hiatus, they transform into a beautiful concert band. Part of the band is somewhat sad to see marching band go, but it’s also welcomed as a nice break.

     “I am very excited because now I get the chance to play instruments I’ve never tried before and learn music I haven’t ever seen before,” said Titan Ballinger, a Junior who is new to band this year.

     “I’m excited for concert season because we work very hard and the final product at band festival is always fun to hear,” said Fox when speaking about concert season.

     If marching season is over, that mean the band will be spending less time with beloved band director Garrett Friend. When asked what he would like to say to Mr. Friend, Titan said, “I would tell him to let the drums have more parts.”

   The marching band will be back in action at the Strawberry Festival in May of 2018.