Sacred Heart Band “marches” into new tradition.
By: Emersyn Courtney
The Sacred Heart High School marching band marched in the 110th annual Halloween parade.
The parade was held on Thursday, October 31st (Halloween night) at 7pm. The parade has been held in the City of Hiawatha since 1914, where Mrs. John Krebs held a party for the kids in Hiawatha. The first few years the children dressed up in festive costumes and decorated their bikes and wagons which were considered their, “first floats.” The town now has two large parades, multiple contests to win awards, and cash prizes. They compete to win trophies in the Halloween float competition. Mrs. Krebs is known as the founder of this parade due to her efforts to make Halloween a large town-wide celebration.
Sacred Heart is offering independent band this year to the few students that could not fit 1st hour band into their schedules. The four members of this class produced the idea to march in the parade for the first time in school history. This year’s band director Eric Stevenson was all about the idea and loved how the few students took initiative in planning the theme themselves. “The kids seem to like the idea so hopefully it will be a fun and lighthearted event that we can continue for years to come,” Stevenson said.
The bands and groups all dress in a collective outfit or theme. The Sacred Heart band dressed as farm animals and Mr. Eric Stevenson was the farmer. The band wore a mixture of inflatable costumes and onesie pajamas. This opportunity was a wonderful way for Sacred Heart to branch out of the state of Nebraska and be surrounded by other great bands. The Halloween parade was the first high school only marching band event the school has done. Years earlier, the school has always combined high school and junior high bands together. The high school students wanted this parade to be mature and a way to show their talent alone.
The band played a mash-up of the two songs, “Monster Jams” and “Old McDonald.” The band also showed their school spirit in playing the fight song. The band was extremely excited for this new experience and hope to make it a new school tradition.
