RVHS Marching Band planning for a great season
Marching Black Bears: Marissa West, Allanis Absten, Sarah Allen, Hallee Anderson, Sarah Eick, Sarah Holmes, Elizabeth Lozowski, Samantha Sarchet, Jessica Sivik, Karissa Border, Kimberley Croup, Augusta Kinzel, Seth Kittner, Rachelle Lewis, Xavier Lewis, Althea Szabo, Kyle Anderson, Jenna Daugherty, Will Fornara, Rebekah Lillibridge, Danielle Newman, Trenton Elliott, Raynor Shoemaker, Grant Cullison, Chance Newell, Jakob Eick, Kyle Fabian, Elizabeth Ferris, Everett Hall, Rachel Lozowski, Samantha Mercer, Meredith Stamper, Michael Belt, David Evert, Olivia Evert, Garrett Fabian, Vinnie Bailey, Jarod Kaufman, Morgan Lawrence, Miranda O’Neal, Dylan Hinkle, James Smith, Cameron St. Germaine, Michael Border, Jessica Arvai, Darby Croft, Megan McMahan, Sydney Minton, Zoe Schmidt, Sami Trowbridge, Gretchen Lozowski, Kay-Lee Smailes, Aselya Sposato, DJ Esselburn, Zach Timmons, Nicole Baker, Andrea Barnett, Bradin Hastings, Adam Croup, Curtis Hammons, Abigail Ambrose, Bruce Collins, Devon Fortune, Sarah Kittner, Rya Kron, Cornelius Lewis, Julia Royer, James Stewart, Stephanie Walsh; Staff – Keith Watson, Mark Wagner, Karri Harstine, Leslie Croft, Kyla Kent, David Beatty
WARSAW – River View High School’s marching band director has high hopes for a great season.
“The pieces of the puzzle are there and the kids have the desire,” said Keith Watson, who is starting his 13th year with the Marching Black Bears.
This year’s band has 66 members and will perform a show called, “A Dark and Stormy Night.”
“It’s an original composition from the guy who does our arranging,” Watson said. “I wanted to give the kids something they couldn’t necessarily go out and buy and was different from the last couple of years.”
Drum major Marissa West is excited about this year’s music.
“I like the dark vibe of it and the thunder sheets we use in it,” she said.
West is one of 17 seniors in the marching band.
“We have good senior leadership that is showing the younger members what they should and shouldn’t be doing,” said Seth Kittner, a senior who plays the clarinet.
Watson noted that having that many seniors in the band is helpful since he also has 20 new members.
“Having that many new kids isn’t really a weakness, it’s just something we have to tend to,” he said. “You can’t expect them to just know how to do things. You have to inform them and re-inform them.”
The band, however, is looking good though according to West.
“We are doing awesome,” she said. “Everything is shaping up really well compared to where we’ve been at this point in past years.”
River View earned a two at last year’s state marching band competition and hopes to return this year and get a one. In order to get there, they will have to receive a one at an OMEA (Ohio Music Education Association) contest.
The band’s Saturday contest schedule includes: Newark Marching Band Invitational (4 p.m. start) – Oct. 4; Maysville Marching Band Invitational (4 p.m. start) – Oct. 11; Black Bear Marching Band Invitational (11 a.m. start) – Oct. 18; and Bloom Carroll (10 a.m. start) and Tri-Valley (5 p.m. start) – Oct. 25.
“We have lots of parents who support us and we encourage others to support us and cheer us on at competitions,” Kittner said.
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Education
