Ramona High band earns four trophies

By Colleen Curtan

At Ramona High School Royal Alliance marching band’s first competition at Poway High School, the band and color guard both received first place.

The Ramona band was more than 10 points above the second place band, and it outscored bands in higher divisions, which is considered quite an achievement.

The students were proud of how well they did, but, even though winning is great, the main thing the students say they strive for is improvement. Band members say their number one competitor is themselves. A phrase they often use is, “Yeah we got first place. So what? We still have work and improving to do.”

At their second competition at Rancho Buena Vista High School, the band received second place and the color guard received fourth. The band was less than two points behind the 1st place band Capistrano Valley.

At their third competition at Mt. Carmel High School, the band competed in two different areas: the field show and a band review, or parade. The field show is the show the band performs during halftime at football games, and the parade portion is much like what the band does for the homecoming parade, but instead of pep tunes the band is required to play a march and the color guard performs a different routine.

Daniel Bustamante, the parade drum major, was featured during the band review. The parade drum major has a baton and must perform a 30-second routine and keep the band in time. Bustamante was essential to the first place performance in the band review. The color guard received a second place for the band review.

For the field show, the band received first place and the color guard received third. The band outscored the second place competitor by 7 points. The students were told they performed their best show yet and were enthusiastic after the performance.

The Royal Alliance has two more competitions in the Marching Band Open Circuit, which contains new competition, including Ramona’s rivals from Norco High School. Last year at the MBOS championships the band came in second to Norco’s first. Norco High School has an excellent marching band, but the Ramona band hopes to come home with a first place trophy.

Band members thank the Alliance for Music Education, RHS and Prinicipal Tony Newman, Ramona Unified School District and Supt. Dr. Robert Graeff for their continual support. A special thank you goes to Caylor Nuth, and her student helpers, for donating their time to paint the backdrops used for the band’s field show.

Colleen Curtan is in charge of publicity for the Ramona High School Royal Alliance Marching Band and Color Guard.