A Breath of Fresh Air at Regionals

Saturday morning, October 15th, members of the Spirit of Woodlan gathered at school to load the bus at 7:30am. They were hopeful to have two buses this week, but were disappointed when they found out that only one was available for their 2.5 hour drive to Regionals. They took off a bit late due to a late arrival, but soon, they were on their way to Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana. It was a chilly morning, but sunny and beautiful. They were served the traditional Regionals meal, provided by the members of the Booster Board, which included pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad, chips, and cookies. They ate lunch before getting changed into their uniforms. Due to an error on the schedule, many were caught off guard when they had to suddenly rush to get ready with a two-minute warning as physical warmup was actually much earlier than they thought (they believed they had until 12:35pm to get ready to assemble, when physical warmup actually started at 12:20pm!). It was a quick scramble to get all the students rushed off to warmup!

Jason Harber and Jeff Walter paying homage to last year's Regionals lunch... when so many of the students got into the donuts (intended for after their performance) and used them for pulled pork sandwiches! Donuts were banned this year for the students so they could perform at their best, not sugared up!

Love the smile, Hailey Smith!

Apryl Hoot is ready to cheer on the students!

As Regionals 2021 was not the best experience for the members of the Spirit of Woodlan, many nerves were rattled this week with hopes of making this year's performance better than that of last year. The students were hopeful for a better outcome and were determined to be prepared and ready for a great performance. The parents of the pit crew took one last opportunity to cheer, clap, and wish the kids good luck as they exited warmups and headed to the field for their performance. They were ready!

The band leaving warm up and ready to take the field!

The Spirit of Woodlan took the field for performance at 1:30pm. The band and guard entered the field through the newly updated (now orange for better visibility) Portal of War and waited for their show to begin. They ended up delivering a very strong performance and they looked and sounded amazing. The crowd especially went wild toward the end of Part 3, when the Portal of Home flags flew over the band, and the music came to a powerful conclusion. The students were proud of their performance!

The newly-orange Portals were more visible than when they were blue last week.

The Portal of Home flags wowed the crowd!

What a great ending to the show!

After leaving the field, the students returned to the semi to return instruments and equipment to be loaded. As only two bands performed after them, they returned to the field in uniform to await the Awards Ceremony.

Eli Schindler said he gave so much to his performance that his glasses broke! What an effort, LOL!

In ISSMA Open Class D, the Spirit of Woodlan competed against Taylor Marching Titans (Silver, Advanced), Spirit of Triton (Silver), Benton Central Marching Bison (Bronze), Adams Central Squadron of Sound (Gold, Advanced), Bremen Emerald Alliance (Gold, Advanced), Whitko Marching Pride (Gold, Advanced), Elwood Community Panther Band (Silver, Advanced), LaVille Royal Regiment (Gold, Advanced), Lewis Cass Marching Kings (Gold, Advanced, with Visual Distinction), Alexandria-Monroe Marching Tigers (Gold, Advanced), and the Pride of Tri-County Marching Cavaliers (Silver, Advanced). The Spirit of Woodlan received a Gold rating and will advance to the ISSMA Semi-State Competition, to be held at Franklin Community High School on October 29th. There was a lot of joy and relief that Woodlan will be advancing to Semi-State.

The Awards Ceremony

After changing out of uniforms, the band loaded the bus and headed home. The bus stopped in Wabash, Indiana, and the students could choose between Arby's and Burger King. They enjoyed dinner together before making their way back to school.

Mr. Slattery explained it best how all the students, staff, and parents have been feeling!

This weekend ahead is an "off" weekend from competition. Instead, the Spirit of Woodlan will host the annual free Community Performance on Saturday, October 22nd at 3pm on Etzler Field at Woodlan. Doors open at 2:30pm. The students will gather in the morning for practice, have professional group and individual photos taken, and perform their show for the community. As their remaining performances are all out of town, this is the last chance to see them locally. We hope you can all come out and see what they have been working on for the last 6+ months and support these amazing kids and all their hard work. They are remarkable young people, and their dedication to one another and their show is admirable. The Andy's Knockout Chicken Fundraiser will be going on at the same time for presale order pickup from 1pm-5pm and a limited number of chicken dinners will be available for walk-ups as well. That evening, the students will enjoy a fun evening together at Mr. Slattery's annual Halloween Party. Stay tuned next week for all those fun pictures! The students will be working hard over the next two weeks to prepare and perfect their show for their Semi-State competition performance on October 29th. Please come out to cheer the band on this weekend! See you there!