Schools
High School Hosts Marching Band Competition
Scotch Plains-Fanwood was the site for the 11th annual event.
This past Saturday, area high school marching bands braved the rainy weather to showcase their routines on the fields of Scotch Plains Fanwood High School as part of the 11th annual Marching Band Festival.
Despite the bad weather, there was a good showing of enthusiastic fans to cheer on the bands, which included SP-F, Dunellen High School, John F. Kennedy High School (Paterson), Perth Amboy High School, Linden High School, North Plainfield High School, South Plainfield High School, Fair Lawn High School, and John P. Stevens High School (Edison).
Approximately, 500 student musicians performed. Parents from the host team sold food, programs, and a wide variety of team memorabilia throughout the event.
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Scotch Plains-Fanwood was the last to take the field. After being greeted by booster announcements from friends, and family encouraging the individual players to do their best and have fun during the upcoming season, the group started to play. Cheers, claps, and the ringing of cowbells by fans rooted them on.
During the ceremony following the performances, members of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Marching Band presented awards to the other bands in attendance. Representatives of the mayor's offices of Scotch Plains and Fanwood presented the final award of the day.
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To see the scores from the festival, go here.
This event was a kickoff to a long, and hopefully successful, season of traveling for the marching band, which is comprised of 135 students and  is among the top 10 high-school marching bands in the state.
The band also debuted their 2009 show on Saturday, entitled The Pursuit of Intrigue, Chronicles of a Secret Agent. The show features music from Mission Impossible, "James Bond" and The Incredibles.
