Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

Page 34 text:

9W, vi? 4 'E Y' if A F Q , :Y ' f 1 1vf'f fi Y ? fm' Jr ff ,, f 'ifffm l 1 -Q ,Q 1 Lf-5, -K! 'K - -I ,fA I i, w.,,,,w, , ,v', g ,qrkt Q! xx X 30 band

Page 33 text:

X an overall I J at marching , It was a more solid 'I' than year before, commented Mr. hen the Oiler game was first nned, a show in the Astrodome iunded exciting, but coming the ternoon after the semi-final game ainst San Antonio Churchill made seem less exciting. By then, per- rming in the Astrodome was old t, Because the band was hausted from the night before, ey performed well, but sluggishly. nior Leah Hippie commented ve had to be up at school on Sat- v D -si urday at about TO a,m. and didn't get home from the game that night until about TO p.m. Then Sunday morn- ing, we had to be at school again in the morning at about ll for the Oiler game. There was so much time that we had to spend for band that it was unreal. Earlier in the season, the cancelled performance at the Westchester game because of foul weather was a great disappointment because of a bag ot surprises we didn't get to pull, said Mr. Fitch. Dawn Rollins, senior, stated, It would have been so neat it we could have marched Huddling together, Stratford band members place their shoes in the form of a 21 during. the band's performance at the Bi-District game against Madison. The marchers laid their horns down in the shape of the state of Texas before congregating in the middle. This differ- ent type of performance proved fun for the band and the crowd. The state of Texas is shaped by the band with the Spartanaires shaping the num' ber one during a playoff game at the Astrodome. We tried to keep the theme of Texas and that we were num- ber one, explained Senior Geoff Sprad- ley. This was one of the different half- time shows the band prepared espe- cially forthe playoff games. half-time that night because we had this runthrough all painted and that was the night that we were going to do our state of Texas thing. The band ended up sitting on the buses until well into the third quarter. Senior Rhonda Crandell remem- bered, just sitting there talking and wondering if we would get to do half-time, and listening to Mark Watson tell us the plays of the game and keeping us up to date on the score. Pep rallies held their surprises too. Twice the Senior Boys' Club carried continued on page ji band 29

Page 35 text:

Shoe formation 'tinued from page 29 jMr. Fitch in an attempt to pro- lg the pep rally fun. Prior to the stchester pep rally, about 30 d members decided to wake Mr. h up that morning with the Fight g. Senior Tommy Adams stated, je got the key to his apartment Jied and sneaked into his apart- nt at about 5:30 a.m. When we gan to play the fight song, the lls began to shake. Eventually Mr. :hcame out in his bathrobe and ked at us in a state of shock. His ghbors were too. 'he end of marching season over- ped All-District, Region, Area, 1 State competition. We weren't represented as I wished, but the rcentage that succeeded was h, commented Mr. Fitch. Senior th Hipple, clarinet player, Senior vin McNerney, baritone saxo- one player, Senior Geoff Sprad- L french horn player, and junior ira Victorin, piccolo player, made ill the way to Area competition. anwhile, Leah played in the All- te band for the third year in a v. Leah commented, It was the est thing to play with such good sicians and to have a world tous conductor conducting you. -ryone really tried to play their ia hot summer's day, Senior Tom n and fellow band members play on. ee-hour practices kept the marchers :heir feet beginning Aug. 7. ile sitting in the band section at a tball game, junior jeff Williford Ers into the rowdy spirit by making es blowing into his mouthpiece. explained, Everyone always got dy so why shouldn't I? best and it turned out so good. Marching season officially ended with the band banquet held at the Houston Racquet Club. Entertain- ment included slides of f'Band Crime which Tommy explained to be a slide presentation of all the officers committing a crime. It turned out alright and we had a lot of fun making it, especially running around downtown in our uniforms and with our horns. We got a lot of weird looks. There were skits, various joke awards, such as awards for saying the wrong thing as in Lisa Carpen- ter's case, or taking a band final seri- ously as in Sherry Teft's case. Tradi- tional freshman orientation could not be overlooked, and so all the newcomers had to push a peanut across the floor - with their nose. Right before the dinner of roast beef, potatoes and green beans, a special visitor came from Eastern Onion and gave Mr, Fitch a message for doing absolutely nothing. Fol- lowing the dinner, there was a dance with taped music. Dawn stated, Even though the music was taped, there was really a lot of vari- While awaiting halftime, Senior Geoff Spradley and Sophomore Simms Dun- can watch the rest of the football game. Geoff stated, I got a little nervous before every time, but after a while you get used to it, ety to it and it was easy to dance to. Spring plans included U.I.L. Solo and Ensemble Contest held March 3. Rhonda commented, Each year, the contest seems to get more relaxed and the judge now talks to you. But a few years back, there was nothing said when you went into the room to play. Rounding out the year was the Ll.I.L. Concert and Sightreading Contest held April 26 and 27. Relaxing after the half, Drum Major jerry Lawson, senior, discusses the show with a friend. jerry won the position over three opponents, He attended a drum major camp at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches over the summer. band 31