MUSCATINE, Iowa —  The students in the Muscatine High School Mighty Muskie Marching Band are making friends and music.

Many band members are looking forward to meeting more marchers from across the region on Saturday, Oct. 17, when MHS hosts the Iowa High School Music Association’s State Marching Festival.

MHS director of bands, Jeff Heid, attended Monday night’s Muscatine School Board meeting to invite Board members and the public to the event.

Marching band students from 22 bands — some 1,800 in all — will  travel to MHS to vie for awards in excellence for their musical performances.

Heid said the event is a good form of family entertainment.

“You can’t get much more G-rated than this,” he said.

The bands perform for the festival in order to earn a Division rating ranging from I, which is superior,  to V.

Heid said his band will be working for MHS’s sixth consecutive I.  

At Monday’s meeting, the students told the Board  about the advantages of being in marching band.

Senior Mya Shoppa said the band has been like a family.

“We always have each others’ backs,” she said.

Shoppa said music will remain an important part of her life even after high school. She plays clarinet and wants to learn the French horn and saxophone.

Brothers Gregg Escalante, a junior, and Nick Escalante, a freshman, said band is a part of their family’s life as well as their own.

Gregg said the MHS group works together beyond the marching field.

“If someone’s not doing well in class, we try to find someone who can help them,” said Gregg.

The Mighty Muskie Marching Band will perform the music of contemporary composer and lyricist Michael McDonald Saturday afternoon.

Heid said he selects shows based on whether he believes his band can perform the music well.

The band will perform some of the most popular songs McDonald has written including, “What a Fool Believes,” “Takin’ it to the Streets” and “This Is It.”

Students in marching band receive skill training that can be incorporated into other areas of life, said Heid.

The marching practice provides physical activity and students learn math skills as they learn how to assemble themselves on the marching field to make designs.

“They also have to learn how to keep their instruments working in cold weather, which takes some science,” said Heid.

Details

The festival

What: Muscatine High School hosts the Iowa High School Music Association State Marching Festival

When: 8:30 a.m.-3:40 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17.

Where: Muscatine High School, 2705 Cedar St.

Admission: $5, adults; $2, students. Children younger than kindergarten are free.

Schedule

Schedule for 2009 Marching Festival at Muscatine High School

Class school name number in performance

1A Notre Dame — 8:30 a.m.

2A  Tipton — 8:50 a.m.

2A Louisa-Muscatine — 9:05 a.m.

2A Mediapolis — 9:30 a.m.

2A West Liberty — 9:45 a.m.

2A 6. Camanche — 10 a.m.

2A West Branch — 10:15 a.m.

2A Wapello — 10:40 a.m.

2A North Cedar, Stanwood — 10:55 a.m.

2A West Burlington — 11:10 a.m.

2A Wilton — 11:25 a.m.

3A Central Clinton, Dewitt — 12:30 p..m.

3A Keokuk — 12:45 p.m.

3A Fort Madison — 1:05 p.m.

3A Mount Pleasant — 1:20 p.m.

4A Davenport, North — 1:45 p.m.

4A Davenport, West — 2 p.m.

4A Clinton — 2:20 p.m.

4A Davenport, Central — 2:35 p.m.

4A 20. Burlington — 2:50 p.m.

4A Muscatine — 3:05 p.m.

4A Bettendorf — 3:20 p.m.