And the Band Played On

Photo by Evan Brandt

The Pottstown High School Marching Band, center, at the Ephrata Cavalcade.

Blogger's Note: So we're a little late with this one, but being as I am a band parent I wanted to avoid the appearance of too much favoritism and, as a result, lost track of this until I went to clean up my e-mail on New Year's Eve. (Yes, exciting life I have.)

So all apologies to the Band, you guys had a great season. Below was sent in by the school district.

The 2013 edition of the Pottstown High School Marching Band, under the direction of Michael Vought, opened its cavalcade season by participating in the 54th Annual Boyertown Cavalcade of Bands. 

Competing in divisions, defined by the number of band members, Pottstown took a third place in the Liberty Division (69-79 members) competing against Unionville, Pottsgrove, and Souderton. 

Here is a Tout video clip of the end of the performance at the Boyertown cavalcade:

They received a score of 77.1 and narrowly missed placing second by one point. The parent members of the “Pit Crew” received the Tractor Award recognizing them as the outstanding support group. Members include: Paul Kolbmann, John Mutter, Jay Lafferty, Shane Lafferty, Tammy Vontor, Phil Vontor, Quanzella Butler, Neil Fuerman, Joe Campbell, Lonnie Kratzer, Kevin Owens, and Portia Smith.

This year’s marching band field show was entitled “Rock Heroes” and featured hits of the rock era including: “We Will Rock You,” “I Love Rock and Roll,” “Jukebox Hero,” “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Any Way You Want It,” and “Wanted: Dead or Alive.”

Homecoming was a rainy performance.

The band officers include: President, Jake Wunderlich; Vice President, Christian Gonzalez; Secretary, Katie Kolbmann; Treasurer, Chapel Renish. Junior Representative, Marlee DeBlase; Sophomore Representative, Justin Beasley; and Freshman Representative, Austin Scavello. 

The Color Guard Captains are Julie Eckert-Cooper and Alexis Lafferty. 

Drum Majors are Randy Mercado, Hailey Shankle, and Sara Pargeon.

“Our Rock Heroes show has proven to be a favorite of our audiences and we are proud to be able to represent our school district," Vought said. 

Photo by Evan Brandt

A not-so-focused close-up of the band at the Ephrata Cavalcade.

Vought’s staff includes: Show Designer, Dennis Pringle; Drumline Instructor, Larry Marshall; Brass and Marching Instructor, Ben Hayes; Color Guard Instructor, Nancy Mest; Color Guard Designers Felicia Weinfurter and Holly Auman. 

“We are looking forward to presenting high quality entertainment at all of our football games and hope that our music helps create enthusiasm, excitement, and motivation for our football team,” added Vought.

“Our performance has improved throughout the cavalcade season as is evidenced by higher scores at each event we attended,” he said.

The band competed in the Owen J. Roberts Cavalcade and improved its score to 78.8 points, just missing third place by .35 of a point.

Here is a Tout video clip from the OJR performance featuring the tribute to Journey:

They had their best score at the Ephrata Cavalcade scoring 80.55 just missing first place by 1.5 points.

Here is a Tout video clip from the Ephrata performance:

And let's not forget that the marching band represented Pottstown to a national TV audience when they marched in the "Show Us Your Shoes" parade on the occasion of the Miss America Pageant returning to its roots in Atlantic City:


Also recall that the marching made pays tribute to Pottstown at both the July 4th and Halloween parades down High Street:


“We have a longstanding tradition of an outstanding music program at Pottstown. It is a source of pride for our school and community. The 2013 edition of the Pottstown Marching Band gives us another reason to say Proud to be from Pottstown,” said Vought.

Have a great 2014 season! 

(It's only eight months until practice resumes....)