Boyertown's 55th Annual Band Cavalcade

Five years before I came squalling into the world, Boyertown Area Senior High School began hosting band cavalcades.

And 55 years later, they're still doing it.

A total of 11 bands performed during the cavalcade in Bear Stadium Saturday night.

Three of them, as hosts, were not competing.

But performances by the Boyertown Junior High East/West Marching Unit, the Boyertown Area Senior High School Band and the Boyertown Alumni Band were all excellent.

There were five divisions represented, although three of them, including Pottsgrove, were the sole representatives of that division, making them automatic first-place winners.

In the Liberty Division, Pottstown faced off against Governor Mifflin and in the Independence Division, three out-of-area schools competed, with first place being taken by Pittston.

(Here's a quick Tout video of the Boyertown Junior High East/West Marching Unit performing:)



But the Arlen Saylor Traveling Trophy was won by Hempfield High School, competing alone in the Patriot Division. And there was little doubt among any in the audience that their score of 84.25 was well-deserved. Hempfield's pit crew also won the "Outstanding Pit Crew" award for the competition.

(Here's a quick Tour video of excepts from Pottsgrove's show:)



Here are the scores:

• American Division: Northhampton with 73.7
• Liberty Division: Pottsgrove with 78.4
• Yankee Division: Governor Mifflin, first place with 78.25; Pottstown second place with 76.65 Governor Mifflin also won the "Overall Music," "Overall Visual Effects" and "Best Color Guard" awards for the Yankee Division.
• Independence Division: Pittston, first place with 78.1; Palisades second place with 72.5; Catasauqua third place with 72.2
  Pittston also won the the "Overall Music," "Overall Visual Effects" and "Best Color Guard" awards for the Independence Division.
• Patriot Division: Hempfield, with a score of 84.25.

Obviously, in divisions with only a single band competing, that band won the overall music, visual effects and color guard awards.

(Here is a quick Tout video of portions of Pottstown's show:)

In the Storify of my Tweets from the cavalcade, which you will find below, you will find full YouTube videos of the performances by Pottsgrove, Pottstown and Boyertown.

What you will not find, alas, is a any video of the performance by the Boyertown Alumni Band given that my iPhone battery gave up the ghost in mid-recording.

(Here is a quick Tout video of a portion of Governor Mifflin's show:)


You will also find links to a few, shorter Tout videos that I did. Clicking on those links will open the videos in another window and you will have to click the "back" button to get back to this wonderful blog.

To avoid that potential for lost readership, you cannot have failed to notice that I have embedded those Tout videos scattered in the text above, where you can watch them without leaving.