Leaders of the Band
■ Students perform a routine Saturday during a high school marching band competition at Grim Stadium in Texarkana, Texas.
Tiger Stadium’s football field sported a rich mixture of colorful marching band uniforms and music during Saturday’s 2018 Four States Marching Band Contest.
This year’s 18 high school marching included New Boston, Maud, River Crest, James Bowie, LindenKildare, Clarksville, Queen City, Prairiland and Prescott.
Other high school marching band performances included those from Fouke, Hooks, Redwater, Pleasant Grove, Liberty-Eylau, Arkansas High, Mount Pleasant and Texas High.
Arney Lawson, head band director for Texas High, said this year’s bands, as in years past, were judged on marching precision, poise and other categories.
Also, as in years past, the contest drew generations of band members like Shannon Stringer’s family from Linden, Texas.
Stringer said she came out this year to watch her son, eighth-grader Ethan Stringer, play drums for Linden-Kildare High School.
“The student gets judged and graded on categories like marching precision along with the sound and tone of their instruments,” said Shannon Stringer, who herself played the flute while she was an Atlanta High School Marching Band member about 19 years ago. “Seeing the kids in these bands really brings back memories, and Ethan loves it.”
Ethan’s younger sister, Evey, said she is already interested in playing the French horn when she gets to high school.
“The French horn is unique from all the other instruments and I’m looking forward to it,” she said.