BKMB completes another season
The Farmington Black Knight Marching Band has been very active this fall providing support for the Farmington Knights football team at all home games, hosting a marching festival, and competing at three local competitions.
On Sept. 22 the band hosted the 15th Annual Farmington Marching Invitational at Haile Memorial Stadium. There were 13 bands who participated in the event. The Black Knight Band performed in the exhibition.
Then the band participated in the Bi-State Marching Invitational on Oct. 13, sponsored by the Potosi Band Boosters. The competition was a preliminary and finals format, and in preliminary competition Farmington placed fourth in a class composed of 4A and 5A bands.
Their preliminary score qualified them for finals competition, where the top 12 bands of the day competed. The BKMB placed ninth in finals competition.
“It was a great learning experience for all of us,” said BKMB Director Linda Huck.
She added, “We were able to compete against larger band programs and received many helpful comments from the judges on how to improve our program.”
The marching band made their next competitive appearance at the Rebel Invitational on Oct. 20 at Park Hills High School. Again the contest was a preliminary and finals format. In Class 4A preliminary competition the band earned first place honors and received special caption awards for most outstanding music performance, outstanding visual performance, and outstanding color guard.
Later that evening in finals competition including the top 10 scoring bands of the day, the Black Knight band came in second place just a few points behind Eureka HS.
“The band had worked very hard the week prior to the Rebel Invitational making improvements to our show. The students had two solid performances at Park Hills, and I am very proud of their desire to continually improve,” said Huck.
The Ste. Genevieve Marching Invitational on Oct. 27 was the third and final competition of the season for the Black Knight Band. The band competed against eight other schools in Class 4A and earned First Place honors once again, receiving special caption awards for Outstanding Percussion and Outstanding Color Guard.
“It was a very successful season. Our number one goal each time we go out to perform is to do better than the last time. We definitely achieved that goal this season and grew closer as an ensemble.”
The band will perform at the St. Francois County Veteran’s Day Ceremony on Nov. 11 at 10:45 a.m. at the courthouse downtown. They will also participate in the Farmington Christmas Parade on Dec. 3.
