In a hard fought battle, The Pride was edged out by Stone High School and came home with the second place trophy in the MHSAA/MBA State Marching Competition. Although disappointed with the results, the staff and students found solace in the knowledge that they had “left it all on the field”, as they presented a near flawless execution of what was arguably the toughest routine of the night. Despite the second place ranking among the thirty-nine 4A bands in the state, each band member’s superior determination, skill and spirit was evident in every step taken and every note played. Without a doubt, The Pride is still a cut above the rest!

Watch out 5A!! Go Pride!!
Click here to see complete scoring breakdown.

Photos by Dennis & Gayle Wofford

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

The operating budget for the Desoto County School system for the 2006-2007 school year has presented all the schools in Desoto County with the prospect of doing more with less. Getting by with less than abundant resources is nothing new to most educators, but funding, especially activities funds, will be particularly small this year.

The budgeted funds for The Pride of Desoto Central Marching Band were cut by SEVENTY PERCENT for the upcoming school year!! Instead of the $18,000 that has been budgeted for band programs in the past, this year Mr. Cox and his staff will have to make do with less than $7,000! These funds are normally used to by equipment, music and cover general operating expenses. The other established high schools in the county have been cut by a similar amount.

The reasons for such a drastic cut are twofold…….. (more…)

The big 30 foot tent was coming down with the help of ten pairs of tired hands. “This thing sure comes down easier than it went up!”, observed Bob Benson. He was just one member of a small army of parents and students who were cleaning up late last Saturday on the Desoto Central High School campus.

The tent had been the site of an all day live auction, during which over 300 donated items of merchandise, gift certificates and collectables were sold off to the highest bidder, bringing in over $10,000 in cash. It was just one of dozens of activities and attractions that brought thousands of local residents out in support of Desoto Central High School Marching Band’s upcoming trip to Hollywood, California for their first ever national television appearance in the Hollywood Christmas Parade. Dubbed “Band Aide Day”, the event was the brainchild of band booster mom, and event organizer, Suzanne McDonald.

It all started back in June when DCHS Band Director Dennis Cox received an official invitation from the parade organizers in Hollywood. Because of the late notification, the November 27th parade date left precious little time to raise the $150,000 that would be required to fund the long journey to the west coast. Mr. Cox called a special July meeting of the Band Boosters to discuss the situation. As a solution to the limited time to garner the required funds, a decision was made to focus most of the fundraising efforts into a single large event involving the entire community. Dozens of parent and student volunteers made themselves available to help make it happen, but no one knew for sure how successful such a large scale fund raising project would be.

Last Saturday, they got their answer as thousands of local residents descended on the campus to spend the day looking over the 88 vendors in the flea market area, most of which were manned by band booster families, who had set up to sell everything from jewelry to home baked pastries. Visitors also feasted on the wide variety of food concessions that were available. Dr. Stuart Denman, a veterinarian who lives in Charleston, Mississippi got wind of the band’s need and volunteered to purchase up to 600 chicken halves with his own money. Then, after making the long drive to Southaven, he cooked them on his custom made rotisserie grill. The band was able to sell over 500 of the chicken plate dinners, netting more than $2500 toward the trip fund. As thanks for his extraordinary effort, Dr. Denman was awarded a special plaque naming him as an honorary member of the state champion DCHS Marching Band.

But the biggest “cash cow” (literally) of the day, was a four legged bovine named Daisy. The Jersey cow was the star of the “Cow Patty Splat” event that would net over $43,000 for the band’s travels. Participants had been sold $10 tickets which purchased a specific 22 inch square grid segment on the school’s soccer field. In the natural course of events, Daisy eventually “marked” the lucky spot on the field. Any grids blessed with the first deposit of former cow ruminations were matched up with their ticket holders. In this case, Mary Fore and Mark Marchisio split the $10,000 cash prize.

In all, “Band Aide Day” was an unqualified success. A total of more than $60,000 was raised to help to propel The Pride of Desoto Central Marching Band toward history as the first band from the state of Mississippi to travel to Hollywood and reach for the stars – or at least rub elbows with a few.

When the members of The Pride of Desoto Central Marching Band rolled into the Washington, D.C. area, two things were on their minds; how would they fare in competition against unknown bands from a different part of the country, and how long would it be before they could check into the hotel and sleep on a real bed.

While the latter question was probably more pressing, especially after spending 18 hours on a bus, the answer to the first question would have to wait three days until the members of The Pride could be put to the test in the Preakness Day Parade in downtown Baltimore. Only then would the question be answered of whether the small Division 1A school from Mississippi could hold its own against bands from the densely populated northeast.

When parade day rolled around, it was the last day of a hectic schedule of touring and performing in and around the nation’s capitol. Still, each member moved with purpose as they settled into the familiar routine of unloading, assembling and warming up. The attitudes of champions, focused and determined, began to show itself. Instruments were removed from their cases and carefully pieced together. Uniforms were donned and then checked over by a buddy or staff member for any irregularities. Finally the word came that the parade was about the begin. Each member fell into position. Lines were formed, checking and rechecking spacing and alignment for uniformity and precision.

The Pride would be the third of 16 high school bands judged along a small section of the two mile parade route that led through the heart of downtown Baltimore. Thousands of people lined the parade route. All were very appreciative and most seemed impressed to have a band all the way from Mississippi performing in the city’s parade. Upon hearing the band power out their feature marching piece, “Perfidia”, and witnessing the precision of the marching formation, comments of “Now that’s a marching band,” were commonly heard.

The judges were likewise impressed. At a dinner and awards ceremony held that evening, the results of The Pride’s effort were announced. Although the bands competing in the parade were not given awards according to their finish, each band was scored according to the national standards of parade competition. As such, any band with an overall score of 90 percent or better was awarded a gold medal.

The Pride of Desoto Central Marching Band was awarded an overall score of 90.7, topping all other bands in the competition! In other words, The Pride of Desoto Central Marching Band performed at a level of the top 10% of bands in the country in parade skills. Top scores for the various individual captions were given out as well. Top honors went to Minnie Young as she achieved the highest score for Drum Major, along with number one scores for the percussion and color guard sections.

All in all, it can be said that The Pride did more than hold their own in an unfamiliar competitive environment. They came north and showed the people of Baltimore how it is done!

Final marching scores:

* Marching Skills: 36 out of 40
* Music Performance: 37 out of 40
* Guard: 17.7 out of 20
* Total score: 90.7

Representatives of The Pride Promote Upcoming Fund Raiser for Hollywood Parade Appearance

Getting up early during the summer break is not something high school students are used to, but five members of The Pride of Desoto Central Marching Band got up with the chickens on Friday, July 29th to take advantage of a rare opportunity.

Band mom Sherry Wilhelm took the lead as chief spokes person for the band and along with Homer Lancaster, (now officially known to everybody within radio range as “The Voice of the Jaguars”) utilized a few minutes of air time to pitch the up coming “Band Aide” fund raising effort at Desoto Central High School. Brad Carson, 94.1 FM morning show host and program director asked questions surrounding the upcoming Hollywood Christmas Parade in which The Pride has been invited to participate as one of only 14 high school bands outside the state of California. The Band Aide fund raiser will serve as a primary means of generating income to support the band’s trip in November.

After introducing the students, Charlie Young closed out the segment by performing a jazz rift on his ever-present alto saxophone (he must sleep with that thing!).

If you missed the opportunity to hear the live broadcast, the entire sound bite from the segment can be heard by clicking the player below. Thanks to Brad Carson for graciously making available a copy of the entire interview.