In their first ever appearance in a NCAA Bowl sponsored band competition, The Pride walked away with first place overall and a near sweep of the caption awards. Top high school bands from around the nation showed up to participate in the Bowl Championship Series event which was held on Saturday at a local high school football stadium. The staff and students were a little apprehensive about the performance. It was the first time since mid November that they had put the 2007 halftime show, entitled “Realizations”, on the field. The few days of practice before leaving for New Orleans was enough, however, to seal the win. The Pride also grabbed the caption awards for color guard, marching, percussion and visual effects.

CONGRATULATIONS PRIDE!

The last regular season performance of the 2007 halftime show, “Realizations”, occurred at the South Panola High School football field. The November 8th performance was also The Pride’s last local appearance before traveling to compete in the Bands of America Grand National Championship at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. To sample the activities both on and off the field, click on the photo at right.

The last regular season performance of the “Realizations” halftime show occurred on the football field of South Panola High School. To see the pictures of the performance and other game activity, click on the picture at left or go to the Photo page.

For the first time, Music for All will broadcast all three days of the the Bands of America Grand National Championships, presented by Yamaha, November 15-17, 2007. The live Webcasts are your “virtual ticket” to watch the performances online, live as they happen.

Music for All is pleased to partner with our strategic partner, Drum Corps International to deliver this Webcast technology.

This is an exciting opportunity for those involved in and supportive of your band program
to “be there” - even if they can’t make the trip to Indianapolis.

Webcasts include:

Prelims: Thursday - 11:15 am - 11:15 pm*
Prelims: Friday - 8 am - 8:30 pm (includes awards ceremony)*
Semi-Finals: Saturday - 8 am - 5:15 pm (includes awards ceremony and University of
Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band exhibition performance)* Finals: Saturday - 7 pm -
11:30 pm (includes awards ceremony)

* Times subject to change; check the performance schedules online for exact times.

How to order: See the Ordering Options and order online at http://musicforall.dci.org

To watch the live Webcasts and have on-demand, post-event access to streaming video, join
the Music for All Network. Otherwise, order your Pay-Per-View BOA Grand National
Championships now!

Thanks to the talents of the Desoto Central Band students, staff and boosters, the fourth annual DCS Band Night was a big success! Friends and family members of the band program were treated to performances by each of the middle school bands. These were joined by the high school band forming the “Mass Band” of Desoto Central Schools. The 440 members performed together for the first time this year, pounding out the pep tune “Hey”. After the graduating members of the high school band were recognized, the entire evening was capped off with a final performance of this year’s halftime show, “Realizations”, by the award winning Pride of Desoto Central Marching band. Thanks to all of the boosters who cooked, served, manned the gate, coordinated and generally pitched in to make the night a success! A special thanks to Monique Rutherford, John Harris, David Thompson and Mark Duboise for providing extra photo and video coverage of the evenings’ events.

This would be the freshest anyone would look all weekend. Just a few hours after this football game halftime performance, all 172 band members, plus staff and boosters would board charter buses for the six hour trip to St. Louis in order to participate in the Bands of America super regional competition at the Edward Jones Dome. It was The Pride’s first BOA appearance. They pitted their skills against 50 other bands from Tennessee, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois, and Oklahoma. Click on the photo to see all the pictures from Friday and Saturday’s activities.

  Even Leroy the cow got carried away by all the fun during last weekend’s 2nd annual Band Aide Day fund raising fair. The event, sponsored by the Band Booster Association, took in more than $45,000 to help pay for band expenses and student paritcipation fees and costs. The Pride would like to extend their thanks to the people of Desoto County for showing their support for Desoto Central and the band program! Click on the photo at left to view all the pictures of the day’s events.

The  second annual Desoto County Band Exhibition was held at Olive Branch High School on Thursday, Sept 27th. Seven bands from the local area, plus the Famous Maroon Band of Miss. State University took to the field to strut their stuff before an admiring crowd. You can see photos of the evening’s activities by going to the Photos section.

Photos by Gayle Wofford