Under the Surface is the title for the Jenison Marching Band’s show this year. Mining is the show’s theme, and includes multiple complex moments unseen in previous years.

Jon Gillis, a new marcher this year, says, “I think the show was pretty cool. I was weary at first that I wouldn’t like the music, but that blew over real quick. And the drill, I feel, could’ve been a little more challenging, but it was pretty substantial overall.”

Through the weeks, the marching band scored better than they ever have before. At their 3 competitive in-state appearances before State Finals, they scored 1st. They also competed at the BOA Bowling Green regional, making it into finals over Reeths-Puffer. They placed 1st in their flight at the regional.

The Jenison High School Marching Band placed 1st in Flight II on Saturday, November 3rd, scoring 93.050. They won all captions (Music, Visual, and General Effect) in their flight, and beat 2nd place (Grandville) by 1.025 points.

Evan Supplee, one of the shows soloists, stated that, “It was the best performance to that date.”

Derek Doornaert, senior said, “I cried at states a lot.”

Starting this year, the flight system changed. Instead of 4 flights, there are now 5. This resulted in Jenison’s marching rivals, Reeths-Puffer, dropping to Flight III.

At Grand Nationals, the band placed 49th overall out of 108 bands. They performed on Thursday, November 8th at 9 P.M. before the Grand National champions, Carmel. They placed 10th in their class, with a score of 77.300.

Reeths-Puffer competed later that night at 10:15, placing 50th overall with a score of 77.075.

Jon said that, “I feel we probably could’ve done better, but overall, it seemed pretty solid.”

Last year, the band made semi-finals as a class representative. This year, that did not occur. Emotions ran high afterwards, especially with seniors.

Although some band members feel disappointed at the results, a majority of them feel satisfied.

Evan said that, “We didn’t score well, but performed very well.”

Looking towards next year, hopes are high. The flight system’s changes impacted placements this year, and the trend will continue. Marching Band’s around the country continue to take the activity to new levels.

Jon says that, “I think the program will be more enticing to younger kids. I’m excited for it.”

Evan states that, “It’ll be more musical, and will be built on this year’s weaknesses.”

The Jenison Marching Band 2018 season is over. Time will tell what the future of the program holds.