During a winning weekend for Newtown Winter Percussion, Newtown Band & Guard’s three winter subgroups — Winter Percussion, Varsity Guard, and Junior Varsity Guard — all competed at different locations the weekend of March 16 to 17.

Winter Percussion, under the direction of Ricky Grasso, traveled to Toms River, N.J., for the WGI East Power Regional competition at the Pine Belt Arena. Preliminaries were held on Saturday, March 16. Newtown placed seventh out of 21 groups in the Scholastic Marching A division with a score of 86.675. The top nine groups — hailing from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia — competed in the finals on Sunday, March 17. Newtown Percussion’s show, “Look Up,” came in first place in its division at the finals with a score of 90.338, making the group WGI East Power Regional Champions. Winter Percussion also attained the second highest score across divisions among the 28 finalists.

Mr Grasso summed up the group’s work ethic by saying, “Kids who are either new to the program or who are seasoned veterans understand the commitment and dedication it takes. They are taught from day one the importance of excellence in the Newtown Band Program, and when they see other groups that are better than they are at a regional/national level, they want to push harder to obtain excellence.”

Newtown Varsity Guard competed at the WGI East Power Regional at Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Penn., on Saturday, March 16. The group’s show, “Hypnosis,” directed by Alyson Kulbek, placed 16 out of 28 groups in the Scholastic A division with a score of 76.16. The top fourteen groups competed in the finals the following day. Following the award presentation, Ms Kulbek said, “The girls have put in immense time and efforts to work as one cohesive unit and build a strong foundation for the growing program. This weekend it was evident at the WGI East Power Regional, when they placed four spots higher than the previous year. We are so proud of their accomplishments and dedication to creating the best possible product for their audiences. Their growth over the past few months has been immeasurable, and we are looking forward to finishing out strong the last two weeks of their competitive season!”

Newtown Junior Varsity Guard, directed by Becca Tobin, competed at the Musical Arts Conference (MAC) competition at Jonathan Law High School in Milford on March 16. The group tied for first place in the Scholastic Middle School division with a score of 75.05 with its show “It’s Coming.”

The Varsity and Junior Varsity Guards will next compete on Saturday, March 23, in the MAC competition at Norwalk High School. Newtown Winter Percussion will have a week off because instruments and players are involved with the NHS drama club production of Mary Poppins.

For more information about winter guard and winter percussion, visit newtownbandandguard.weebly.com.