Band Festival Draws Large Crowd, Great Performances

By Tanjua Damon

It was the perfect autumn evening Friday night at the packed stadium at Newtown High School where the 5th Annual Joseph P. Grasso Marching Band Festival was taking place.

Eight marching bands from Jonathan Law High School, Bethel High School, Danbury High School, Naugatuck High School, Trumbull High School, Norwalk High School, Port Chester High School, and Newtown High School provided exciting and entertaining performances for spectators who crowded the stands.

Newtown High School Band Director James Dumas, who on Friday night could be seen thumping to the beat, was pleased with the evening’s outcome and proud of all the bands that performed.

“We were thrilled with it, with the turnout, and the crowd was great,” he said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better night weather-wise. It was awesome.”

The Newtown High School Marching Band did not perform as part of the competition, but as hosts gave an exhibition performance.

“I think this is the best home show we have performed,” Mr Dumas said. “These kids did a really nice job of keeping things in perspective and doing a good job.”

Band parent Carol Zimmerman felt the festival was a huge success performance-wise and in terms of attendance at the festival.

“The festival went very well. Attendance was the highest ever. Sales of 50-50 raffle tickets were excellent,” she said. “Food sales were booming. There were hundreds of air grams and candy grams sent to the participating kids. All the earned money will go to support the many band costs, including things like transportation and uniforms.”

Hats off to many of the volunteers who helped put a successful festival together, Ms Zimmerman said.

“In addition to the Newtown Band’s terrific staff, headed by Jim Dumas, and of course the 140 hardworking students, the band has a wonderful parent volunteer organization, headed by the Rosentels. It was these parents, especially festival chairs Frank Wolferseder and Curt Hopkins, who produced this wonderful festival,” she said. “The festival truly showcases all that is great about Newtown and area youth!”

Bands are divided into classes by their size and can receive possible 100 total points from the judges. There are seven judges from the Eastern Marching Band Association who looked at various aspects of the bands including music general effect (40 points), Visual General Effect (20 points), Music Analysis (20 points), and Visual Analysis (20 points).

Class I competitors included Jonathan Law High School and Bethel High School. Jonathan Law took first place and Bethel went home with a second place finish.

Class III bands were Danbury High School, Naugatuck High School, and Trumbull High School. Trumbull came in first, Naugatuck placed second, and Danbury was third.

Class IV competitors were Norwalk High School and Port Chester High School. Norwalk placed first and Port Chester took second.