The Virginia Band and Orchestra Director’s Association held their final competition this past Saturday for the marching assessment at Liberty High School. After earning superior for the past 15 years, the Forge Sound and Guard got their 16th consecutive superior mark.

Everyone showed up around 9 a.m. Saturday morning to bring their equipment down to the field, which had a dusting of frost from the cold night before. “Sometimes when we’re done, you can see the lines on the field of where we have all been,” color guard member Kayla Wolf (‘11) said.

After warming up, they performed two run-throughs of their show. The band parents were cooking food for everyone before they had to load up on the bus. “Everyone is always excited on the bus going to the event and then dead on the way back,” pit member Connor Merk (‘10) said.

Once they arrived at Liberty they unloaded their instruments, put on their uniforms, warmed up and were ready to go. They were the last ones to perform closing out not only the day, but all of the marching band assessments. “We were extremely nervous and then when we got superior it kinda was a relief,” clarinet player Corey Cochran (’12) said.

The three drum majors went back out to the field to accept their bands results while the rest of the band waits behind the fence. When they announced superior, the band cheered, cried, and jumped for joy. The stress of competition has been lifted off of them and now all that’s left is fun.