By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Inside the confines of the band room, the sound is enormous, each note reverberating off the walls. On the field, the sound is a statement that unapologetically says one thing: we’re here and we’re unstoppable.
The Bucyrus Marching Redmen were practicing in their band room on a Thursday night. The drums thundered and the brass blared as Mark Fiske stood on a podium and directed his 90-member strong band.
After another run-through of the song – this time without the sheet music – the band took a break. They are typical teenagers, yelling and waving across the room to their friends, but with that hint of the musically inclined as random notes start sounding throughout the room. The drumline overpowered them all, however, with a spontaneous cadence. When the last stick hit the drum head with a sharp snap, the room was dead silent.
That is, until the band kids returned to being typical teenagers, yelling and clapping for their classmates.
“They’re kids that are raised by really hardworking parents so they’re really hardworking kids,” Fiske explained. “When you combine it with the fact that it’s evolved over time to what it is now – it’s a combination of tradition and being raised with a good work ethic.”
Fiske started his student teaching at Bucyrus and taught at another school for a few years before making it back to the land of the Redmen.
“Because of the community and the demographics and because they come from those households, I think this is probably the best place in the county to be a teacher,” Fiske said. “We have that going for us and we have really great administrators that support the things that we do.”
Fiske isn’t afraid to defend his band or his school. He, along with many other community members, former band members, and fans of the band, did just that exactly two weeks before that Thursday evening band practice when someone posted disparaging comments on a Crawford County Now video of a band performance.
“There were some that were really kind of hurt by that, especially with it being somebody who doesn’t actually know them,” Fiske said.
He offered a piece of advice to his band members the following week: it is in their power to choose for those comments to mean something or not.
“There’s a definite chip on the shoulder that shows up sometimes. At that point in time,” Fiske mused, “they decided to go prove somebody wrong.”
And prove that person wrong they did. Some band members still held some animosity for the person who posted the comments but, like teenagers do, they’ve decided to move on to something better.
“Yes, we do stomp but we’re not idiots,” Ashley Harper, a senior trumpeter, declared.
“[Director Fiske] told us that you needed to fight back in the form of playing your instruments well. Instead of using words, we should play well and prove that she’s wrong and make other people agree. We kind of just felt driven to do that,” said sophomore mellophone player Riley Moody. “I just think that after being out there for so long and sweating for so many hours and feeling good about yourself, the last thing you want to hear is somebody telling you you’re not good. Honestly, I just felt like, ‘ok, well I don’t feel good about myself anymore.’ But then everybody else started commenting and helping.”
“Being a senior in the band for the past four years, people have made their comments and said things about us,” said Toni Zeigler, a senior who plays the snare drum in the drumline. “It may hurt us in the beginning but I just think it is something we can grow off of and make us better and prove to people that we are really better than what people really have to say about us.”
“We’re high schoolers. We’re putting in time, dedication,” added fellow senior snare drummer Mykal Smathers. “It’s a lot of work that we do to go out on that field and showcase things like that, especially for dance or the percussion. It was a relief to see the community get behind the band and defend us the way they did and in a meaningful way.”
The band’s confidence may have taken a hit for a few days but they were never out of the game.
“It gives you confidence – a lot – to know that you’re part of such a good group of people. We can basically do anything,” Ashley Harper explained.
Having the crowd go wild for you after your home halftime show doesn’t hurt, either. The Marching Redmen are known for their high-energy performance of the Doobie Brothers’ Long Train Runnin’ in front of the home stands. That moment and the excitement it brings may be why the band is able to draw in such big numbers year after year.
“At this school, we’ve always had a pretty big band program and it’s always been like the thing,” Bailey Plumley, a junior tuba player, explained. “We’ve never really been a school where [band members] are looked down upon.”
“It’s not like those movies where everyone’s got braces and glasses and snort every two seconds,” explained Moody, borrowing from the clichéd band geek often portrayed in movies. “We’re cool people; we’re real people.”
“Even when you have football players giving shout-outs to your band,” said Zeigler, with Smathers interjecting that they have football players included within the band, “you know that your hard work pays off. It just means a lot in the end.”
“As somebody who is an athlete, most of us . . . are all athletes in the fall as well,” said Smathers, who is noticeable on Fridays nights as he grooves to the music with his snare drum and Bucyrus football uniform. “I think one of the things that helps with the numbers is our band director, Mr. Fiske, is so willing to work around people’s schedules. He’s ok if you miss part of practice to go to your sports practice.”
“Mr. Fiske and Mr. Shifley, they’ve always been there for us,” Amber Harper, a senior saxophonist, said as she teared up. “They mean so much.”
“When you understand the fact that we’ve been in this for eight years, it takes a lot to say anything about leaving. It’s kind of sad,” Smathers summed up for his fellow band members. “To have somebody in your life for eight years, to be a part of something for eight years – it means a lot to everyone. Everyone here, Mr. Fiske, Mr. Shifley – they’re great people and they’ve really helped us do a lot of great things.”