Hershey High School band receives honors at Alamo Bowl performances
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Every year the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio hosts high school bands from across the country to meet and play in competitions and during the halftime of the Alamo Bowl football game.
For the 2022 edition of the game the Hershey Panther Marching Band made the trip down to the Alamo City where they participated in the competitions receiving high honors.
“It was really cool to see that big city,” said Junior Drum Major Ceiden Childears, “around here we don’t get to see big cities like that anywhere. I mean, I thought that Lincoln and Omaha were big cities before I went down there and saw really how big San Antonio is.”
This is the fourth time in the last 13 years that the Panther Marching Band made the 20 hour drive down to San Antonio to participate.
“Well this is my fourth time going to the Alamo Bowl,” said former Band Director Lori Evans, who made the journey as an assistant helping the band, “so I kind of felt like I was the old lady in the group that knew what was going on, so I tried to keep everybody on track and on schedule.”
The Panthers were able to bring home some hardware as well taking top honors in many competitions on their journey. Making this trip all the more worth it for the kids who put their everything into the band.
“We competed in the parade competition, and that was just marching around the track and playing our music,” said Drum Major Cruz Brooks, “and we got first place overall Drum Majors, general effect, music, marching and then overall.”
When the band made the trip home, the Village of Hershey showed up to welcome them back with praise, which Band Director Rebecca Brittenham said brought her to tears.
“When we got off the interstate in Sutherland we had a police escort, all the way to Hershey,” said Brittenham, “and we come around the roundabout and there’s a whole line of cars there, the police lights are on, people are honking phones are out, posters are up, everyone is welcoming us home and I just, after being on a bus for 20 hours, I just lost it.”
The band hopes to make another journey to the Alamo City in the future, next year however, the plan is to stay in Nebraska so that the kids can spend the holidays with their families.
