Waseca Marching Classic celebrates 35 years

Large crowds lined the streets of downtown Waseca and later filled the stands at Waseca High School football field to watch the 35th Annual Waseca Marching Classic parade and field show on Saturday, Sept. 17. 

“This community event benefits us all,” Classic Treasurer Mary Williams said after the conclusion of fireworks Saturday night. “This [the fireworks] is for the kids. And well, some of us big kids too.” 

Saturday’s parade and evening field show featured more than a dozen bands and garnered about 5,000 spectators. 

Waseca’s 95-member marching band, directed by Devon Lawrence, performed “Immortals” in the parade. 

“It is always great playing for a crowd,” he shared. “The Waseca Classic adds so much energy for the kids, so it is a great experience overall.”

Their 2022 field show, “A Fine Line,” includes three pieces: “Creep” by Radiohead, a medley of selections from the movie A Beautiful Mind by James Horner, and “Starry Night” by Don McLean. The inspiration for the field show title is Aristotle’s observation that, “There is a fine line between genius and madness.”

“The judges gave us some great feedback,” Lawrence commented. 

Critiques provide guidance about what to fine tune. “Students have rehearsals before school. They work every day on their music and visual responsibilities. We are constantly working on cleaning drills, adding visuals, and continuing to create musical impacts to get our production to another level.”

Feedback, hard work, and determination helped the Jays become Class Champions at the Minnesota State Fair Parade this year, a feat they most recently accomplished in 2012. 

The NRHEG band took fourth place in its class in the parade. The band, under the direction of Colin Zidlicky, performed “Party Rock Anthem” with 48 members participating, led by senior Drum Major Anton Domeier. 

“The students did a great job rising up to new expectations,” Zidlicky shared. “It's not easy to have a new director with an entirely different style, but they learned how to give a good performance with only five days of practice.

“We will be even better next year,” he proclaims. “We hope people can come to our indoor marching band concert October 28 to see the new style of marching band we will be showcasing.”

Winning the parade portion of class A was Pipestone with a score of 65.2, followed by Luverne 64.2, Eagle Grove 56.6, and NRHEG 53.9.

In class AA, Stewartville won with a score of 69.5 followed by Adrian-Ellsworth 65.7.

Class AAA was won by Eastview with 79.1, followed by Lakeville South 78.7.

Other awards handed out Saturday afternoon at Waseca’s Trowbridge park included the Parade Sweepstakes award (Eastview); People’s Choice (Lakeville South); Drum Majors (Lakeville South); Percussion (Eastview); Horn (Lakeville South) and Guard (Lakeville South)

In the field show, Luverne won in Class A with a score of 58.5, followed by Pipestone at 57.2. Other results in the field show:

Class AA field show: Rochester Lourdes 71.8; Spirit Lake 71.2; Andover 68.8; Coon Rapids 66.4; Madison (SD) 63.6; Hutchison 62.5. 

Class AAA field show: Eastview 82.8; Eden Prairie 79.2; and Lakeville South 78.8.

Other awards distributed Saturday evening included: Field Sweepstakes (Eastview); Drum Majors (Rochester Lourdes); Percussion (Eden Prairie); Horn Line (Eastview); Guard (Eden Prairie); and two local awards, the Richard “Butch” Duffault Sweepstakes (Eastview) and the Herb Streitz Spirit award (Spirit Lake).