News : VSHS Band finishes seventh at Five Seasons Invitational

Willow Huber and Nick Gardner perform their solos during the VSHS band's first contest.

The Vinton-Shellsburg Marching Band spent last Saturday the same way it plans to spend next Saturday. Get on the bus early. Drive to Cedar Rapids. Line up in the tunnel at Kingston Stadium. Perform the 2011 show, based on music from "Gladiator."

The band and director Karl Smith traveled to Kingston on Oct. 1 for the Five Seasons Invitational. The band finished seventh out of the 13 bands that participated.

This Saturday, Oct. 8, the band will perform the same show at the same stadium, but this time for the judges of the Iowa High School State Marching Band Festival. At this event, the teams are not compared to each other; the judges simply issue ratings of Division 1, 2, or 3. The goal is to keep the string of Division 1 ratings intact. Later this month, the band will perform at a new venue: The Waukee championships.