Mahanoy Area hosts first home band competition; local bands take home first place

MAHANOY CITY – By most accounts, it was a first for the Mahanoy Valley Friday night. Marching bands took to the field in competition at Mahanoy Area’s Alumni Stadium for the first time.

The Mahanoy Area music program hosted a competition in the Tournament of Bands circuit, one of two competitive marching band organizations operating in our region.

“This is the first time we’ve hosted anything to this caliber, not just while I’ve been here, but previous band directors,” Mahanoy Area Band Director Chelsea Ferraro told the Sentinel.

She said she asked prior directors, “‘Hey, have you ever done this? Where did you put things?’ and they all kind of said no, we didn’t have the facilities for it, we didn’t have the space or the help to do it, but I think we proved we can.”

Competitions are often hosted by larger schools with more facilities. North Schuylkill has hosted a competition for well over a decade — it’s coming up next Saturday — while Shamokin and Blue Mountain also host local competitions.

Saturday’s event at Mahanoy Area had everything you’d expect from a band competition, including a full concession stand featuring apple nachos (a dessert creation featuring apple slices, whipped cream, chocolate, and more — and, of course, candygrams to send to you favorite band member.

Ferraro commended the band boosters, parents, and students for helping put on the show.

“A lot of it, and I do mean like 95% of it comes down to the boosters, the parents, and the kids themselves,” Ferraro said. “They all had jobs tonight, they were helping out before the show, during the show, and then had to go on to perform.”

She also thanked the district for allowing the event to happen.

“They could’ve easily said no, we’ve never done it before, I’m not so sure, but they trusted us to put on a show, and we put on a show,” she said.

The competition drew four marching bands — North Schuylkill, Hazleton Area, Tri-Valley, and Wyoming Area — along with Mahanoy.

Dodging raindrops, the bands took to Coach Faz Field at Alumni Stadium to perform a variety of field shows.

Wyoming Area had a creative take on a Christmas-inspired story, while Tri-Valley and North Schuylkill performed popular music you’d expect from a typical football marching band. The Spartans, with the theme “Neon Nights,” leaned heavily into 1980’s elements.

Hazleton Area performed “A Day of Play” with a creative, high-energy field show that emulated playground play and even included band members sliding down a slide. Mahanoy Area performed a show themed “Slumber Party,” performing songs like Dance The Night, Enter Sandman, Dream On, and Wake Me Up.

The bands competed in two divisions — 1-A and 2-A. The A class is intended for bands which are newer to the competitive space, according to Tournament of Bands. The number corresponds with the size of the bands.

Sentinel-area bands won both divisions. The results are below.

Results

Group 1-A

1. North Schuylkill – 68.73
2. Wyoming Area – 62.85

Group 2-A

1. Hazleton Area – 74.72
2. Tri-Valley – 68.26
3. Mahanoy Area – 64.46

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