Published: November 14, 2008 10:50 pm            

Memorial marching band nabs third place at OBMA contest

EDMOND — Edmond Memorial Band members came home last weekend with a third place from the Oklahoma Band Masters Association competition held in Broken Arrow.

Edmond Santa Fe, under the direction of Michael Lowery, brought home a sixth place, while Edmond North, under the direction of Steve Fry, placed 14th.

“In 1984 when Edmond only had one high school they placed second in the state,” said Memorial band director Lynn Ann Feroli. “Third place is the highest Memorial has placed since then.”

Feroli, in her eighth year at Memorial, said the band has been moving up, placing higher each year for the past four years.

“Three years ago we placed tenth, two years ago we placed sixth, last year we placed fifth and this year, third,” Feroli said.

“The biggest thing that has helped is the artificial turf on the field at the high school,” she said.

She said Memorial’s football field, where the band practices, used to be a grass field that would lose lines as the turf was mowed and the seasons changed.

“Consistency more than anything has helped us,” Feroli said. “All of the fields we compete on are artificial turf ... We went from tenth place to sixth place the first year we had artificial turf to practice on.”

With 171 members in the band, Feroli said, “I think the band as a whole is really good. The students have worked hard and their hard work is finally paying off.”

Cimarron Middle School, Central Middle School and Oakdale Middle School in Oklahoma City all feed into Memorial High School.

“The students had their best performance of the year,” North’s Fry said. “The students will have their end-of-year video to go back and relive their memories and positive experiences they had putting the performance together.”

        

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