Marching band and color guard members to attend alternative Oct. 8 dance

Flute player and sophomore Jill Nobis won’t be able to attend the Homecoming dance. Instead, she will attend Bandcoming on Oct. 8 — an annual alternative dance organized specifically for color guard and marching band members who will have to miss the Homecoming dance due to scheduling conflicts in the same weekend.

“We almost have a competition the same day of Homecoming every year,” Nobis said. “So we have our own dance and since everyone in the band’s like a family, it’s a lot more fun and a lot more closer.”

According to Michael Pote, associate director of bands, Bandcoming started in the late 1990s because of a scheduling conflict with a Bands of America event on Homecoming weekend.

“It’s been a great event for our kids,” Pote said. “Because they do actually organize every bit of it with the help of our parents. It is a completely student-run dance for all the kids.”

Kathryn Dawson, French horn player and senior, is one of the seniors who are part of the three groups in charge of Bandcoming.

“The two senior drum majors and the band boosters, which is a parent organization, and all of us typically plan it,” Dawson said. “It’s typically done by the seniors and band parents.”

Dawson said that the atmosphere in Bandcoming is different from that of Homecoming.

“Instead of 406 kids crammed into a gym, it’s only 200 to 250 kids in the band room,” Dawson said. “We also have awards and probably different music.”

Nobis also said that while the overall atmospheres are similar, there are obvious differences.

“(At) Homecoming everyone’s really closely compacted, pretty much everyone’s dancing the entire time,” Nobis said. “Bandcoming’s more spaced out, and some people are talking in the hallway. So it’s a bit more relaxed, but you pretty much know everyone there so you’re a lot more comfortable.”

As for the future, Nobis said that she wants Bandcoming to be continued.

“We don’t get the same Homecoming experience as everyone else,” Nobis said. “So by having Bandcoming, we’re still kind of getting the same high school experience, it’s just in a smaller group.”