In the past, New Haven Marching Shamrocks have been known for how well they march, and not necessarily their music style. Last year, that was a reason they lost to Vienna. As Mrs. Koch had said in a previous interview, as of last Friday they still had a lot of work to do before the competition this weekend. The music is still strong, but their marching still needs work.
After the parade, the Shamrocks were feeling confident about their performance. Later that afternoon, they came and played for New Haven’s balloon festival parade.
Around 5:30 that evening, Mrs. Koch sent out a tweet giving details about how the band scored. The tweet read, “Sullivan Today: 1st place Drumline, 1st place Drum Major, 1st place Auxiliary, 2nd place overall!” The New Haven Shamrocks received second place, falling eight points behind Vienna. However, this year the whole band is scoring a lot higher than they were last year around this time. Mrs. Koch agrees that this weekend was a very successful one.
Some of the section leaders were interviewed before the parade to see what they thought of their section and the band as whole. Hannah Kruse, saxophone section leader, says,”The saxophones definitely know their music and are strong marchers,” when asked about how well her section was doing. Hannah, Mackenzy Vedder, Megan Shockley, Erin Scheer, Aaron Penning, and Josh Lindley all agree on one thing when it comes to what the band can improve on-- marching. When the section leaders were questioned about what the band as a whole will do this year, they agreed again. The band will do well. Could this be the trick to beating Vienna? On Saturday, October 3rd, we will find out. Once again, the Shamrocks will be put to the test of Vienna at the Washington parade. -by Abby Perdue