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History
Marching Band at Cherry Hill West has always been a fun, and very rewarding experience. All those hours that we put in during summer (day) band camp is worth it, for the scores we recieve. We obviously don't join to watch some football (put politely, our team leaves much to be desired), but instead, we join because we love music...or color guard. It takes a lot of time, but there has never been a moment when I or most of my peers have regretted joining :)
As far as real serious history goes, it can no longer be officially documented because our trophies from the 1970s were thrown out 2000/2001! But, back in the 1970s, we were a group 2 band!
(Actually, it was the 1983/1984 year that we were bumped into Group 1 where we won first place in the South Jersey Division and went on to achieve a top ten placement in the Atlantic Coast Championship. That was most likely in TOB?? ~ Class of '86 Alumni)
Apparently, somehow we gained members, and by 1994, we had 66 members. Later, it was announced that the band would not be performing competitively in TOB (later we switched to USSBA). This disappointed many of the members, and the band lost about 20 members or so. From then on, it seems, we have remained around that same size.
Approximately 35 or so members will keep you in Group 1, and so here begins my tale of our fairly recent Group 1 history. Finally, we have reached Group 1 Open (2002/2003) because we were the Group 1 A USSBA champions last year. The 2001 season we were placed in Group 1A again, because we won second place at Championships, didn't get above a 90, and/or weren't in the top 5 group 1 open bands. 2000 season, we were in group 1A because we were behind schedule due to the late hiring of our new band director, Mr. Mark. The year before (1999), Jules was our director and under her we won third place in Group 1 Open championships. Before the 1999 season, our marching band was threatened to be eliminated by the school board. Thanks to the support from both marching band and non-marching band family members alike, we were able to continue.
A unique thing about us? We don't have a drum major! Okay, okay, so at the Haddonfield festival (2000) we were directed by a chihuahua (seriously!), but normally, we do not have a drum major. We like to have fun...with our program.
Below is a list of all the past themes I can remember- combined with a lot of information gathered from alumni! (any additions welcome!).
| Year | Theme | Songs | # Members | **Special** |
| 2002 | The Colors of Styx | Mr. Roboto, Sing For the Day, Fooling Yourself, and Come Sail Away | 40 | Wearing white overalls covered in requires more than just the dickies, painter's cap, and glittery gloves...you also need a tennis ball attached to a flag silk. The theme is painting and Styx music, and the pit actually paints the background during the show! |
| 2001 | A Day in the Life of a Trashman | Bohemian Rhapsody, Bicycle Race, Love of My Life, and The Show Must Go On | 33 | Yes, the band/pit wore blue trashman overalls from Aramark, along with snappy orange reflective vests, black hats. Colorguard wore some blue spandex jumper with an orange stripe down the side and funky orange make up ;) Our Closer consisted of pieces of "We will rock you" and "We Are the Champions" both by Queen. |
| 2000 | Blues Brothers | Can't Turn You Loose, Respect, Soul Man, Unchained Melody, Gimme Some Lovin' | 35 | Marched in suits, wore sunglasses(for Soul Man), and danced...Paul's solo...! |
| 1999 | Music of Aaron Copland | excerpts from "Billy the kid", "The Saturday night Waltz" from Rodeo, and "Happy Ending" from the Red Pony. | 33 | Traditional uniforms |
| 1998 | Guys & Dolls | Guys and Dolls Overture, Luck Be A Lady, Havana(Drum Solo), Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat | 31 | Band members dressed as gangsters, pit was the salvation army, and the color guard were 'the dolls'. |
| 1997 | Anthem/1984 | Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", Jethro Tull's "Aqualung", "No Time", and Styx's "Rockin' the Paradise." | 37 | Wore traditional outfits with a barcode UPC panel sewn on the front, which flipped up at the end of the program to reveal assorted individual colors to symbolize uniqueness in everyone. Colorguard wore "floor length black velvet dresses of varying styles and black boustiers with silver chains, black eyemakeup and black lipstick". Everyone played on pots and pans that were attached to fences. The battery, representing the oppressors, would trap the horn line into the fences, but in the end as the horn line gained their freedom, they trapped the battery in their own fences. |
| 1996 | Tribute to the Who | "Pinball Wizard", "I Can See For Miles," "See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me", "The Best of Times", and "It's a Boy" | 35 | Wore traditional outfits...came in 5th at Atlantic Coast TOB Championships. Best Percussion, Chapter 1 Regionals. Color guard wore "maroon outfits with silver glittery elastic waist bands". |
| 1995 | Something about the Ocean?? | Caribbean Nights, Bohemian Rhaphsody, & Come Sail Away | 41 | Tied for 5th at Atlantic Coast TOB Championships. There was a drum major who doubled as a mellophone. Some horn line members doubled as battery members, and during the drum break all of the horn line took up percussion instruments. A solo by Alex Knox. |
| 1994 | Untitled | Touch The Sun (Original Band Composition); "Love Theme" from Beauty and the Beast | 35 | Last year drum line would use the old Yamaha Snares (they had just received the Premiers before Homecoming). Uniform was Traditional, Guard Uniform was Traditional (long purple and white). In the Drum Solo, the battery moved up to the front sideline, and played on different size bottles laying on a wooden bench using bell mallets (at the last performance during the homecoming game, one of the members got a little too excited and decided to smash one of the bottles with his mallet) (Brass and Woodwinds = 16; Pit = 5, Battery = 7, Guard = 6, Drum Major = 1, Staff = 5) |
| 1993 | New Age Tour | "Changing States" - Keith Emerson, "Dream of the Return" - Pat Metheny, "Santorini" - Yanni, "Now or Never" - New York Voices. | 64 | Group II finalists in TOB- trad. uniforms. Two Drum Majors. The Band sang out on the field as they marched for part of "Santorini." |
| 1992 | New World Tour | "New World Symphony"- Anton Dvorak | 68 | Placed 3rd in Group II Championships. Band wore the older uniforms until they got the new ones. The color guard wore white long-sleeved dresses, with a purple midsection. 2 Drum Majors. |
| 1991 | Unknown | "Russian Christmas Music" - Alfred Reed, "Reflection & Contemplation" - Tom Beebe (this was the drum solo), "Jupiter" (from "The Planets") - Gustav Holst. | 66 | 1st time to make TOB Atlantic Coast Championships. 2 Drum Majors, Traditional uniforms (very old though)- not enough for everyone, so adapted some tuxedos for the all female pit. |
| 1990 | Under the Sea | "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid, "Part of Youtr World" arranged by one of the band members- ?David Das? (there were more- I'm just waiting on more alumni submissions!) | 35 + colorguard | Classic purple uniforms; cologuard in black skirts. It was Drum feature, and won best percussion at a TOB festival. The band received all new yamaha percussion equipment: 5 bass drums. |
| 1987 | Wizard of Oz | "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "If I only had a brain", and two other songs. | 70-80 | The Drum Majors were Missy Munn and Chrissy Weiske Reinhard. They were dressed up as Dorothy. Missy also played the part of the Witch. The Majorettes were Robin Coretny (sp?) and Meredith Kessler and they were dressed up as the Tin man and the Scarecrow, respectively. Simona Wong played the part of the Cowardly Lion because she served as the school mascot! |
Random History
- West's 1981 yearbook includes a page on the marching band with 8 clarinets, 14 flutes, 5 saxaphones, 11 pit, 10 trumpets, 4 trombones, 18 flags, 5 majorettes, 5 rifles, and 24 pom poms (italics denotes something we don't have now)
- Our award winning trash show theme (championships 01/02) came from the 1997 Indoor Drum Line's show. They too went far with the theme and won first place at TIA Championships in Wildwood that year, the 2nd time they had done so.
- Somewhere between 1984 and 1988: They tried a "Show Band". A choreographer was brought in, as well as several dancers to perform along with the colorguard. This only lasted for one year.
- 1988 show opened with "Chant and Jubilo"