On the night of Friday, Oct. 19, the Atlantic Trojan Guard wrapped up their 11 week season with their final set, “The Greatest Showman,” featuring 3 songs from the popular film. The set highlighted seniors Dylan Litty on Trombone, Avery Andersen on Trumpet and Chris Krogh on Flugelhorn.

The season started in August with a week-long band camp hosted at the high school. Rehearsals included sectional practices, group activities and large group rehearsals. The week also featured a competition between the sections with points awarded by drum majors Sarah Schorle and Grace Clay, as well as band director Jarrod O’Donnell. Students are given the music for all five sets of the year prior to the camp.

The band stuck with the non-competitive format and performed a new set at each home game. Sets included “Broadway,” “Marvel,” “Imagine Dragons,” “70s Rock” and “The Greatest Showman.” This year, they took on a new challenge and added a color guard for the first time since 2014. Senior Abigail Evans, a driving force behind the new addition, said she wanted to add a color guard because she hoped it would be fun. “I’ve seen and heard about other color guards, but we never had one.” Evans also added that it was difficult to choreograph everything without the help of a teacher or sponsor.

Although the band did not compete in field competitions, they did compete in the parade competition at the Clarinda Band Jamboree. Bands are scored on their marching technique as well as their musical selection. The Jamboree features bands from across Southwest Iowa and is a long-standing tradition for bands in the area. O’Donnell thought they did very well, and said, “The corner looked good, but they got tired towards the end.” The band played “Should I Stay or Should I Go” from their Homecoming set at the competition. Students also took advantage of the new activities trailer donated by the Booster Club as a replacement to the Penske truck, which required a lift to raise instruments and racks into the trailer.

Although the season has ended, sophomore Anna Wieser said she will always remember early morning practices when “the field is wet and everyone is slipping and falling down.” O’Donnell also said that while there were stressful weeks, he would not change anything about the season.