Sweet Showcase: Bands and Color Guards Own Football Field for a Night

Schools Superintendent Ralf Swenson directed a massed band performance of Sweet Caroline. Nearly 250 members of the SDSU Marching Aztecs swarmed the field. Concession booths were busy all night, and “Air Waves Shout Outs”—public-address announcements for a price—kept hundreds of family members and friends entertained Tuesday night at Grossmont High School’s football field.

Oh, and some bands played, too. 

Marching units and color guards from 11 schools in the Grossmont Union High School District performed halftime routines for nearly the last time in the noncompetitive Distict Fall Showcase, an annual rite for East County bands.

After the Grossmont High School Junior ROTC presented the colors, a succession of schools took the field—from small (28 in the El Cajon Valley Marching Braves & Color Guard) to large—118 in the Helix Highlander Band and color guard.

About 750 musicians and guard members performed Tuesday night, said Adam Bovie, Grossmont’s instrumental music director, who helped coordinate the event.

With football season winding down, the marching bands begin to disband—except for a Mother Goose Parade here and there.  The district showcase gives parents a final peek at their teens in uniform finery—and their drills down pat.

They weren’t disappointed.