The Class of Checotah competed at the Ironhead Invitational on September 27, coming home with some exceptional bragging rights. A total of 19 marching bands in their division competed over the course of the day before peers and fans. They included Pocola, Panama, Warner, Mansfield, Wilburton, Hartshorne, Vian, Morris, Beggs, Spiro, Victory Christian, Okmulgee, Checotah, Stigler, Stilwell, Bristow, Inola, Broken Bow and Poteau. The Pride of Eufaula wrapped up the day with a final exhibition of their skilled artistry. However, in the end only one band walked away with the title of Grand Champion – Checotah!
In preliminaries, the Class received the following: Outstanding Percussion Outstanding Drum Major Outstanding Color Guard 1st Place in Class – 3A Silver In finals, they received: Outstanding Color Guard Grand Champion The Class of Checotah competed at the Haskell Invitational Sept. 20 just one week prior to the Ironhead Invitational. Their remaining marching competition schedule consists of the following: Oct. 4 – Sounds of the Southeast Oct. 11 – OBA Oct. 18 Ozark Mountain Marching Festival Oct. 22 – Regionals Oct. 28 – Superior Marching Contest “The students and parents are doing a great job this year with lots of practice days and long hours,” Checotah Band Director Ashley Hackler said. “We appreci-ate all the community support, especially the Checotah Little League under Chris Brown, and Checotah Football program under Coach Ross, for sharing the football field with us for practices.
“We met early on Saturday morning to finish learning the closer of our performance. Then we loaded up and went straight to our performance in prelims.
These kids are performing at such a high level with one of the most complex shows that I and my other great director, Alex Warrior, have ever been a part of creating! It’s extremely exciting to see them leave their hearts out on that field, especially because we are among some great band programs with fantastic directors. I just believe that band and guard kids are the best kids around!”
