The competitive season for the Perry marching band has come to an end.

The “Blue Brigade” was supposed to have two competitions this past Saturday, though the Iowa High School Musical Association’s State Marching Band Competition was rained out. It was rescheduled to today, but new Band Director Brad Sparks says they are unable to participate on such short notice. They did perform Saturday evening at the Mid-Iowa Band Championships at Ankeny High School, placing seventh out of eight bands in class 3A.

Sparks says though the band didn’t place very high in their competitions, he saw noticeable improvement throughout the year and was proud of their performances. He explains there’s usually an adjustment period for a band when transitioning to new leadership, and that was on display this year. However, he believes the groundwork has been set for a successful 2018 season. “For next year, I think we’re going to start things off way better, just because we’ll all know each other already. I have no idea what we’re picking for a marching band show yet, but I’d like to try to get band camp attendance up a little bit. Try to get us on a little better starting place just by having everybody at that first week of rehearsals. And I think that’s one of the biggest things that will help us be as prepared as we can be for next marching band season.”

With marching band season over, Sparks says the Perry instrumentalists will now focus on concert band, jazz band, and pep band. He adds, band camp will begin next August before the new school year starts.