Chi-Hi's marching band to make rare post-season appearance
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BY JEFFREY HAGE jeff.hage@lee.net
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 3:39 PM CDT
Playoff football fever is in the air at Chippewa Falls High School.
But a 7-1 record may not be enough to earn the football team the most applause tonight at Dorais Field.
That's because the Marching Cardinals will be joining the Fighting Cardinals on the field tonight with a rare post-season performance - its first march since a bus accident that killed its band leader Doug Greenhalgh, band assistant Branden Atherton, and injured numerous members of the marching band.
The State Band Competition in Whitewater - the event the band was returning from at the time of the crash - is generally the marching band's last performance of the season.
But the band had a burning desire to march on, said Chi-Hi principal Dr. James Sauter.
It was 1999 when the band last marched after the state competition. That's the year Chi-Hi faced Marshfield in a playoff game that drew about 6,000 people to Dorais Field, Sauter said.
“G wanted to play, and it was really huge,” he said.
This year it's the band members that wanted to play.
“Friday, when we learned we'd be hosting the playoff game, there was already a buzz among the students and parents that this is something they wanted to consider doing,” Sauter said.
On Monday the band teacher watching over Greenhalgh's former class polled the band members.
“The voted overwhelmingly to do it,” said Sauter, who then consulted the Central Office and sat down with the drum majors, some of the leaders of the band.
“By mid-afternoon the decision was made to let them march,” he said. The band will perform the routine from “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” that won the band third-place honors at the state competition.
“The biggest round of applause will not be for the football team tonight, and rightfully so,” said Chuck Raykovich, head coach of Chi-Hi's football team. “I can't wait to see the reaction.”
“Having those kids get out and play is the most inspirational thing I've ever seen. I'm so proud of all of them,” Raykovich said.
The band performance will make tonight's playoff even more special.
“People love to go to Dorais to see the band and to see football. They go hand in hand and are a perfect fit,” he said.
Reach Jeffrey Hage at jeff.hage@lee.net.
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